Guns for sneakers nets surface to air missile

[Theunicornhunter 2]

At a no questions asked event -

 

 

foxnews

 

ORLANDO, Fla. — Police were hoping for a good turnout at their "Kicks for Guns" sneaker exchange Friday, but they weren't expecting to get a surface-to-air missile launcher.

 

An Ocoee man showed up and exchanged the 4-foot-long launcher for size-3 Reebok sneakers for his daughter, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

 

Taking advantage of the exchange's no-questions-asked policy, the man was not identified. He told the Orlando Sentinel that he found the weapon in a shed he tore down last week.

 

"I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it here," he told the newspaper. "I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it and they told me to get lost."

 

Besides the missile launcher police collected more than 250 guns. They were all exchanged for sneakers or $50 gift certificates.

[trekz 7]

I'm sure the people at the dumps that told the guy with the rocket launcher to "Get lost." said it in a very respectful, kind way. After all, they were talking to a guy with a rocket launcher!

[Odie 0]

Check off one state that will not live in after leaving the military.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

I wonder if somewhere there is a booth where you can turn in sneakers for military-grade weaponry.

[BKY1701 0]

I wonder if somewhere there is a booth where you can turn in sneakers for military-grade weaponry.

 

Now theres a great idea! Maybe we can open the first one somewhere in the middle east... or Alabama.

[Kor37 9]

UPDATE:

 

xpert: 'Missile launcher' at police gun swap is carrying case

AP

Posted: 2007-08-21 11:14:20

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - An drab olive colored tube traded in at a gun exchange and described by police as a surface-to-air missile launcher is a carrying case for an anti-tank weapon, an expert said.

 

John McGrath, an investigator for Raytheon Corp., used a serial number to identify the 4-foot-long tube as a 32-year-old fiberglass carrying case for a TOW missile and its launcher. The acronym stands for Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missile, McGrath said.

 

"They're pretty available on the Internet," he said. "We run into a lot of this, actually."

 

The Ocoee man who first turned it in Friday thought it was a bazooka. Police later described it as a surface-to-air missile launcher and a rocket launcher.

 

The man, who was not identified because of the exchange's no-questions-asked policy, told police he found it while tearing down a shed. He exhanged it for a pair of black, size-3 Reebok sneakers for his daughter.

 

I'm kind of relieved that it actually wasn't a missle launcher.