Gun buybacks are a particularly stupid idea. They have no appreciable (i.e., quantifiable) impact on crime. They waste tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money. The “no questions asked” aspect eliminates the possibility of justice for victims of serious crimes, They create a market for stolen firearms. Nuff’ said? No matter what you say about gun buybacks logically, gun control advocates love them! See? We’re doing something about gun violence. And accidents! Aside from internet kvetchers, the media’s right there with them, unselfconsciously selling the idea that gun buybacks are the best thing since sliced bread. Here’s an example of some pro-buyback propaganda from eagletribune.com‘s Mike LaBella, reporting from deep in the heart of high cap mag ban land (Haverhill, Massachusetts) . . .

Imagine a situation where parents inherited a handgun from a family member then stored it in a box in a closet, thinking it was safe for the time being.

Then the unthinkable happens . . .

Their inquisitive child finds the gun, and maybe it’s loaded or it was stored along with some bullets, and a tragedy ensues. Imagine that same gun was stolen during a break-in, and somehow it ended up on the street, and in the hands of a criminal who uses it in a robbery, or maybe a home invasion, such as the kind that happened in Haverhill this summer when two men were shot to death.

Police say these are the kinds of situations they hope can be avoided by giving residents a chance to turn in their unwanted guns with no questions asked.

Police hope? Now there’s a sound basis for public policy.

Common sense suggests that the responsibility for an unsecured firearm rests with its owner/keeper. There’s nothing to stop a gun owner from turning-in an unloved firearm at the police station or, I dunno, selling it. Oh, and as for ye olde stored-gun-in-a-shoebox problem . . .

“All guns, when not in use, with the exception of primitive firearms, must be stored or kept ‘secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device’ to prevent unauthorized use,” the Bay State’s GOAL gun rights org reveals. “Penalties are assessed even if no underage person obtains access.

As for removing [illegally unsecured] guns from the home to prevent them from being stolen, O.K., sure. But I don’t think that collecting 24 handguns, 15 rifles and shotguns and 15 “non-working guns” is going to do much in terms of reducing the population of black market firearms.

Nor is Haverhill appreciably safer because citizens turned-in 200 rounds of ammunition “including some armor-piercing bullets, as well as a Vietnam War-era hand grenade.” You wanna bet that hand grenade was inert? And just for fun, let’s zoom in a bit on those armor-piercing rounds, shall we? We’re talking about . . .

50 rounds of armor piercing bullets that police believe were from the 1960s and were made for a Russian pistol. Police said these kinds of bullets can pierce certain protective vests, resulting in injury or death to a police officer.

“Having the armor piercing rounds turned in was worth it alone as these could be used to kill police officers,” training officer Scott Ziminski said.

As opposed to non-armor piercing rounds to which the police are impervious. Anyway, in case you didn’t catch it, Haverhill’s finest are happy campers.

“There are now 39 less guns in the city that our citizens did not want,” Police spokesman Lt. Robert Pistone [above] said. “That’s 39 less guns that could have been stolen and introduced to the criminal market, or 39 less guns that some child could have found and tragically hurt or killed themselves.”

Not convinced that it was worth $3250 (only $750 over budget) in gift cards and an undisclosed amount of police pay? You obviously haven’t used the gun control advocates’ public policy financial efficiency formula. Lt. Pistone provides the calculation.

“We will never know the good that came of the program, but I do know that it did no harm and the chance that we may have saved one tragedy is well worth the effort.”

Or not.

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48 COMMENTS

  1. Haha… have had a few people contact me about what to do with a gun that they have that is damaged beyond repair. I tell them to see if their is a “gun buy back” program in their area. Sell the broken gun to the gun grabbers and then use the money to get a better gun.

  2. I read yesterday somewhere that they have a program to auction off guns instead of buying them. The author of the story was claiming it to be a great idea because the police get to keep the proceeds of the sale.

    I think it’s even worse to do this because it gives the police a perverse incentive to go searching for more guns to auction.

  3. There is some nice looking weapons on that table. I need to hit the lottery and start traveling to every anti gun state on a regular basis. Have my own private gun buy back program going!!!
    Hey if it works for them….! At least I could recoup some money back by reselling them in gun friendly states at a decent discount!!!
    Sounds like good economic and 2A support to me.

