At Guns Save Life, the Illinois-based gun rights group, we’ve lost count of how many times we’ve traded broken down clunker firearms to the “do-gooders” in Chicago for perfectly good cash.
What makes it even more deliciously subversive is that we then donate the money collected to buy ammo for youth shooting programs.
We also use the cash to buy guns to give away at youth shooting camps.
Lots of guns.
And even more guns.
In the immortal words of Britney Spears, we went and did it one more time. Or maybe, oops, we “did it again.” Either way, about three weeks ago we took a dozen unwanted and no longer loved clunkers to the latest edition of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s misguided gun buybacks.
A few of these were older than President Joe Biden and they worked about as well. Some of the more recent specimens also had issues. No self-respecting gang banger would dream of getting caught dead (figuratively or literally) with any of these in his hand.
Why are we just now writing about it? Because we didn’t want the take a chargeback from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s henchmen. After all, Mayor Lightfoot doesn’t react well to embarrassment and humiliation. Also, this time through, the pre-paid VISA cards expired just days after the event. In the past, they were functional for months before expiring.
The trip wasn’t without some frustration. We took a dozen guns up with us. The officers running the event erroneously determined that one of the guns wasn’t a gun when in fact it was a .22 Short pocket pistol from the late 1800s…with a folding trigger.
They also claimed that another one, which looked like a cheap knock-off of a GLOCK, was a BB-gun, when in fact it was a “real” .22 caliber rimfire handgun. What’s more, they wouldn’t give the two firearms back to our people when officers’ initial determinations were contested.
In the end we only walked away with $1010 for what was essentially scrap metal and paper weights. A modest sum of cash for a very good cause.
Admittedly, we have our work cut out for us to match the work of the gent who turned in 3-D printed “firearms” for $21,000 at a Utica, New York gun buyback event. Maybe someday we’ll match that for return on investment. Still, we did pretty well for the noble cause of introducing young people to the fun and excitement of shooting…and how to do it safely.
Thanks Mayor Lightfoot! You’re the best.
Until next time….
As to police contesting whether the guns were real, seems the “no questions asked” rule has been abandoned.
GOD bless you GSL. Yer doing the Lord’s work!
it is interesting there were qualms about returning the non guns too.
Cops = storm troopers. Get on the right side of history and get real jobs. Stop enabling the state, commies.
Lol.
Wouldn’t storm troopers be more like meteorologists?
“Cops = storm troopers….Stop enabling the state, commies.”
We have yet to see overall, or even violent, crime decline in places where “de-fund the police” was installed. indeed, the trend is more crime in those locales.
Is this what you are advocating?
We need cops. I’ve never argued that we don’t. What we do not need are cops that will shoot a citizen and then hold medical care off him for 40 minutes.
It’s not just cops. We need a rethink of the whole justice system. DA’s need to go to prison for travesties like the criminal charges against Rittenhouse. An 18yo felon that is non violent and non rapey needs better options than a lifetime as a felon.
Our system is broke. And we cannot fix it with more of the same.
“We need cops. I’ve never argued that we don’t.”
Thinking anyone declaring “Cops = Storm Troopers” is advocating for de-fund the police. If that is not the case, wouldn’t we expect to see a more tailored, detailed statement?
And yes, “the system” is a mess; it cannot be fixed, only tinkered with.
To an extent, it can be ‘fixed’. Taking out the militarization factor, at least in part is easy enough. Only need a concerted effort on the fedz part to nix the loans of .mil hardware.
As for the trained us v. them attitudes, disparaging civilian commentary within, and low IQ hiring practice standard fallacies, well, that is a whole other matter. Best to deal with this aspect on the local level.
Two things can be true at once. We can have storm trooper police and we can have crime under control.
Problem is we dont want both. We want “Mayberry police” that do that job without crushing the common citizen and violating the constitution all the time. i.e. not stormtroopers.
Also we want cops that keep crime under control.
Assuming that ever truly existed, we want that.
I couldn’t agree more. I left working in the court system after 25 years because I couldn’t stand the travesty any more. From cops lying about probable cause to judges accepting those blatant lies without a blink, to prosecutors violating established principles of courtroom conduct as we saw in Rittenhouse, to sentences that were a joke that had the felon back out on the streets almost before they could process him in our “correctional” system. The system doesn’t correct a thing.
Yes, we need law enforcement officers, otherwise we descend into the days of vigilantism which from all accounts, while swifter than our present system and more final with far more hangings, was as far from a justice system as Saturn is from Earth.
We need honest cops who are actually PEACE officers trying to maintain the peace. I won’t reiterate the stories about Deputy Sheriff John J. Murphy — it’s almost a stereotypical joke — the finest patrol deputy I ran across in my 25 years of courtroom work. But he was a black sheep because he didn’t follow rigid department rules. He used a mild approach and common sense. He wasn’t afraid to draw his weapon if the situation really called for it but he preferred to talk things down. He should have been a hostage negotiator but he only had a high school diploma, no fancy degrees. However his life experience was far superior to any psychology doctorate in my opinion.
I can imagine the guy at the Utica buyback telling them, “I’ll be back tomorrow after I print up some more guns.”
What I see are kids who appear like they are enjoying adult guidance. That’s great because when heads full of mush look to each other for guidance the outcome is often a train wreck.
Using an opponent’s assests against them. Sun-tzu would have been proud.
GSL is doing the Lord’s work.
I’m all for gunm buy backs, now all I’ve gotta do is find me a police officer or city that will buy me a gunm.
So far no luck.
“What’s more, they wouldn’t give the two firearms back to our people when officers’ initial determinations were contested.”
That’s called an unlawful and unconstitutional seizure (AKA ‘confiscation’)
“In the end we only walked away with $1010 …”
Sadly, in today’s ammunition market that amount of money doesn’t go all that far.
Regardless, well done Mr. Boch and Guns Save Lives.
“Lots of guns.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_urZ5KDPec
@Kyle
There are a coupla miles difference between, We want “Mayberry police” that do that job without crushing the common citizen and violating the constitution all the time. i.e. not stormtroopers.”, and the broad-brush, all inclusive, “Cops = Storm Troopers.”
Thanx for the lead into my thoughts on the matter. I would want Mayberry police, too. However…slightest resistance, and down you go, free ride in the back of the RMP.
pfather pfleger once again removed while yet another molestation claim is reviewed.
Comments are closed.