Phoenix Gun Turn in (buyback) Part 2: Street Festival

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Numerous private buyers found that the police set up rendered the sit with sign strategy unproductive.

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At the gun turn in in Phoenix, the line of cars quickly became several blocks long. A private buyer examines guns for sale while others start to walk the line.

The turn in event rapidly assumed the ambiance of a street festival. Private buyers walked the line of cars, politely asking people if they were willing to take cash for their guns.

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This Smith & Wesson model 19 was in 95% condition. The private buyer said that he paid $120. One was recently sold on Auction Arms for over $500.

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Typical guns being turned in: The old double on the right is missing its foreend, the stock is badly cracked, and the barrels rusted. The old .22 single shot has not been taken care of. The pump shotgun on the left has a badly cracked stock. Still, a private buyer was willing to pay a hundred dollars in the hopes of restoring it. This turn in customer was typical of 70% of those bringing in guns. They had good guns at home but were willing to get rid of older, marginal guns for the $100 gift cards. About 20% of those turning in guns were ideologically motivated, and simply wanted to turn the guns into police rather than anyone else. Few cared what the police did with the guns.

Perhaps 10% simply wanted to get rid of guns in the house, and thought the turn in would be convenient.

Most of the private buyers that I talked to were Second Amendment constitutional rights activists, but a few were simply looking for good deals.

There appeared to be over a hundred private buyers at the three locations.

More later.

Update: Link to Article about Governor Brewer signing bills for fiscal responsibility on gun turn in events

©2013 by Dean Weingarten Permission to share granted as long as this notice is included.

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/05/phoenix-gun-turn-in-buyback-part-2.html
 
Nice Smith guys! This is great, The long line probably helped contribute to the success. People were probably willing to do anything to get out of the line early.
 
I made a trip to Phoenix and was surprised to see a billboard (the kind that changes its message every 10 seconds or so) advertising for a gun "buyback", presumably this one. The tagline was "guns for groceries" I believe.
 
I don't own any broken guns, but this would probably be the best way to turn one into a really nice steak dinner.
 
I have no idea who got the guns that were turned in for (whatever) but we now have a new law that requires police confiscated guns must be sold to FFL dealers on a highest-bidder basis rather then sent to destruction. The proceeds are supposed to be used by the respective departments to buy new equipment or ammunition.
 
Way to go! Let the cops have all the rusted $20 single shots for that $100 gift card and make sure the rest goes to good law abiding folks. :)
 
I wish we had a gun buy back here. I have two firearms that I would gladly get rid of and I would not sell them to any private buyer. The damn things don't function and need to be cut up.
 
I know that there are several that have been conducted in Florida, but most have been closer to Miami, as I recall.
 
I wouldn't take $500 for a gun at a "buyback". I wouldn't want them to be able to spout off that they got x number of dangerous guns off the streets, one of them being mine. I'd just cut it up with a torch and send it to scrap metal if I needed it out of the safe. I do t hold it against anyone who does, it's just not for me. Just like I do t hold it against anyone who isn't an NRA member, but choose to be one myself.
 
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I'd take my Stevens 73Y to a buyback. It's not worth the $15 it would cost to replace the extractor. It's an awful potmetal single-shot bolt .22 that is difficult to load and clunky to operate. The barrel is "attached" to the receiver with a spread tang, not threads, and the stock screw is an integral part of keeping it aligned and in place. This is a gun that literally has NOTHING going for it. I've had it completely apart so I can honestly say it's trash.
 
This is excellent.

However, Arizona legislators recently passed a law stating that any guns bought in these buyback programs cannot be destroyed. They must turn around and be resold. Either way, I'd rather see private citizens buying them.

Edit - Added Source:

Arizona Citizens' Defense League said:
HB 2455, the AzCDL-requested bill that clarifies that firearms voluntarily surrendered to a state or local entity cannot be destroyed and must be sold, was also signed by the Governor on April 29.
 
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Yeah, but the mayor of Phoenix is rushing to have these buybacks before the law goes into effect, so the guns can be destroyed.
 
The mayor and the police chief in Phoenix are both extreme vocal anti-gun politicians. They both belong in new york, los angeles or chicago, not Arizona.
 
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