Sniping the gun buyback

[mxl]

I hope you do it. I would love to attend one of these. Before I would go I would take a piece of an old radio antennae and rig up a "zip gun" of sorts and sell it to the idiots running the show.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I had a P10 that had a weld failure: a side rail seperated from the trunion, also cracking the polymer grip frame. Eventually, I stripped all the internal parts and sent them (without the receiver or frame) to Numrich Gun Parts and got a check for $25 + my postage costs. I don't care if I could have gotten $50 in a buyback program.

It is sad to think of a widow getting $25 for her late husband's deer rifle or duck shotgun and the anti-gunners gloating over that. Those stunts are farces. Rarely you will hear of a collectible discovered and sent to a museum. Usually:

"The media reported the buy-back program a "great success"...."

The "Firearms and Violence" review of academic research on gun issues had this to say about "gun buybacks":

National Research Council, "Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review" (2004, National Academy Press 2005) Gun Buy-Backs
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10881&page=95

Gun Buy-Backs

Gun buy-back programs involve a government or private group paying individuals to turn in guns they possess. The programs do not require the participants to identify themselves, in order to encourage participation by offenders or those with weapons used in crimes. The guns are then destroyed. The theoretical premise for gun buy-back programs is that the program will lead to fewer guns on the streets because fewer guns are available for either theft or trade, and that consequently violence will decline. It is the committee’s view that the theory underlying gun buy-back programs is badly flawed and the empirical evidence demonstrates the ineffectiveness of these programs.

The theory on which gun buy-back programs is based is flawed in three respects. First, the guns that are typically surrendered in gun buy-backs are those that are least likely to be used in criminal activities. Typically, the guns turned in tend to be of two types: (1) old, malfunctioning guns whose resale value is less than the reward offered in buy-back programs or (2) guns owned by individuals who derive little value from the possession of the guns (e.g., those who have inherited guns). The Police Executive Research Forum (1996) found this in their analysis of the differences between weapons handed in and those used in crimes. In contrast, those who are either using guns to carry out crimes or as protection in the course of engaging in other illegal activities, such as drug selling, have actively acquired their guns and are unlikely to want to participate in such programs.

Second, because replacement guns are relatively easily obtained, the actual decline in the number of guns on the street may be smaller than the number of guns that are turned in. Third, the likelihood that any particular gun will be used in a crime in a given year is low. In 1999, approximately 6,500 homicides were committed with handguns. There are approximately 70 million handguns in the United States. Thus, if a different handgun were used in each homicide, the likelihood that a particular handgun would be used to kill an individual in a particular year is 1 in 10,000. The typical gun buy-back program yields less than 1,000 guns. Even ignoring the first two points made above (the guns turned in are unlikely to be used by criminals and may be replaced by purchases of new guns), one would expect a reduction of less than one-tenth of one homicide per year in response to such a gun buy-back program. The program might be cost-effective if those were the correct parameters, but the small scale makes it highly unlikely that its effects would be detected.

In light of the weakness in the theory underlying gun buy-backs, it is not surprising that research evaluations of U.S. efforts have consistently failed to document any link between such programs and reductions in gun violence (Callahan et al., 1994; Police Executive Research Forum, 1996; Rosenfeld, 1996). . . . .

 

[mp510]

For reasons that don't warrant getting into, i was not buying handguns today. Only long guns. I waited for 2 hours in the 40 degree rain until a guy showed up with an armful of long guns. I told him what I was doing and he agreed to sell to me. He had an old Glenfield bolt .22, a Savage bolt .410, a Spanish 12ga double, and most interesting of them all, an old Ithaca model 37 20ga. lightweight model.
All had rust, but fixable with only light pitting. He was only going to get $100 in gift cards for the supermarket for all four from the buyback, i offered him $200 cash and he was thrilled.
Then the state police denied the sale because they thought I had to fill out a form that I don't.
So after all that, I did not get my guns....

Which form were they suggesting that you did not fill out? (It sounds like you had DPS-3s, did you choose not to bring any DPS-67 forms?)

