Local gun buy back program

The last buy back I was at in San Jose, there were only two decent guns brought in. One man brought in his grandfather's Colt New Service. His grandfather was a Canadian Mountie, and this was his issued revolver. It was in almost perfect condition with all the correct markings and included the original holster. ... He said he wanted the gun destroyed. He did not want some gang member buying the gun and killing people on the street. How do you deal with someone who is paranoid and delusional?

...
Well, the N-Frame S&W Revolver with a 6-1/2 inch barrel chambered in .455 Webley must be the weapon of choice for gang-bangers, I'm very sure. :rolleyes:
 
Be careful you don't end up buying a murder weapon or stolen gun out of ignorance. Sure, it can happen on a F2F transaction as well, but you generally get to vet those a bit via email of phone before ever meeting. In this instance you are buying from a pool where it's been established before hand that the event is a no questions asked affair. Were I stupid criminal considering dumping so gun of nefarious provenance there, I'd definitely stop and sell to you for cash rather than give my crime gun to the cops for a gift certificate.
 
Be careful you don't end up buying a murder weapon or stolen gun out of ignorance. Sure, it can happen on a F2F transaction as well, but you generally get to vet those a bit via email of phone before ever meeting. In this instance you are buying from a pool where it's been established before hand that the event is a no questions asked affair. Were I stupid criminal considering dumping so gun of nefarious provenance there, I'd definitely stop and sell to you for cash rather than give my crime gun to the cops for a gift certificate.

Well yeah... the guy selling guns out of a car trunk behind the local gas station at 3am might be worthy of suspicion... but ya never know.

A couple years ago a friend purchased (attempted to purchase) a used S&W revolver from GT Distributors. GT is a large online operation with retail stores in Rossville, GA (near Chattanooga) and Austin, TX. GT largely serves law enforcement. Anytime I visit the Rossville store it's full of LEOS. Anyway... my friend buys the revolver from GT but being a resident of TN has to go through a TN FFL up the road. Revolver comes back stolen :rolleyes:. My guess is that GT took it on trade from a LEO so they didn't bother to check. Ya never know...
 
The order to do the so called buy back it had to come from much higher up in the food chain than your local PD.

The funding for such a venture must come from another source,public or private and not from the Police budget.

Find the funding to realize the motivation behind it.

Follow the money trail to the source.
 
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Year's back the Salt Lake City Police Department sponsored a gun buy. I was working as a burglary detective for the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office at the time and was officed in a substation in an unincorporated suburb. We had a few citizens bring in guns to our substation, not knowing we weren't them. As the 'gun guy' in the receptionist's mind, if I was in the building, she called me to the counter to handle things. I explained it was the SLCPD doing this, not us, and gave them the downtown address. I always offered to check the gun for them to make sure it wasn't loaded. If the gun was worth more than SLCPD was giving, I told them that and gave them the names and addresses of a couple of honest gunshops that would possibly buy them for a more fair price.

One man, prosperously dressed driving a new Cadillac, came in. I gave him the speech. He took me up on the offer to check the gun's loaded status, and he took what looked like a brand new Inglis High Power out of his bag. I told him what it was, that it was indeed empty and gave him the names of the other shops and what I thought they might offer. He smiled and said, "You seem to know a lot about guns." I said I was a hobbyist. He said, it was a real hassle to drive downtown and another hassle to find parking and he didn't see it worthwhile driving around to the gunshops for what he said as just a few bucks. How about he sold it to me?

I told him it might be some kind of conflict of interest. He said, he couldn't see a conflict, I had told him what was what and we were both adults. I told him I didn't have the money on me that the gun was worth. He said, "How much you got?" I checked my wallet and think I had just over $100.

He said, "Keep ten bucks for lunch and I'll be happy with the rest." We traded off gun for cash, exchanged business cards and we both went away happy.
 
Mrs JSRIII and I were getting ready to leave for the annual Halloween party last night when the phone rang. It was a robo call from the local police department announcing that there was to be a gun buy back program held in town on Saturday with no questions asked. They asked that the guns be unloaded and in a bag or case and that the donor would receive a gift card in exchange.

My question is, Do you think the cops would get PO'd if I set up at the opening to the driveway with a card table and a sign that said $$$$$ for guns here!!!"? :confused:


Probably. The charge would be along the line of "unlicensed dealer" I would expect. :(
 
Not too awfully long ago, the historically bleeding heart liberal city government decided to "do something" and authorized a gun purchase program. On the appointed day, local gun enthusiasts lined the streets around the location holding signs that they would buy guns for cash, rather than the gift cards the police were offering. Several members of the local gun forums showed off their scores the next day. The picture that I saw on the news that night showed a barrel with a couple of pistols and .22 rifles in it. Seattle hasn't done one since.
 
