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Rochester police tag, bag and ultimately destroy a shotgun at a State-funded gun buyback (courtesy democratandchronicle.com)

Gun buybacks are ridiculous. There’s no proof whatsoever that buying unloved, unwanted and broken-ass guns from the general public—with “no questions asked” immunity from even the most heinous offenses—does anything whatsoever to reduce crime. None. But gun buybacks certainly prove that gun control theater is more important than practical measures when it comes to maintaining political power for left-leaning “leaders.” For example, “NY State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a series of state-sponsored gun buyback programs on Saturday,” syracuse.com reports. “In a news release, Schneiderman said . . .

By encouraging gun owners to turn in their weapons through our cash-for-guns program, we’re removing deadly firearms from locations where they can be stolen or otherwise misused, keeping them out of the wrong hands.

Can be. Not are. ‘Cause we’re guessing here. No stats available. And certainlyno  cost/benefit comparison to other approaches to reducing “gun violence” like, I dunno, eliminating plea bargaining for those times when “the wrong hands” use a firearm to injure another citizen. Nope. That’s not “common sense” gun control.

Popular as they are, buybacks ain’t cheap.

The state has committed $100,000 statewide to the effort, and compensation will be given in the form of pre-loaded debit cards.

Schneiderman’s mob’s digging into the taxpayers’ pockets (again, still) to fork-out $100 for assault weapons, $75 for handguns, $50 for rifles and shotguns, and $25 for antique and non-working firearms. That’s an average of $62.50 per gun. So 1600 guns later, the money’s gone.

We don’t know how many guns were collected in Rochester, the site of the first gun buyback in the initiative. But we know that Schneiderman’s broken-ass gun roadshow now moves to Binghamton, Poughkeepsie, Utica, Yonkers, and the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga. Bottom line: the Empire State’s gun taxpayer-funded gun buyback fund covers just 266 guns per event.

What’s the bet that the $100k is only part of the State’s financial commitment to gun buybacks? Well, we know that’s true, because these numbers never include police overtime or the cost of adding to their pensionable hours. That tally could add the same again to the tab. And there’s no way Schneiderman’s gonna stop an event because the state ran out of cash. Ain’t gonna happen.

And for what is all this money (time and effort) poured down a hole? To vilify firearms, so politicians and police can claim they’re “doing something” about “gun violence” at the same time New York’s SAFE Act is disarming law-abiding New Yorkers (requiring gun registration and restricting residents to seven rounds per loaded gun for self-defense and defense of their loved ones). How great is that?

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25 COMMENTS

    • I think Bloomy funded those out of his own pocket; but even then, public employee time is invisible to the budget.

  1. Sooner or later, we’re going to read about Schneiderman hiring hookers like his predecessor Eliot Spitzer. Since Schneiderman is even more low rent than Spitzer, I expect that they’ll be ugly hookers.

  2. Under New York’s definition, isn’t a Ruger 10/22 an assault weapon?

    I wonder if they’ll take an old, beat up stripped lower-receiver. After all, that’s what technically “makes” an AR and AR.

        • Magazine does not matter with the assualt rifle definition. Plus, we have been limited to 10 round magazines for some number of years now. And as of this year, we can only load 7 of those rounds into our 10 round magazines. Scouts honor.

  3. This money should come out of Scneiderman’s pockets. Period. He should then be busted for buying firearms without an FFL.

    • Should have a beer buy back program then. If your beer tastes like what you’d expect mule piss to be, trade in the half that’s left for an Applebee’s gift card and no questions asked. Or maybe they should do a buyback on small pieces of paper since we’re at war with drugs, or was that Eurasia?

  4. Have they sat down and thought about how long (and how many tax dollars) it will take to make a dent on some 300 million guns in America, at only a few hundred busted old guns at a time?

    I hear gun manufacturers are making new guns, too. Isn’t that something?

  5. Has anyone thought that a gun rights group should hold gun buybacks? Those who have guns they don’t want can get rid of them (although anyone turning in an obvious murder weapon should be reported) and they could be given cash or a gift card or whatever.

    Then the guns can be inspected and auctioned off to members or something; maybe donate a portion of the profits to charity just for good PR. Its better than perfectly good guns (and often valuable pieces of history) getting melted down into “peace bricks” or other such nonsense.

    Everybody wins, except screaming puritan harpies who think all guns must be eliminated to protect their feelings.

  6. Ruger, S&W, Colt, Remington, etc. must love those buybacks that reduce the supply of used guns, and boost the demand for new guns.

    They can say what that Doritos commercial used to say; “Go ahead, crunch away. We’ll make more”.

    Stupid gungrabbers.

  7. If you think $100k is alot to be wasted on useless buybacks, nothing beats the pistol buyback in NSW in the mid-2000s which cost tens of millions. The law was purposely changed to make as many previously legal pistols now illegal, and that included 1911 variants of all types. The chief sock-puppet ^H police commissioner made a public statement that said how this would reduce crime by “getting guns off the streets”. Newsflash sparky, the guns were NOT on the streets but locked up in SAFES!

    I wish someone would finally realize that punishing law-abiding-firearm-owners (LAFOs) is like a farmer shooting the dog because a fox raided the henhouse.

  8. Well this is the state on the East coast that thinks like they know what’s best for everyone,such as the case for Kalifornia being the state on the West coast,this is also the home state for Rep Peter King,who declares he is a moderate Republican,I say BS,he is another progressive like John McCain,who for years proclaimed he was pro gun but the liar voted for the new gun control bill this last April,just follow Kings voting record and you can see for yourself.He might as well not spend money on a race for President,won’t get the job.Be prepared and ready.Keep your powder dry.

  9. Please use quotes when you say “assault weapons.” I’d bet that no true assault weapons were turned in, only “scary looking black long guns with things that go up.” If any of those.

    It’s a small thing, but when we start using their improper language we’re implicitly validating them. (Thanks to G. Orwell for making this point far better than I could.)

    • + 1
      Do not let the clever manipulators on the other side control the language. Make them stick to the proper terminology, no conflation of terms.

  10. I wonder how many guns were bought back that a crime was committed in? Now how will those cases ever be solved if new evidence comes to light without the gun that was used?

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