9 November 9 - 15, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents up as early as 6 a.m. when our event started at 9 a.m.,” Moreno said. “I was very pleased from the response that we got. We ran out of our gift cards within the first 30 to 45 min- utes of the event opening.” The event was initiated through Moreno’s office and conducted in partnership with lo- cal law enforcement, including the Dallas Po- lice Department and the Dallas Marshal’s Office. DPD’s role was to take the weapons to its property room to be later destroyed. Some suggest that gun buybacks don’t do much to achieve their ultimate goal: reduc- ing gun violence. Dr. James Kelsay, assistant professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Texas at Arlington, said the main purpose of these gun buyback programs is to remove guns from circulation. “Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot or any strong empirical evidence to suggest that gun buybacks are effective at reducing violence,” Kelsay said. For one, gun buybacks generally pull a very small number of guns off the streets. At the same time, the people who are likely to participate in gun buybacks aren’t usually the perpetrators of gun violence. Gun buybacks can serve another pur- pose, however. “It can really sort of galva- nize the community in terms of a common goal of trying to reduce gun violence,” Kel- say said. “So, it’s sort of like a mobilization tool to bring people together, and I think that’s one of the positive things we can take from these.” Asked how they could be more effective at reducing gun violence, Kelsay said they could be more targeted toward people likely to be involved in violence. Targeting younger people, for example, would be a good strategy. Older people are more likely to bring their guns in but less likely than younger people to be involved in violence. But, he said, there are other strategies be- ing deployed in Dallas today that are more effective at reducing gun violence. “I think the common theme among the hot-spots approach and then the focused deterrence approach is to really focus on ei- ther the places where gun violence tends to be high or the individuals who tend to be in- volved in these types of crimes in the first place,” Kelsay said. “The aim of these kinds of programs is to reduce the number of guns in circulation, and I think that’s an admirable goal. I don’t want to try to disparage this approach, but I would say that when we try to reduce gun violence it’s important to take an evidence- based approach.” Moreno believes there haven’t been enough studies to determine the effective- ness of gun buyback programs. “We were able to get 128 weapons off our street,” he said. “When you compare the amount of weapons that are taken off our streets to the number of weapons that are circulated and out there, it’s minimal at this point. But we’re starting to see more and more of these programs, and I think within time we’re going to be seeing more measur- able results that you can actually compare.” We bring sophistication with a twist to the metaphysical and holistic markets with products, classes and services. We have locations in Dallas, Carrollton & Frisco. www.soultopia.guru psychic Hotline Now available: 888-415-6208 Visit us: 900 W Davis St, Dallas • 3414 Midcourt Rd #100, Carrollton 7004 Lebanon Rd, STE 106, Frisco, Texas 75034 Best of Dallas 2020 awarD wiNNer