 

[stchman]

The gun "buy back" dog and pony shows are a complete farce. Not to mention when one does a "buy back", that means that they used to own them. So did the local police at one time own your guns?

 

[Tinpig]

is it my own lack of testicular fortitude?

Evidently not.

Given the strong possibility of hassles and unforeseen consequences for anything gun-related up here, I doubt that I'd have done what the OP did.

Good for 19-3Ben for having the courage of his convictions.

Tinpig

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I find it criminal that the gov't would effectively steal from people by paying them what they full know is a small % of what something is worth.

This is NOT helping people, it is stealing simply under a different name.

I even hate the name; it's not a buyback unless the gov't had the thing in the first place.

Anyway, great to those who go to help prevent people from being taken advantage of and maybe saving some pieces of history along the way.

I wonder how many family WWII heirlooms have been turned in and destroyed while the knowledgeable extended family member (who may have well paid full price to keep it in the family) was froze out.

 

[Teachu2]

I find it criminal that the gov't would effectively steal from people by paying them what they full know is a small % of what something is worth.

What's scrap metal worth where you live? Remember, that's what becomes of these guns. Scrap is < $.20 a pound here.

When I see that a firearms enthusiast is sitting outside a buy-back and offering true market value for guns, that argument will be valid. Until then, we're just claiming to be better because we victimize folks a little less while we enrich ourselves.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I missed my chance to unload some real junk at the last buyback in AZ before the state law banning such a waste of taxpayer money. They were offering $200. There was a writeup of some great sniping done. There was was a long line of snipers who had absolutely no fear of engaging in legal conduct in casual clothes and with signs.

Mike

 

[P5 Guy]

No questions asked gun turn in, do those receiving the firearm run the serial number to see if that turned in gun was stolen property? What would the chances be that the firearm gets retuned to the owner it was stolen from.
If no attempt was made would that mean the agents of the state are receiving stolen goods? Wouldn't that be illegal? What about defaced firearms?

 

[armedwalleye]

What's scrap metal worth where you live? Remember, that's what becomes of these guns. Scrap is < $.20 a pound here.

When I see that a firearms enthusiast is sitting outside a buy-back and offering true market value for guns, that argument will be valid. Until then, we're just claiming to be better because we victimize folks a little less while we enrich ourselves.

"tis a public service. Everybody wins.

On the other hand, to paraphrase Eli Walach in the Magnificent Seven, "If God had not intended them to be sheared, he would not have made them sheep."

I'd do it.

 

[fiddleharp]

Our local police hosted a buyback a couple of years ago, and I went and asked to make a list of everything turned in. They wouldn't let me within twenty yards of their sizeable pile of weapons, nor would they provide me with an inventory list at the end of the day. From my distant vantage point, I could see a lot of scope-sighted deer rifles and all kinds of shotguns. It was heartbreaking to think that some kid will never harvest his first turkey or deer with those particular weapons.
Southwest Florida has a huge population of retirees, and I was stunned by the number of elderly ladies arriving to turn in what were probably their late husband's collections.
I wasn't trying to snipe or interfere, I was just trying to inventory what was being turned in. The cops preferred to keep this information secret. :banghead:

 

[4v50 Gary]

Just make sure your state allows private party sales. CA doesn't.

 

[Red Wind]

Southwest Florida has a huge population of retirees, and I was stunned by the number of elderly ladies arriving to turn in what were probably their late husband's collections.

Yes, that is enough to make you cry. These "buybacks" are a complete travesty. But since they exist, I admire the OP's gumption in trying to do it right. I also admire his fortitude in coping with the Connecticut that exists today.

It can't be easy. But he is a strong man, as we can see from his posts.

 

[anothernewb]

I haven't seen one of these in my state yet. but I would certainly approach things the same way the OP did, as well as offering a free appraisal. if anything just to keep them from being destroyed.

Same thing happened with the cash for clunkers program a ways back. in my area - all it really accomplished was to trade in perfectly usable older cars - and put a whole lot of SUV's and trucks on the road. That - and brought the average price of a functional "winter beater" from the $500 range to the $1500 range virtually overnight.