December 9, 2004; Rio: On the side …I watched as the disarmament group here took in guns and banged the barrels closed with a small sledge hammer. They are trying to get the guns off the street so they buy them back (I don’t know the details). But standing on the patio where they keep the sledge hammer, for an hour, I heard the clangs of maybe 5 guns (wasn’t counting) being destroyed.

That’s a lot from people just handing in the extra guns they have around the house and giving up their violent ways.

Imagine all day long taking guns from people, pounding them flat with a sledgehammer as they watch, then paying them for it. All day long. Would you wonder what happened with that gun, or wonder with relief what would have happened with that gun if you didn’t have a sledgehammer?

Disarmament program:
Destroying guns
to save people.I found out that the Disarmament program here, of which the sledgehammering of guns on the patio is a part, pays various amounts up to about $75 for guns depending on their size and value.

Other times construction materials or job training could be used as incentives to hand in guns. Tens of thousands have been destroyed throughout the decade long history of the campaign, though most were not sledgehammered here at Viva Rio. Many were destroyed in mass.