    • The problem is that the law says you can’t buy a gun in a state where you are not a resident. I agree that these buy backs are a joke. Hell, the name implies you didn’t really own the gun in the first place. How does the PD “buy back” a gun that wasn’t theirs?

      • Hmmm guess I could buy me a big ass island in International Waters, fly in and catch the folks before they go in the door, buy it up and fly home with no one the wiser.
        Set up my own sovereign nation and hire all you guys as security/military and we could have the first(in years and decades), completely gun friendly country!! No license required!!

  4. The pistol on lower right looks like a BB gun since there seems to be a CO2 canister screw where the magazine would go. Do they count bb and pellet guns in their count?

  5. The people of Haverhill are all little children who lack the personal responsibility to have anything capable of shooting projectiles at home. So sayeth the authorities.

  7. I bet the armor piercing rounds were normal 7.62×25 Tokarev… I have hundreds of rounds of surplus Tokarev.

  8. I’d be surprised if they auctioned them off. Too much liability. They’re all headed for the smelter, BB guns and all.

      • That’s typical of what I see here and totally ignorant of modern police procedures for accreditation. Everyone one of those is tagged, everyone recorded. There’s an audit trail on those guns that it would be very difficult to circumvent. The department would never risk it’s accreditation and has no reason to let these guns “wind up in the officers home’s.”

        Police corruption remains a problem but for the most part, it is aggressively pursued. In my old department we were not allowed to accept a cup of coffee without fear of suspension let alone steal a gun and hope to get away with it.

        I am sorry to see that theres so little trust in your local PD. That’s sad and I am not sure what to do to about it except go down and talk to your local PD’s public affairs officer about your concerns. Do a ride along with them or get to know one personally though an outreach program such as DARE or COPS event. Police Depts often have open house events too where you can go down and tour the facilities or question officers in a town hall style session.

        Not are cops are crooked, not all civilians are criminals. That’s a lesson both sides could learn better.

  10. For some gun grabbers they actually believe (since facts are too bothersome and time consuming to consider) that buybacks are good. Other gun grabbers know the factual truth that the buybacks are a direct waste of money and time yet may believe they are still a good idea in the ongoing propaganda war to demonize guns and one day confiscate.

  11. “We will never know the good that came of the program, but I do know that it did no harm and the chance that we may have saved one tragedy is well worth the effort,” Pistone said. “You have a class of people who have guns at home and don’t secure them properly, so if their home gets broken into you have guns on the black market used in the commission of crimes.”

    “Fiorentini said this program has been implemented in many cities across the United States and is a proven initiative to help keep stolen guns off the streets off the streets. Public Safety Commissioner Alan DeNaro said this national initiative has worked in many communities and that he wanted to try it in Haverhill.”

    I just LOVE the “unbiased” slant this writer has on the topic. The above 2 paragraphs are copied exactly from the newspaper article. The first says, “We will NEVER KNOW the good from the program…” and the second paragraph says, “…this program has been implemented in many cities across the United States and is a PROVEN initiative to help keep stolen guns off the streets.” How in the world can you have it both ways???? Is there such a thing as an unknown proven program???? Or maybe a proven unknown program????

    • Those are two quotes from two diffenent people. Pistone first, followed by Fiorentini. Pistone is saying maximum possible good is unknown, but the minimum likely good is well worth the cost. I disagree with him. But it isn’t a huge logical blunder contradicted by the later comment.

  12. First– is it truly “the heart of high cap mag ban land”? OR is it the heart of standard capacity mag ban land? A pet peeve of mine as I refuse to adopt the gun banners language refering to anything over 10 rounds as high capacity.

    Next, I have gun-buy backs to thank for my M1. A co-worker mentioned he’d been directed by his wife to get rid of the nasty old gun his father had given him. He was going to turn it in at a gun buy back. I said he should just sell it and buy golf clubs (his true passion). His comment- it’s old and I don’t know how hard it would be to sell.
    Me: “What is it?”
    Him: “An M1 Garand”
    Me: “How much would you want?”
    Him: “$150.00”
    Me: “Sold”

    And that’s how a closet queen lamenting it’s fate as unused and unappreciated bit of clutter became an admired and respected range gun vice being melted down.

