In the wake of the latest gun slaughter in Newtown, Connecticut last month, Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner came up with the idea during the holidays of having the county replicate what has been done in numerous municipalities across the country, a gun buyback program to help get unwanted weapons off the streets.
But apparently that was a bridge too far for the socially conservative Board of County Commissioners, who dropped that idea completely during a discussion on the topic Wednesday morning. However they did support Beckner's other proposal to address gun violence. That plan will have county staff make recommendations for convening a task force to address how to prevent gun violence. That task force would consist of law enforcement officials, educators as well as mental health and medical professionals. The task force is scheduled to report back to the board on February 20.
