Here's How That Gun Buyback Event in Nashville Turned Out

Nashville held its gun buyback event last weekend and, by the Metro Nashville Police Department and local clergy’s standards, it was a big success.

A total of 198 firearms were brought in. That’s not the highest turnout for a buyback event this year, but it’s definitely not the worst.

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According to Reverend Adric Lane, the pastor at Greater Revelations Baptist Church where the event was held, folks were lined up before he even arrived, ready to hand over their weapons.

“Biggest number we had since we’ve had the gun buy back,” he told News Channel 5.

Nashville started it’s buyback program back in 2011, and has collected 658 guns over those 6 years.

Reverend Michael Joyner believes this year’s higher turnout is a reflection of the city’s rising gun violence problem and residents’ desire to do something about it.

“One man brought his son in and when they came up to turn the gun in, he handed the gun to his son to turn in,” Joyner recounted. “You had grandparents and parents turn guns in because their kids have access and grandchildren have access to them.”

What Revs. Lane and Joyner fail to mention, though, is that these guns are typically unwanted but not necessarily illegal.

More often than not, these buyback programs pressure law abiding citizens to hand in their legally owned weapons – either through the promise of cash, or the guilt of having a firearm, especially in a home where minors are present.

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Rarely do you have real criminals willingly handing over their guns for a couple of gift cards.

To sum it, these buyback events do little to get the guns off the streets that are actually causing the problem. Chicago police even admitted this after a supposedly “successful” buyback last year.

Regardless, people like Lane and Joyner will continue to host these program under the delusion they’re making a sizable difference in their communities.

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