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Lexington Market

North Howard Street

July 13, 2013

34. Guns for Gigabytes

Inside a velvet rope, on the sidewalk outside west Baltimore’s Cultural Arts Center, an ominous line forms on a hot and eerily quiet Saturday afternoon. A man standing in front reveals that, hidden in a purple Ravens’ blanket, he’s carrying an Armi Jager AP-15 assault weapon. Behind him, a man holds a .22 caliber rifle wrapped in newspaper. Nearby, a woman reaches into her purse and pulls a pistol from a sock. Someone else lifts a firearm from a beer cooler. Further back in line, Frank Lipira takes a revolver—“concealed” inside a manila envelope—out of the waistband of his jean shorts.

Like the others, Lipira’s exchanging his gun for a Dell laptop, courtesy of nonprofit Digit All Systems. Organized with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and SWAT team members from the police department, the guns for computers event is believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S.

Lipira, who witnessed shootings growing up in Park Heights, is concerned his children might find his handgun—or that it could be stolen. But he’s not sure who in the family will get the laptop. “My daughter is nine and wants it,” he says. “So does my wife.”

There’s live music, fried chicken, and potato salad inside as the crowd waits to receive their computers. Digit All Systems employee Toni Klatt, handing out laptop vouchers as weapons are turned it, takes the stage for a moment.

“I want to thank everyone who is here,” she says. “My fiancé, my son’s father, was shot to death earlier this year,” she continues, tears coming to her eyes. “I don’t want another 18-month-old child asking where their father is.”