Three months into the State's campaign to invite Baja
citizens to voluntarily surrender their firearms and/or
explosives, the Ministry of Public Security asserts
the program is unfolding successfully, citing the 694
weapons that have already 
been
turned in. We are asked to view this as a bold step
toward crime prevention, as well as child, youth and
adult protection throughout the state of Baja.
Capt. Jorge Eduardo Montero Alvarez, Deputy State
Public Security System, reported optimistically on the
commitment shown by citizens who have responsibly given
up various types of firearm, and thus preemptively avoided
any risk of accident or serious injury, even death.
He reminded the public that for every firearm delivered,
the Mexican Army will provide a voucher for 1.500 pesos.
He said there are no tools more valuable to public
safety as prevention and community participation. "Campaigns
like this raise awareness of the hazards involved in
owning a firearm, because we risk not only our lives
but those of our loved ones".
Anyone with a firearm they would like to donate to
the campaign can go to the nearest Army installation
or collection kiosk.
Mexicali announced 95 relinguished weapons, Ensenada
36, 20 in San Quentin, 13 in San Felipe, and Tecate
had 48. The remaining 482 were harvested in Tijuana.
Baja has a population of about 3.3 million people.
By far its most gun-sullied city is Tijuana, being the
epicenter of the state's drug problem. On the other
side of the coin San Felipe, graced with isolation and
an end-of-the-road geography, is unattractive as a haven
or command post for drug lietenants and narco majordomos.
If we take the high and low numbers from the report
and throw them out, as an insurance against skewing
the average, we get around 50 weapons surrendered per
population center. It's a little daunting to realize
that's only about one gun for every 66,000 people in
the state.
The
numbers seem grossly disproportionate. Harboring a hidden
firearm or two seems to be a common pastime in Baja.
My neighbor's arsenal alone would account for nearly
half the firearms collected in San Felipe. Unfortunately
he died about a month ago, never having been tempted
to turn in his $700 Remington for the 1500 peso bounty.
Incidentally, his death was a quiet testimony and reminder
to the NRA that ballistically engineered 4140 steel
is an inappropriate defense against a stroke.
So who are these people inhabiting the statistical
curve of the state's firearm donation campaign and what
are they bringing to their local army installation in
exchange for 1500 pesos? Well, we can be certain the
traffickers are not disarming themselves for 1500 pesos.
Nor is it likely the "...when you take it from
my cold dead hands." fraternities are disencumbering
their psyches while their hands are still warm. What
is likely happening, what might modestly bolster the
state's optimism about the program, is a kind of spring
cleaning where tool sheds and garages are purged of
rifles with bent barrels, dueling pistols rusted into
monoliths, heirloom squirrel guns with worn firing pins,
dirt-throttled Enfields, Winchesters and Mausers from
the Revolution and delapidated wheel-locks from the
time of the Conquest.
Treated as scrap metal, rifle barrels fetch about 5
cents a pound. Now, with this state program, they are
worth 17 dollars a pound, a good reason indeed for disowning
a tired relic that can't otherwise be hawked at a segunda
or garage sale.
Will the state's gun donation project have any effect
on crime? Perhaps for alcohol-related crimes, where
the perpetrator is owl-eyed and dumbfounded enough to
trust the functional fedelity of a sixty year old breech
loader. He'll either succeed in silencing his wife or
lose a hand when the thing misfires. The program certainly
won't effect crime as practised by criminals. Surrendering
their weapons would be like a Boston Marathon hopeful
preparing for the race by sawing off his legs.