If you’re driving through the Lents neighborhood and see a bunch of gun-totin’ folk, don’t worry! Ceasefire Oregon is holding a firearm buyback at 92nd and SE Woodstock, in the parking lot of the old strip club. I had an old .22 semiautomatic rifle that had outlived its usefulness, and could use $75 grocery money, so I decided to check it out.
KPTV has been promoting this event all week, and I was watching the news doing live remotes from the site, starting at 6 AM. If you relinquish a working firearm, you get a $75 gift card from Fred Meyer. The first graphic of the morning incorrectly stated the cards would only be worth $25. It was quickly corrected. You don’t want a bunch of people with guns showing up expecting fifty bucks more than you’re willing to give them. Recipe for disaster!
The 7 AM crowd was an interesting mix. My sister joked that “Who the hell is gonna be up that early? It was Friday night and Halloween!”
“Sober soccer moms? Grandmothers?”
I saw both in line, packing rifles. The poster child of hostile grandmothers kept us amused for a few minutes. Originally everyone was told to stay in their cars and a police officer would come to you. Since that didn’t seem to work, people started lining up. I grabbed my rifle and joined them. The line snaked back, and one grandmotherly type got out of her minivan. “They told us to stay in the goddamned car, and they’d come to us! THAT little bastard over there-” she pointed at an old man who’d just been processed, “-just got here fifteen minutes ago!” Just as her face approached beet-red level, the kind sergeant approached.
“Aren’t you next, ma’am?”
She decompressed, and then laughed. “I guess this is why we are asked to bring them unloaded?”
It was the kind of crowd you’d expect in a mostly lower middle-class neighborhood. Lots of ballcaps and middle-aged men. The guns were a mix of long rifles and old revolvers, from what I could see. As I walked the line on the way out, I noticed a man with a pump shotgun, handle removed and duct-taped, and barrel sawed off to about 12 inches. Perfect for hiding beneath an overcoat. I’d loved to have watched the reaction from the officers as they take that one off the streets. It’s the kind of gun they encounter in their most stressfull situations.
If you have an old gun you want to get rid of, here are a few things to know:
- Guns must be in working order if you want the $75 gift card, but they will take all guns for disposal. There is a limit of 2 gift cards, but no limit on how many guns you can turn in.
- Do NOT try to bring them by bus. The driver won’t let you on, and it’s illegal.
- Plan for a short wait in line. A lot of people were showing up. I was early, and I waited 45 minutes. Just sayin’.
- Be nice. These people have guns! And if you’re contemplating mischief? There are a LOT of cops, just hanging around. They don’t play.
Yep, it’s like the wild, wild west in Lents today. I haven’t seen this many armed people in my ‘hood since the great three-day electrical blackout of 2006!
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