Gun “buy back” programs (which are ill named as you can’t buy something back unless you previously owned it) are one of the dumbest ideas that government agencies have ever conjured up to fight crime. Anybody with working cognitive capabilities could tell you that criminals aren’t the ones who will turn in their firearms for the measly offering made by the state. Well it appears as though one police department has figured out that many guns that have been turned in are actually non-functional shit. That’s their claimed reason for offering less money at least although I’d say it’s likely they are just getting cheap:
Instead of offering $50 per gun, the city will pay $50 per person.
This is being done to discourage people who might misuse the program as a way to unload defective weapons, said Martha Earnhardt, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery Department of Public Safety. A news release about the buyback program states that the city specifically forbids gun dealers from participating in the buyback.
If you have a firearm you wish to rid yourself of be smart and sell it to somebody who will give you fair market value for it. Most firearms are worth more than $50.00 and frankly I find the actions being performed by departments doing these gun “buy back” programs to be fraudulent. They are taking advantage of people who haven’t a clue what firearms are worth which is something the state often decries when private individuals do it.
Personally I find handing over completely broken and non-fixable firearms to the state a great idea. It’s kind of like getting stolen money back, you dump a broken gun and receive $50.00 of your taxpayer money back. On top of that no functional firearm is needlessly destroyed.
A tip of the hat goes to The Truth About Guns for bringing this article to light.
“If you have a firearm you wish to rid yourself of be smart and sell it to somebody who will give you fair market value for it.”
And if you can’t sell it because you are a prohibited person, or the gun could tie you to a crime, then wait for the police to catch your ass and send you to a place where you can’t hurt any good people.
Frankly this money would be better spent putting officers in the streets to catch criminals.
If there were money to be made from this Gun Shops would have big “Guns for Cash” days where they would inspect guns people had no use for and give fair value.
But really in free America you so often see pawn shops and gun shops with signs letting people know they can exchange guns for cash…and vice versa!