Venezuela’s 30,000-Gun Salute

Scrap metal…

…for kids suffering with cancer.

That’s the message in Venezuela, according to the LA Times:

The government plans to sell the demolished guns as scrap metal and donate the proceeds to a foundation that cares for children suffering from cancer.

Venezuelan Authorities announced today that they’ve gathered and demolished 30,000 guns in an attempt to curb a murder rate that has skyrocketed in recent years.

This comes not long after the creation of a National Council of Citizen Security and a ban on violent video games last month.

Last year, the Washington Post reported that “[h]omicides have soared from fewer than 6,000 in [President Hugo] Chávez’s first year in office [1999] to 13,156 [in 2007].”

This is a problem. But at least no one can say the Venezuelan authorities are ignoring the problem. Right?

Question is: Will high-profile gun demolitions and video game bans curb an astronomical murder rate?