As New York City gets ready for what promises to be another violent and bloody weekend, a couple of local politicians are patting themselves on the back for a so-called gun buyback in Queens that resulted in 44 firearms being turned over to the NYPD in exchange for $200, no questions asked.

As residents of New York City continue to be tormented by a wave of gun violence this summer, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato joined Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and the NYPD’s 100th and 101st precincts for their latest “Gun Buyback” program at Macedonia Baptist Church in the Arverne section of Rockaway.

“This is an incredible event hosted by DA Katz and the NYPD as they work to combat increasing gun violence in our community in a tangible and meaningful way,” Pheffer Amato said. “Forty-four guns off the streets is a significant number and will save countless lives. Programs like this are so vital as they incentivize the turning in of dangerous weapons with no questions asked.”

Programs like this aren’t vital to the community, though they may be vital to politicians like Pheffer Amato and Melinda Katz. After all, compensated confiscation efforts like these don’t reduce crime, but they do allow officials to claim they’re “doing something” to address the shootings and killings that have skyrocketed in New York City over the past three months.

“We cannot prosecute our way out of this. We need everyone to work together, my office, law enforcement, our faith leaders and everyone in the community, to stop the violence,” Katz said. “The ultimate goal of this initiative is to get as many guns as possible off the streets of Queens County and make our community safe for everyone. We are all partners in this mission.”

If you can’t prosecute your way to safety, then why not work on revising New York City’s gun laws to actually allow the average citizen to both keep and bear arms for self-defense? Instead of taking that common sense step, Katz and virtually every other elected official in the Big Apple is content to keep the draconian gun laws in place so that as few people as possible can exercise the privilege to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

I’ve got news for the D.A.; you can’t “buy back” your way out of this either. The solution to stemming the rising tide of violence in New York City is simple, though it’s not easy. The NYPD and prosecutors across the city have to focus on the most violent offenders. They have to ensure that arrests are made when a shooting takes place, and then they must ensure that there are consequences for the violence.

Trying to turn New York City gun-free won’t work. Criminals will continue to obtain firearms on the illicit market, and the shootings will continue while law-abiding residents are unable to protect themselves. It’s the worst possible way to try to address violent crime, so of course it’s the route that the politicians in charge of the city are wholeheartedly embracing.