Gas for Guns Buyback
We have seen a number of gun buyback programs, including toys for guns, cash for guns and even groceries for guns, and this weekend there was a “Gas for Guns,” was held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This program was reported by The Advocate, which noted:
Guns less than .38 caliber were worth a $50 gas card, Moore said. Anything higher than .38 caliber was worth $100, except for assault rifles, which were $300.
What is upsetting about this is that many of the firearms turned in were probably worth far more than a tank of gasoline, something not mentioned in the story.
SC Now.com Notes: Skeptics take aim at Horry County gun buyback programs
Usually the media sees nothing wrong with gun buybacks. However, this week following a Myrtle Beach buyback SC Now.com offered some surprising insight. The news story actually included commentary that suggested the buybacks don’t work. The story noted:
“Myrtle Beach police said there are fewer on the streets after Saturday’s “Gun Buyback” program. The event capped “Stop the Violence” week and police call the buyback a success. However, researchers said gun buyback programs, like the one held in Myrtle Beach, are not effective crime prevention tools. According to the National Research Council, there’s no evidence the buybacks reduce gun violence. Researchers said the guns usually surrendered are those that are least likely to be used in crimes.”
That’s a key that many buyback organizers should consider, “guns usually surrendered are those that are least likely to be used in crimes.” This is because they are guns in closets, under the bed or just collecting dust. In most cases the owners could get more by selling to a gun dealer or collector rather than going to a buyback.
“Over 100 guns collected in Myrtle Beach buy-back effort”
Several outlets, including The Herald Online are noting that Myrtle Beach had a guy buyback this weekend, and most claims are it was successful. This is usually the case for these type of events, often based on little evidence that these ever get guns off the street.
But what makes this one stand out is that it includes two facts and seemingly ties them together:
First, it offers a thought from organizer Rev. Tim McCray:
“McCray said the inspiration for the gun buy-back was the success other communities across the country have had with similar initiatives.”
The next sentence then reads:
“An FBI report released this month showed the number of violent crimes across the U.S. in 2010 dropped 6 percent from the 2009 estimate.”
To the reader this would imply that gun buybacks are responsible for the drop in crime, yet this fact has never been actually attributed to gun buybacks. The reader of course might never be the wiser.
Opposing Views asks: “Do Gun Buyback Programs Work?”
This week Opposing Views asked the question, “Do Gun Buyback Programs Work?” And they offered this quote from Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan:
“We asked nobody where they obtain it from. We asked nobody’s name.”
This has long been an issue, one issue at least that we have with gun buybacks. Wouldn’t some criminals actually steal guns so they could sell them? We also take issue with the fact that gun buybacks pay very little for guns, especially those of a collectible nature.
Opposing Views then offered this thought from writer Alex Tabarrok, whose op-ed piece sums up another problem:
“Gun buybacks won’t reduce the number of guns in Oakland. In fact, buybacks may increase the number of guns in Oakland. Imagine that gun dealers offered a guarantee with every gun: Whenever this gun gets old and wears down, the dealer will buy back the gun for $250.The dealer’s guarantee makes guns more valuable, so people will buy more guns. But the story is exactly the same when it’s the police offering the guarantee. If buyers know that they can sell their old guns in a buyback, they are more likely to buy new guns. Thus the more common that gun buybacks become, the more likely they are to misfire.”
Another issue we see along the same lines is that you could use a gun in a crime, go to a buyback and get rid of the evidence, and get paid to get rid of the evidence! Thus sell your old crime gun and buy new one!
So maybe gun buybacks do work but not in the way intended unfortunately.
Staten Island Holds Gun Buyback – But Are Streets Safer?
This past weekend, a gun buyback was held in New York’s Staten Island, where Gothamist reports that “the NYPD announced that 164 guns were surrendered.” We still maintain that these are “feel good” events and nothing more when it comes to safety.
Gothamist noted the response of DA Daniel Donavan, who commented recent shooting that resulted in the injuring and loss of an eye for a toddler who was hit by a stray bullet. This is a tragedy, but the same post also noted that antique guns were handed in. Are those really being used “on the streets,” and again where is the concern over the loss of historical items?
The news site silive.com also reported the process involved:
“The process was simple and took about 15 minutes, explained the district attorney. Someone would walk in and surrender a weapon. A police officer would safeguard it and unload it if it carried bullets. The person who disposed of the weapon was given a number that coincided with the firearm. That number was then used to match a cash card to be handed to whomever dropped off the weapon.”
As the grammar police we should stress that it should be “whoever” but that’s not the point, what is the point is that this reporter either dumbed down how guns work, or doesn’t know. Can we really trust a sentence that says, “unload it if it carried bullets.”
Finally, one comment to the silive.com story, which we could not verify, noted an interesting fact:
“Not reported in this article was the turning over an SS Officer’s 1939 Luger. I think it’s safe to assume it was worth more than $200.”
This continues to be our major beef with buybacks. These events don’t really get guns off the street while at the same time manage to attract those who might otherwise get more money for their firearms if they sold to collectors or even dealers.
