The Salinas Californian on Buy Back Program

The mainstream media (MSM) is quick to point out that ongoing police sponsored “gun buyback programs” offered around the country. One such event was held by the Salinas Police Department in California, where “more than 200 guns were collected.” This program offered $200 for assault weapons, $100 for handguns and shotguns and $50 for rifles reports The Salinas Californian. And participants were given a free “terminate violence” shirt donated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. That’s all great, but there has never been a conclusive study as whether these programs in fact reduce violence or crime in a city.

The problem is that the MSM doesn’t ever question that part. The Californian simply stated:

“Although police officers didn’t expect gang members to donate away their guns, Avery said the program will <sic> still help with the department’s efforts to reduce crime.

“‘A percentage of crimes [in Salinas] are committed with stolen guns,’ Avery said. ‘We limit that availability when we remove these guns.’”

Two other points are never mentioned by the MSM in these cases as well:

1) The paper claims that among the guns collected were “A variety of guns were collected, including old rifles with bayonets, “Dirty Harry”-like pistols and handguns small enough to hide in a person’s palm.”

This is a problem because those “old rifles with bayonets” could be worth far more than $50! How often do you think members of these groups sponsoring the collection might find some nice treasures for themselves during these events?

2) A percentage of crimes committed is cited to be done with stolen guns, but has it ever been questioned whether these organized payouts for guns would in fact encourage criminals to try to steal guns? Here is an automatic way of essentially “selling” stolen merchandize without the fear of getting arrested. These gun turn-in events are usually no questions asked, so for a criminal it is a goldmine. Steal a gun, and sell it to the police, where you have no risk of being questioned about the crime.

Of course why would we expect the MSM to question any event that gets “guns off the streets.”