Buyback Programs--Feel Good Eye Wash

The guns collected during buy back programs are usually old war souvenirs or hunting arms turned in by widows. But, the politicians are publicly delirious when they announce that so many guns were "taken off the streets." Trust me, gangbangers don't participate in buyback programs.

What's especially sad is that the police department makes no distinction between an AR-15 or a highly sought after Savage Model 99. All guns, even the collectibles, get destroyed although I wouldn't at all be surprised to hear that the turn-ins got cherry picked by savvy police officials.
 
Probably. The charge would be along the line of "unlicensed dealer" I would expect.

I am allowed to buy from another MA individual as long as I file an EFA10 with the state recording the instate transfer. I also have a C&R and am allowed to purchase from anyone in the country in interstate trade as long as the gun is in the book or at least 50 years old and not modified.

I ended up not making it down there anyway so it's all moot. I am anxious to hear what got turned in. It just irks me to think of a registered magnum brought in by some widow ending up in the crusher. :eek:
 
Some years back they tried a buy back in Memphis. The offer was your gun for $75 worth of gas and grocery gift certificates.
I bought a RG-22 (which wouldn't work most of the time) from a co-worker for $10. Filled my pockets with as much cash as I had and went down there.
My wife held our place in line while I went up and down ready to offer cash for anything worth having. There wasn't one single gun worth $75 to be found. I mean nothing but total junk!
When our turn came, I handed the officer my RG and he remarked "We've seen a lot of these today."

In a way, they did a good community service. People with junk guns were able to unload them for much more than they were actually worth. ;)
 
They did that here in Detroit a few years ago and guys did show up checking out and buying stuff before the people got into the church. Police came out and ran them off, saying they were on private property. I'm sure they could have fought it and won, but sometimes it's wise to pick your battles. ;)
 
The last Buy Back in Cleveland stated that the Guns must work because People were turning in what I refer to as Boat Anchors in earlier ones.
 
ChattanoogaPhil
A couple years ago a friend purchased (attempted to purchase) a used S&W revolver from GT Distributors. GT is a large online operation with retail stores in Rossville, GA (near Chattanooga) and Austin, TX. GT largely serves law enforcement. Anytime I visit the Rossville store it's full of LEOS. Anyway... my friend buys the revolver from GT but being a resident of TN has to go through a TN FFL up the road. Revolver comes back stolen . My guess is that GT took it on trade from a LEO so they didn't bother to check. Ya never know...

I almost wish you didn't make that post. I've bought two S&Ws from GT in the last year and I'm currently high bidder on one of their current auctions. :eek:
 
A friend who owns a decent sized gun store trades in garbage guns like Lorcin, Jennings, Davis, old Iver Johnson break tops, rusty single shots and the like for a few dollars to get them out of circulation. One Lorcin he traded last year had a broken slide that someone JB Welded back together and had actually shot it that way! He keeps the garbage until there is a gun buy back in Pittsburgh, then he and his friends turn them in there for $50-$75 a piece. Dumped over forty craptastic guns last year.
 
Well the results are in. 174 guns are off the streets and unavailable to criminals. Although I did notice one that appeared to be a flintlock or percussion cap rifle, not sure how many gang bangers carry those. Someone also turned in an inert grenade that sells at any gun show for $8 and got a $50 gift card.

Apparently, it was $300 for an AR type rifle, $150 for handguns, rifles and shotguns, $50 for BB guns, pellet guns, ammo and powder cans and as stated inert grenades. One of the news photos showed a very old and collectible powder can that I would have loved for my collection but alas it is going to the crusher.

Click the photo to enlarge and then click it again to enlarge one more time.
 

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I read the article in the Herald and was less than impressed. One of the guns turned in was a muzzle loading shotgun (at least that's what the article said).

Another was a NAA 22 derringer.

Both highly desired by criminals, no doubt.

From what I've seen in the past, if they had obtained anything worth reporting, there would be a press conference with the "deadly" weapons on a table next to a Framingham PD patch, with the chief standing there taking credit.

The article didn't say how much they were giving for water pistols or nerf guns.




Well the results are in. 174 guns are off the streets and unavailable to criminals. Although I did notice one that appeared to be a flintlock or percussion cap rifle, not sure how many gang bangers carry those. Someone also turned in an inert grenade that sells at any gun show for $8 and got a $50 gift card.

Apparently, it was $300 for an AR type rifle, $150 for handguns, rifles and shotguns, $50 for BB guns, pellet guns, ammo and powder cans and as stated inert grenades. One of the news photos showed a very old and collectible powder can that I would have loved for my collection but alas it is going to the crusher.

Click the photo to enlarge and then click it again to enlarge one more time.
 

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