  13. You cannot prove a negative, that means you have no way of knowing how many of those turned-in guns would have been used for crime had they not been turned in.

    I’m guessin’ all of them – no, only kidding. But, some for sure.

    • Oh crap!!! It’s the Armageddon!! I….I….I think I actually agree with most of what Mikey said just now!!!
      What the hell is wrong with me??? Is there a doctor in the house??

    • What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, MikeyB2904204292042920292202029202292029207711234567890.

  14. We need to set up a notification system to get more responsible gun buyers in between these unfortunate gun-burdoned subjects and the government subsidized smelter. If money wasn’t an object in these situations the same people would have turned in their grandfather’s heirlooms to the police years ago for free.

    Just think about how much happier this article could have been if enough of us had some advance warning.

  15. Here is my modest proposal and if I had a little more cash I would follow up on it myself.
    Organize gun buybacks programs like this run by us, the gun owners/lovers. We would be able to “to get unwanted guns off the street” and into the hands of people who would shoot them, take care of them and give them proper homes. Having to give out a few $10 or $15 gift cards for crap guns that could be properly disposed of would be worth it to get an M1 for $150!
    Anybody down in the Houston area want to go in with me on this?
    -sbaker

    • Hey you get it set up and I will sen you some gift cards!!! I can hear those poor little defenseless .45’s crying to come home with me!!!!
      Poor poor babies!! ;(

  17. What about other dangerous products, gasoline, cleaning products, poisons and matches you can go on and on. Its like having folks turn in all thier matches to police for a pack of gum, in return thinking this will stop arsonists from setting fires. What a crock of S***.

  18. “All guns, when not in use, with the exception of primitive firearms, must be stored or kept ‘secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device’ to prevent unauthorized use,”
    Say I have one of those! It’s called a house!

  19. Proof that the NYPD and LAPD are filled not by good qualified men to be cops but buy idiots who goosestep to every liberal turn there even dumber Mayor wants them to step to. Face it the cop here is a idiot. Face it NY CPD and LA cops are mostly imbeciles, who are hired because there liberals like the mayor is.

    No gun used by criminals goes here to a gun buy back AND if a parent is dumb enough to let his .45 be out for his kids to play with then he/she would let drain cleaner or bleach out for the kid to drink and die then. Stupid parents kill kids w.o gun more than with guns.

  21. I still love the time when some guys sold a ton of scrap metal back to the cops in order to send kids to shooting summer camp! That was classic!!!

  22. I grew up in a city a few miles south of Haverhill. The patently liberal gun hating culture in that part of the world cannot be underestimated. To the vast majority there it is undisputed deeply held belief that guns are evil in and of themselves. I had to move away for 10 years before I understood that my use of guns for hunting and protection isn’t shameful. My parents still struggle with my and my sons enjoyment of hunting and shooting. I have been a legal ccw for years but they have no idea that I carry each & every day. It isnt discussed of course, unless they need a ground hog/coyote or other varmint exterminated from their property. They still
    can’t help themselves from making a redneck/hick comments when any tiny piece
    of camo is worn in public even if the snark is at the expense of one of their grandchildren. Their hatred runs inexplicably deep.

  23. Gotta love those buybacks. Have a hot gun used in a murder or two? Turn it in, evidence is destroyed and you get paid. Have a rusted piece of crap that won’t fire and could never be used in a crime? Turn it in and get paid. The icing on the cake is all the perfectly good firearms that could be sold to legit dealers and profit the local PD but they don’t.

    • Hey remember those old cheap plastic dart guns that were spring loaded and you just shoved the dart in the end of the barrel???
      I just found 4 in the back of my closet, now what the heck did I do with that can of black paint??? LOL!!
      Remember spending many nights sitting up with my Dad on his notes off and shooting those old darts at some crappy old movie on tv!!!

  24. There are a couple of PD’s that do sell the guns they confiscate and can’t trace back to someone it was stolen from. They buy equipment for themselves with it. In fact there was an article yesterday about one, I can’t find it now.

  25. I hate seeing pictures of these things. Sure some of those guns are trash but others are actually cool old guns that look like they are in pretty good shape. I especially hate seeing any break open revolver go.

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