Virginia activist says gun buyback may be ineffective, but they have to show they 'care enough'

 A member of the Hampton Roads Black Caucus in Virginia said it didn't matter if gun buybacks were ineffective because they needed to show the community that they "care enough" to have a gun buyback.

Joel Jones of the HRBC was being interviewed by WVEC-TV about a gun buyback program promoted by his political group when he was challenged about the efficacy of such campaigns.

"It's all part of the bigger plan to reduce gun violence through education and training and we're going to start here," Jones said. "If we stay the course and be consistent with our message and with our actions ... we'll get that violence down."

A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that gun buyback programs are ineffective for many reasons. Among participants from mostly low-crime areas, gift cards that are being offered aren't enough of an incentive, and the weapons that are brought "tend to be older and less well-functioning than the average firearm." 

WVEC asked Jones to respond to the findings of the study.

"Regardless of what the statistics say, we want to put some attention and show that we care enough and make time to do the program," Jones said. 

The program is supported by the Norfolk Police Department, which said in a Facebook post about the effort, "This simple act could prevent irreparable harm, and a firearm from landing in the hands of criminals."

Some were unsupportive of the event in the comments of the post.

"Um turn in our guns give y'all complete control, don't think the ancestors would approve! Y'all wanna give out gift cards for a gun," wrote Bianca Johnson in response to the Facebook advertisement..

The buyback program by the HRBC will take place at the Calvary Revival Church in Norfolk.

Here's are the comments from Joel Jones:

13News Now Investigates: The effectiveness of gun buyback programswww.youtube.com