By Lee Williams
The Miami Police Department plans to hold a gun buyback this Saturday at Miami City Hall, which it is calling “GUNS 4 UKRAINE.” Police are offering gift cards in exchange for the weapons: $50 for a handgun, $100 for a shotgun or rifle and $150 for what the department calls a “high powered rifle (.223 caliber, AR-15, AK-47).”
According to Miami Police Public Information Officer K. Fallat – who declined to provide her first name – the firearms “bought back” will be sent to the Ukrainian military to help in their war against Russia.
“It is my understanding that the guns are going to be shipped off to Ukraine,” Officer Fallat said Wednesday.
Therein lies the problem: shipping firearms to a foreign country without proper export license violates federal law, specifically the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, known as ITAR.
It also violates Florida Statute 790.08, which regulates what police can do with firearms or other weapons that come under their control. Basically, they can use the weapons, loan them to another law enforcement agency, destroy them or sell them, but the statute requires them to deposit all money raised from the sale into the state treasury earmarked for the benefit of the State School Fund. The state statute does not allow them to ship the arms to a foreign military.
I asked Officer Fallat if she was aware that shipping arms to a foreign country could potentially violate ITAR.
“Sir, I am not aware of that. I’m not shipping them. The property unit is,” she said. “I will make a note of that and advise my higher ups.”
Neither was she aware if the Miami Police Department had a license to export firearms.
“I don’t know, sir, perhaps,” she said.
Officer Fallat was also unaware that shipping firearms to a foreign country was prohibited by Florida Statute 790.08.
“I can look it up and get back to you. I don’t know that,” she said. “I always keep my Florida Statute book handy. The role of a PIO is if I don’t have answers for you, I will get answers for you.”
Officer Fallat then requested I email my questions to her, which was done. I have not yet heard back from her or her supervisors.
As of today, the gun buyback is still scheduled to be held Saturday.
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Either the Miami P.D. failed to check with its lawyers first, or these guns were always slated for the shredder, i.e., a typical gun buy back prettied up with a ploy of “doing something for a good cause.” From what I have heard, few of these buybacks result in functional arms anyway, or ancient ones that no one would ever ship to a foreign country for military use, so why the department would anticipate receiving a bunch of functional ARs or AKs is beyond comprehension..
True. Judging from past “buy backs”, they will get junk worth less that the cost of shipping them. Pretty sure they aren’t going anywhere but the scrap heap.
Anything decent ends up in an officer’s collection.
In S. FL. that has been the trend since before i was born. I’m 45.
just trying to put a pretty face on it…
They will ” circle back ” when hell freezes over. Think I would get into trouble by offering $ 100 per handgun ?
No. Private sales are legal in Florida.
There have been instances where an enterprising person has gone to one of these “buybacks” and offered more for the weapons than the police were paying.
*ALL Patriotic Americans* should go out and buy a $600.00+ AR 15, and sell it to the Police Dept for $150.00 and break multiple BATFE, and State firearms laws while doing so and maybe even do prison time for it……Uh, Uh,,, wait a minute, that deal sucks any way you look at it.
Must have been dreamed up by a democrat poli…..
Agreed, these were always going to go to the shredder.
Miami Police Public Information Officer K. Fallat. Kenia. Her first name is Kenia.
What kind of a moron would sell their AR for 150 bucks🙄
And that matters WHY, exactly, Joel?? What he said was that she “declined to give” her name. Why should a member of the public be required to do research to find the name of a PUBLIC EMPLOYEE????
I appreciate you being willing to do the research, but the POINT is that a PUBLIC EMPLOYEE refused to state her name. Yeah, and she should refuse to accept her next paycheck, but what’s the likelihood that that will happen?
In Florida, it’s typical practice for LEOs to identify themselves as “First Initial, Last Name.” In Jacksonville it’s even listed on the fender of the police cruisers.
I haven’t looked up if any statute applies, but even on police reports, the officer is identified as Initial/Last name. It’s the same on the nameplate that each one wears on his/her uniform.
Ask me how I know about those last two. 🙂
And she declined to provide only her *first* name.
The legal violations should not be surprising considering most of the retired criminals from New Jersey live in Miami.
$150 for what the department calls a “high powered rifle (.223 caliber, AR-15, AK-47).”
So if you have a bolt-action rifle chambered in .223, then it’s a “high-powered rifle,” but if you have the exact same rifle in say .308, .30-06, .300 Win Mag, or .338 Lapua Magnum, then it’s…. what, a low-powered rifle?!
I guess big-game hunters have been using the wrong calibers for hunting all these years! “Grab the .223 rifle, Joe, we’re going grizzly bear hunting!”
If any AR-15s make it to Ukraine under this farce, the gun illiterates could then rightfully claim that an AR is an actual “weapon of war.”
Hey, for the gun grabbers to make an omelette, some eggs must be broken.
So what if it is a weapon of war.
Kinda what the Second Amendment is all about.
Ulp , speak softly possum, word gets around they’ll ban the Second Amendment too.
delete delete ^:
I love and admire President Joseph Robinett Biden.