Washington Times Notes “Absurdity of feel-good laws”
We reported earlier this week that community activists lead by the group FATHERS offered a toy-gun buyback. It seemed absurd to us, and apparently we aren’t the only ones. The Washington Times offers this commentary: “Toying with gun control – Buyback program for squirt guns illustrates absurdity of feel-good gun laws.”
The article took aim (no pun intended) at how gun control isn’t the answer. The editorial noted:
“One need look no further than last month’s rioting in London to see that violence and chaos do not end when the populace has been disarmed. At least 100 homes burned to the ground, and shopkeepers watched helplessly as their businesses were pillaged and their livelihoods destroyed. London’s Metropolitan Police issued a 13-point list of ‘crime prevention’ tips that boiled down to a few basic recommendations: Remove valuable items from view, fire up closed-circuit surveillance cameras and call the police emergency number when the rioters arrive. Not that placing one of the 20,800 calls received in a night would have done much good. By the time the bobbies restored order, damage estimates exceeded $300 million.
“When chaos hit the streets of Los Angeles in 1992, police beat a hasty retreat. Shop owners in Asian neighborhoods, by contrast, took matters into their own hands. They organized themselves and stood watch from rooftops with their personal rifles, shotguns and pistols. They opened fire on local gangs and approaching looters, enabling the good guys to end the day with their places of business unmolested and their lives spared.
“Leftists prefer everyone to become victims. Allowing good people to defend themselves requires the intolerant admission that there’s a difference between good and evil. It’s safer for them to put all of their reliance upon government and blame society when the state isn’t up to the task.”
And maybe this is the issue. Leftists do seem to prefer everyone is the victim. Perhaps a riot is seen as a way of wealth redistribution, a Robin Hood mentality of sorts. Let the poor have their way as the rich are unarmed.
Another Gun Buyback for Yes, Toy Guns
Buffalo News offered a story on a toy gun buyback. This was picked up by website Weasel Zippers titled “Anti-Gun Fanatics Launch Buyback Program Targeting Nerf Guns…” Weasel Zippers prides itself for “scouring the bowels of the internet” and frankly, this story fits the bill way too well.
It seems that the group Fathers Armed Together to Help, Educate, Restore and Save (FATHERS) and a pizza parlor teamed up to offer a buyback. As the Buffalo News noted:
“The idea was simple: Don’t let kids get used to firing weapons, even if they’re toys.”
Today more and more kids spent their time in front of video games or watching TV instead of going outside to actually “play.” And now they’re being treated to some pizza – and in fairness a notebook and dress shirt – to hand in their toys.
Can’t we just let kids play? And what are the feelings that this sort of buyback might not create a type of mystery to guns in general. Will this ever encourage kids to seek out guns because they have been banned? How many kids are tempted to try smoking, drugs or alcohol simply because of the mystery involved?
Wouldn’t teaching responsibility be a better answer than taking away Nerf guns?
Detroit Buyback Yields Guns and Grenades
Just how bad are things in Detroit? In a recent buyback one man turned in two grenades. Now, this is interesting in several ways – several ways that the media doesn’t note. Hand grenades, at least those that work, are not the sort of thing you buy at a gun show, or a gun shop. In other words, these had to be obtained through a black market.
What the media doesn’t note is that if one can buy grenades, wouldn’t you think it is fairly easy to buy illegal firearms. The point is that tighter gun control won’t work, because this shows that in violent prone areas if criminals can get their hands on grenades somehow, guns won’t be much of an issue.
The story added a line we thought was interesting too:
“The guns bought will be melted down – meaning fewer will be on the streets and involved in crimes.”
This is misleading and we have to question the due diligence in the reporting. That line implies that the guns handed in may have been used in crimes, and were actually “on the streets,” as opposed to tucked in a closet, stored in a drawer or under a bed. What we are saying is that this particular sentence is practically a lie, it sounds good but there is no credible evidence to it. But this is true of all gun buybacks too. They sound good, but there is no evidence they do any good.
NJ2AS: TOY Gun buyback programs
Every year, particularly around the holiday season, there are articles in the news about kids “trading in” their toy guns for a more “appropriate” toy or book. Sad faced children, usually little boys, carry their prized toy guns to their fate of being crushed by machines like the Bash-O-Matic, all for the exchange of a brightly wrapped book or stuffed animal. Last Christmas I really felt sorry for a nine year old boy named Malik from Providence, RI, whose mother made him bash all, save one, of his seven toy guns (“I mean he is a boy after all,” she said); especially since my four kids have a small arsenal of Nerf guns that we use regularly in the now infamous Spivack family wars.
Detroit to Hold Gun Buyback
The Detroit News noted: “The Detroit Police Department is sponsoring a gun buy-back program from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residents will receive $25 for long guns and nonworking guns; $50 for working handguns, up to $100 maximum; $100 for assault weapons, up to $200 maximum.”
We never like to hear about gun buybacks as these are efforts that can often cost tax payer money and have little in the way of results. Here is the City of Detroit, which is in a bad way, is paying peanuts for guns. The issue we have is that it is likely this could encourage people to steal guns to turn them in.
No criminal is going to hand in a handgun for $50. And what about those who have potentially value firearms? There are many residents would could use a lot more than $50 for a gun worth far more.
