Arco Arena
Bench
lol 
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13928806.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------
Got a gun? Turn it in, get Sixers tickets
Police seek weapons - no questions asked - to be melted and turned into playground equipment.
By Natalie Pompilio
Inquirer Staff Writer
Get rid of your gun. Get some tickets.
For the next week, anyone who turns in a firearm to Philadelphia police will get two free tickets to a Philadelphia 76ers game.
No questions will be asked about the firearm, officials said. It will be taken, melted down, and turned into playground equipment. The goal is simply to get the weapons off the streets and out of homes.
"If this program brings one gun, it's a success. Any gun that can kill is a gun that needs to be taken off the streets," Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said. "My concern is not how sophisticated the weaponry or how many rounds it can fire - but if it can kill."
Johnson said the Monday-afternoon shooting death of a 15-year-old boy in Rhawnhurst illustrated the problem of avoidable gun violence. Although police said they would charge a 16-year-old with murder in that incident, Johnson said investigators still are looking into the possibility that the shooting was accidental.
"That's a gun that was inside a house. It was an operational gun that ended up killing a child," Johnson said.
This is not the first gun-exchange program implemented by city police. Last year, they collected almost 1,000 guns in a monthlong program that traded guns for shopping vouchers. A 2004 buyback offering cash and gift certificates also brought in about 900 guns.
It is also not the first time that the Sixers have participated in a gun sweep. In 1999, a three-day initiative that offered Sixers jerseys netted about 900 firearms. Johnson said he believed the Sixers were the only NBA team to participate in such a program.
The city tallied 380 homicides in 2005 - the highest total in five years - and is on a similar pace this year. Through Monday, police had counted 44 homicides.
Sixers president Billy King said violence affected everyone.
"As an organization, we feel a responsibility to the community to help," King said.
Limited upper-level tickets to the following games will be available: March 9 vs. Denver; March 14 vs. Toronto; March 22 vs. Atlanta; March 24 vs. Orlando.
----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13928806.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------
Got a gun? Turn it in, get Sixers tickets
Police seek weapons - no questions asked - to be melted and turned into playground equipment.
By Natalie Pompilio
Inquirer Staff Writer
Get rid of your gun. Get some tickets.
For the next week, anyone who turns in a firearm to Philadelphia police will get two free tickets to a Philadelphia 76ers game.
No questions will be asked about the firearm, officials said. It will be taken, melted down, and turned into playground equipment. The goal is simply to get the weapons off the streets and out of homes.
"If this program brings one gun, it's a success. Any gun that can kill is a gun that needs to be taken off the streets," Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said. "My concern is not how sophisticated the weaponry or how many rounds it can fire - but if it can kill."
Johnson said the Monday-afternoon shooting death of a 15-year-old boy in Rhawnhurst illustrated the problem of avoidable gun violence. Although police said they would charge a 16-year-old with murder in that incident, Johnson said investigators still are looking into the possibility that the shooting was accidental.
"That's a gun that was inside a house. It was an operational gun that ended up killing a child," Johnson said.
This is not the first gun-exchange program implemented by city police. Last year, they collected almost 1,000 guns in a monthlong program that traded guns for shopping vouchers. A 2004 buyback offering cash and gift certificates also brought in about 900 guns.
It is also not the first time that the Sixers have participated in a gun sweep. In 1999, a three-day initiative that offered Sixers jerseys netted about 900 firearms. Johnson said he believed the Sixers were the only NBA team to participate in such a program.
The city tallied 380 homicides in 2005 - the highest total in five years - and is on a similar pace this year. Through Monday, police had counted 44 homicides.
Sixers president Billy King said violence affected everyone.
"As an organization, we feel a responsibility to the community to help," King said.
Limited upper-level tickets to the following games will be available: March 9 vs. Denver; March 14 vs. Toronto; March 22 vs. Atlanta; March 24 vs. Orlando.
----------------------------------------------------------------
