MN: Minneapolis Gun "Buy Back" Works for Second Amendment Supporters

Gun Watch ^ | 29 August, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

image From facebook

The Minneapolise gun "buy back" held on 27 August, 2016 was a great success for everyone concerned.

Gun haters were able to buy 150 firearms to destroy.  It helped satisfy their urge to "do something"  symbolic and it made them feel good.  The people turning in old, cheap, broken down guns got money to upgrade to better things. Many, if not most, were Second Amendment supporters.

Gun manufacturers were able to manufacture new and better guns, and sell them to willing buyers. Private purchasers made some good deals.

The publicity was almost a draw.  Gun haters claimed guns were bad.  Second Amendment supporters showed that they were valuable and wanted.  I judge it a plus for the Second Amendment supporters.

The star of the show was the homemade shotgun made from $8 worth of pipe, some scrap wood, and tape, that brought a $100 for its owner.  The serial number was buybacksdontwork01, written in marker on the stock.

The police officers running the show were in on the fun. They did a great job.  From MNguntalk.com:

I stood there for those 2 hrs talking to the officers and they didn't know the rules so the first few people had no limits enforced. The officers didn't care about any of this and made plenty of jokes about how silly it was. 

A guy turned in a homemade slide fire 12 ga. made out of pipe and a 2x4. The officers thought it was hilarious.

Here is a picture of the line before the "buy back" started.

From MNguntalk.com:

They took four from me including an "AR" for $300 ... a Charter Arms AR-7 parts gun with a stripped barrel nut 
The cops there did a great job. No issues at all except for a late start.
Every single person in line was one of us

The AR-7 met the criteria for an "assault weapon" listed in the "buy back" announcement.  It was semi-automatic.  It was small caliber.  It has a detachable magazine.  As a bonus, it was an "AR" (Armalite Rifle) and it had a plastic stock.  The organizers were pleased.  The had scored an "assault weapon"!  Win-win.  Everybody happy!

image from startribune.com

The private buyers were happy too.  At least one got a rifle and a shotgun.  I would bet that the shotgun was a nice pump, double, or semi-auto.  Maybe the rifle was a Marlin 336, or a Winchester 94.  They are common in Minnesota.  Perhaps it was something more exotic, like a Remington model 8, or a full military 03A3.  Those were pretty common back in the day. From startribune.com:

The event also attracted several private firearms buyers who stood outside the fire stations promising more money for some weapons, and profiting after the buyback ran low on funds.

Gun collector Paul Joat drove from Chisago County to scope out what people brought in. He conducted two purchases on the street, for a rifle and shotgun for $175.

The Second Amendment supporters got in their share of comments. From cbslocal.com:

Some gun owners were skeptical of the program’s effectiveness.  One anonymous gun owner said he received $200 in gift cards for his firearm and plans to use the freed up funds for a new gun.

I suspect that this sort of event is headed for the dust bin of history.  The real purpose has always been propaganda; send the message "Guns bad.  Turn them in!" But with private buyers and Second Amendment supporters in attendance, the message becomes decidedly mixed.

Some friends wistfully wondered why they never have an event like that near them.  I suggested that maybe they could organize their own.  All they have to do is find a non-profit or philantrophy minded gun hater with a few extra tens of thousands of dollars.

It was reported that this event had $25,000 worth of funds, and it was out of money in less than two hours. It was scheduled to run for 8 hours.  They bought about 150 guns, so that is an average of $167 per gun.  Most of those turned in had to be .22 rifles and shotguns, or the average would have been higher.

Shotguns and .22 rifles that were not semi-auto, and did not have detachable magazines, brought $100 each.  Larger caliber rifles and handguns were worth $200.  "Assault weapons" were worth $300.

A good time was had by all.


©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch 

[marktwain]

If the gun haters conduct many more operations like this, it will make many more Second Amendment supporters happy.

[jsanders2001]

"Some gun owners were skeptical of the program’s effectiveness.  One anonymous gun owner said he received $200 in gift cards for his firearm and plans to use the freed up funds for a new gun."

Probably not what the gun grabbers wanted. Good.

[riverrunner]

I only wish they were held closer I have several non-functioning firearms I would trade in.

[digger48]

question...

When they “buy back” the guns, do they do a 4473 on themselves for each and every purchase like they make us go through?

If not, why are they exempt?

We have no proof that some of the guns don’t end up in the private collection of the “buyers” instead of being destroyed.

[marktwain]

In most states, private sales are legal, and therefore no 4473 is required.

Some of the other states specifically exempt police from their laws.

[nitzy]

Those who are ignorant of the second amendment are also ignorant of the laws of economics. That is good news for those of us who aren’t.

[PROCON]

A good time was had by all.

Thanks gun grabbers for supporting our 2nd Amendment!

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[Billthedrill]

Pretty slick-lookin’ shotgun they got there. Nice two-by-four. Obviously custom fit...

[GailA]

Kiss my Southern Grits, and pry my gun out of my cold dead hands.

If you live in Memphis its more like 40 mins, unless it's an Officer Down situation.

[yarddog]

The one thing which bothers me about these programs is every now and then some old widow turns in her late husbands WWII bring back, mint artillery Luger.

She has no idea that it is worth so much more and thinks she is doing a good deed.

It really does happen.

[marktwain]

I have seen it happen, personally. Nothing I could do about it. In one case, I offered to look at the WWII bringback, the widow would not even let me look in the bag she was carrying it to the turn-in.

She said her late husband had once used it to defend them when they were out in the desert. She still turned it in. I never knew what it was, only a bring-back pistol from WWII.

I actually saw a minty Luger with original holster and spare mag turned in.