Posted on 10/24/2015 6:45:56 AM PDT by marktwain
I have previously written that the primary purpose of gun turn in events has been political theater designed to teach the lesson that guns are bad and should be turned in to the police. A number of academics have done studies that show that gun turn in programs are ineffective in decreasing crime. Even the “progressive” economics author of “Freakonomics” says that they are counter-productive for actually decreasing crime. From the “Freakonomics” web site:
When it comes to gun buybacks, both the theory and the data could not be clearer in showing that they don’t work. The only guns that get turned in are ones that people put little value on anyway. There is no impact on crime. On the positive side, the “cash for clunkers” program is more attractive than the gun buyback program because, as long as they are being driven, old cars pollute, whereas old guns just sit there.
This is from 2009. It is not particularly unusual; academic studies are in agreement that gun “buybacks” do not reduce crime, and that police resources used for them could be better spent elsewhere.
The disarmist author of the opinion piece in the Chicago Sun-Times admits that gun turn in events, called in Orwellian terms “buy backs” (you cannot buy back something that you never owned), do not reduce crime. Then he gives the real reason for the event. Remember that the event is paid for with tax dollars. From chicago,suntimes.com:
(snip)
There is, nonetheless, great value in such programs. They are part of a larger effort to reset society’s thinking about guns, to spread the message that we are awash in guns — so many of them illegal — and we must do more to combat gun violence.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
I think the Gun Turn In events are just an opportunity for local cops to find bargains from the weaponry turned in.
If there were any going on locally, I bring a thousand dollars or so and see what I could find.
Second City Cop Blog
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Money for Guns
Didn’t we mention this just yesterday?
Hours after Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a $250,000 gun buyback program on Monday, a downstate gun-rights advocate promised to come to Chicago to exploit it.
“We will be delighted to transact business once more with do-gooders in Chicago,” John Boch, executive director of Champaign-based Guns Save Life, said Monday.
Guns Save Life used Chicago’s 2012 gun buyback to embarrass city officials. That year, members said they turned in about 60 guns — some of them rusty and inoperable.
They received $100 MasterCard gift cards for each gun, which they used to buy ammunition for a National Rifle Association youth camp in Bloomington and bolt-action rifles to give away to campers.
Suburban Chicago gun dealers also took advantage of the no-questions-asked policy of the 2012 buyback to unload inventory worth less than $100 in exchange for the $100 cards, sources said.
At the time, city officials angrily accused Guns Save Life of abusing a program intended to take guns off the streets of Chicago and reduce violence. But Boch says the group was simply demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the program.
“Tell the mayor we need substance over symbolism,” he said Monday.
As members of these organizations, we’d also extend our thanks to the mayor and the gullible taxpayers/corporations coming up with this money. It shall be put to good use.
UPDATE: Not so fast! Rahm is ready for so-called “scammers:”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel says officials are ready for activists who want to thwart the city’s gun buyback program, reports WBBM [...]
Mayor Emanuel says officials and community leaders will make sure that gun rights advocates don’t scam the weapons buyback program by turning in worthless guns for gift cards. The Champaign-based group Guns Save Life has threatened to turn in worthless, inoperable guns.
“One of the things we did to redesign it is to work through our church leaders to make sure it’s exactly taking guns that we think need to get off the street off the streets,” Emanuel said. “I know where I stand. I stand with the residents, yesterday as well as last night, who want to see police on the street and getting both guns and kids off the street.”
And how exactly are the churches going to do this? Because churches are experts on guns. And the Department has already stated there will be no checking of ID’s and pretty much no questions asked. It’s not like they’re setting up a portable firing range to test these things.
Are they going to discriminate against white people bringing in guns? Because we know lots of black people who belong to these groups. Are they going to only put the money in black neighborhoods? That might appear to be racist against brown and white people, after all, they’re victims of crime, too. Oh wait...is Rahm only putting the quarter million in neighborhoods hardest hit by violence? Now we’re getting closer to the problem that no one speaks about, but still claims is racist.
Give it up Rahm. One way or the other, you’re going to give a bunch of this money to people who use it to educate people as to gun rights, sharpen their gun skills, or support gun camps for kids.
Labels: gun issues
Read and post comments:
Scroll down to story:
http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/
***They are part of a larger effort to reset society’s thinking about guns,***
They started doing this back in 1963 after JFK was murdered, and really went into high gear hysteria in 1968 after Bobby Kennedy was murdered by a Palestinian immigrant.
Actually he was raised as a Christian. Sad.
I have always thought that a person could create a sign and a have an official looking trailer parked near one of these events as an “ammunition disposal point”. Where anyone who is dropping off a firearm could also “dispose” of the ammunition.
Might be a good way to stock up on some rounds.
Just saying ....
Taqiyya.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.