When America was in turmoil a true leader stepped forward, he knew what kind of mess the Trump had made and yet he took the position of president and is now making great changes.
Onward through the darkness my Great Leader.
MCGA
You can also put a standard 1960’s era VW bug in a formula 1 race, but that does not mean the VW bug is a formula 1 race car.
But whats next though?
Will they send food to Ukraine then claim foods are ‘war rations’ thus they must be restricted for the American public?
Will they send medical supplies to Ukraine then claim that medical supplies are ‘war supplies’ they must be restricted for the American public?
The commercially manufactured civilian MSR rifle (what they call the AR-15 which has not actually existed since 1964), does not qualify as a ‘weapon of war’ or ‘assault rifle’ under standards set by the U.S. Government in military testing for such use and can not pass such testing.
The only ‘weapon of war’ here is the words, actions, unconstitutional laws and actions the radical left and the president are employing to wage war on the American public by trying to remove their constitutional rights.
If they are allowed to set this precedent in relation to the enumerated Second Amendment right it allows them to use the same “rights are not absolute” excuse to infringe and eventually remove other enumerated rights.
Never before in U.S. history, until Biden became president, have our enumerated rights been subjected to such an attack and threat. Sure, there have been cases where it may have seemed like it but overall the Second survived, but this time its different and Biden is a president personally doing it for a personal agenda ignoring his oath of office and responsibility to the republic as a whole to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”, ‘preserve’ means keeping it as it is by the way, period, and allowing private interest to also attack our rights with impunity and seeks to overall do away with the exercise of the Second Amendment for the majority of or all American citizens.
Biden has to be removed from office, as do his allies in the senate, so remember to vote correctly.
The way I see it the Ukranians do not deserve guns now. They previously were allowed to own firearms…… until they turned them in and believed their government would take care of them.
I’m keeping all mine.
Since the Ukraine govt is handing guns out to basically anyone who volunteers to fight the orcs, I’d say the government is doing exactly as it should be in the given situation.
Agreed, but I’ll be more curious to see what happens after the invaders leave. Without a doubt, the Ukrainian government will demand the people return the weapons the government “loaned” them, but what percentage will actually comply? I would hope it’s a low number but given the regions authoritarian history, I have my doubts
Pretty sure that there are lots of left behind arms left behind bye demilitarized Russians.
Not really. The gov’t (and all gov’ts) should have handed out arms and ammo from their very founding. These king shits only want their subjects armed when the castle is being stormed.
Is Ron DeSantis going to let this happen?
FL Statute 790.08:
Section (7) This section does not apply to any municipality in any county having home rule under the State Constitution.
Miami-Dade operates under a home-rule charter.
Dan, Jeremy et al:
is there an operational or legal reason that when you check for moderation-held comments that you cannot delete the obviously non-firearm and non-blog related comments?
The Sp amm ers are becoming more prolific and it is annoying.
“…delete the obviously non-firearm and non-blog related…”
Well, there go three-quarters of my posts.
Our filters block over 95% of the spam comments we get. Less than 5% make it though. Far less. Most are automatically deleted and some are held for moderation. We obviously delete those. Keeping up with them is a never-ending battle.
Dan,
Thank you for your reply. Did not realize that TTAG attracted so much spam.
Spammers have to eat too.
So theoretically, if this were to work, they’d send Ukraine a bunch of zip guns, rusty old .22s, and break action shotguns. 🤣
Can we send the Russians a container of Zip22s?
Do the right thing Americans, give your gunms away.
Our filters block over 95% of the spam comments we get. Less than 5% make it though. Far less. Most are automatically deleted and some are held for moderation. We obviously delete those. Keeping up with them is a never-ending battle.
Doesn’t a stripped lower ($60-$80) count as a “high-powered rifle”
You may be on to something!
What really gets my goat is I didn’t find out about this buyback in time to make a cart full of zipguns to sell these grabber trashbags. I think I could make enough to buy an Extar.
“Therein lies the problem: shipping firearms to a foreign country without proper export license violates federal law, specifically the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, known as ITAR.”
Inquiring minds wonder if Ole Slo Joe signed the ITAR paperwork for the Taliban receipt of those billions in real assault weapons??? Now, Joey wants to lecture Americans on proper retention and transfer of “weapons of war”???? SH;RE:LMAO….. Arrest “Doctor” Jilly for elder abuse; Kamala for impersonation of a Vice-President.
The law applies to everyone and all entities. The PD needs an FFL at minimum to do this and unless it’s voted in to law by US voters they should not be able to spend taxpayer funds for an operation that buys guns from the public to sell to a foreign country. There’s no “buy back” here as they didn’t sell them to anyone anyway. Firearms confiscated should be prohibited from being destroyed as long as they safely function as they can be auctioned off to lawful gun buyers. Now that they TOOK the power to do NIICS checks there’s no excuse not to sell such firearms to the public. Kyle Rittenhouse’s AR15 should’ve been returned to him or his parent(s) or his attorney. Judges should not have the power to order firearms destroyed unless they are damaged and not repairable and only AFTER any good parts could be scavenged.
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