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D.C. police have decided to substantially alter a program designed to rid homes of guns after concerns from the council and civil libertarians.
The old Safe Homes Initiative was scheduled to launch March 24. Police planned to go door to door in crime-plagued neighborhoods, asking residents for permission to search their homes for guns and drugs.
In return for cooperation, and getting contraband off the streets, D.C. police promised homeowners and renters limited amnesty for anything seized by police.
"Too many lives have been lost in the nation's capitol and a disproportionate number of those have been young people."
The Safe Homes Initiative is the brainchild of Police Chief Cathy Lanier (web|news|bio) . "The bottom line is I just want the guns. I just want the guns off the street."
Unlike previous gun buy back programs, the new initiative starts with an adult concerned that a child or relative has a gun in the home. The adult can then set up a time with police so officers can search the house for weapons, without the adult fearing arrest.
"So we are trying to offer another way to get a gun safely out of a home and offer a short period of amnesty to get those guns," said Lanier.
The plan was supposed to start in March, but won't start until mid-june to iron out a number of community and council concerns like the plan's constitutionality.
"I don't have any guns. I don't have any contraband. But you know what? It's the privacy of my home," said Councilwoman Mary Cheh.
Others say it may not even work. "In St. Louis, a similar program was attempted back in 1994. It was subsequently shelved," said Johnny Barnes with the ACLU.
Supporters belieev if one removed gun makes a home more safe, the program would be a success. "I for one am not willing to rule out of hand any innovative program that will help us take guns off the street or out of people's home," said Councilwoman Muriel Bowser.
The last gun amnesty program -- a gun buyback -- allowed residents to turn in weapons for cash. The Metropolitan Police Department (web|news) paid more than $14,000 to take 300 weapons off the streets last December.
The Safe Home Initiative comes while D.C.'s gun laws -- which are among the strictest in the nation -- are being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Justices seemed inclined during oral arguments last week to believe the U.S. Constitution provides an individual right to gun ownership, implying that the District's law effectively banning private handgun ownership could be overturned.
D.C. law only allows residents to own long guns -- rifles and shotguns, which must be stored disassembled or unloaded with a trigger lock.
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