In a rather strange incentive program, Marcelo Ebrard, the newly elected Mayor of Mexico City, is trying to curb gun violence in the city's notoriously bad barrio; Tepito (barrio's are dangerous? Who knew!). But instead of rounding up the usual suspects and putting them in the slammer, the Mayor has decided to take a different approach. You can now trade in your Tek-9 for just plain old tech.

The Mayor is offering to exchange computers for guns (similar to San Francisco Care not Cash program, but waaaay cooler), hoping that this program will encourage a drop in gun violence. The tradeoff works on a sliding scale, though. Trade in that sweet high powered machine gun your madre got you for Christmas, and you can get a nice PC (estimated value $769); trade in that shrimpy, low caliber, it's so small your essay friends laugh at you gun, and you'll score yourself an original Xbox. Odelay!

On the first day of this program, only 17 people traded in their guns. Thus prompting officials to label it a "success", albeit a minor one. (It also prompted those 17 people to no longer be called Mexicans, but Techsicans by their gun-loving amigos). Whether or not the government kicked in for a years worth of Xbox Live, remains to be seen.

All joking aside, anything that gets guns off the street is a good idea, and it is too bad that this couldn't happen in the USA. Anti-gaming morons - the ones that think video games create criminals - would sh*t puppies if they found out that someone was giving actual criminals video game systems. Because that would, like, ya' know ... turn them into super criminals, or something. Right, meng?

[via Engadget]