Baltimore Woman To Use Buyback Cash To Buy Bigger Gun

So-called gun buyback programs are one of those things that make me roll my eyes so hard I can see my brain. They’re absolutely ridiculous. Anti-gun zealots continue to use taxpayer dollars to fund them, despite there being no evidence that they work to reduce crime.

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We’ve often talked about all the ways criminals can use these programs to their advantage, but a woman who attended a buyback in Baltimore is proof positive that just because a gun was turned in at one of these events, it doesn’t mean it’s taking guns off the street.

Well, that accomplished a lot, didn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong. I like her and hey, she can’t get in trouble for a weapon sale being handled improperly or anything if it’s handled by the police. Plus, she still gets the cash to buy herself a “bigger” firearm, though I’m not quite sure what she means by that. Oh, I assume she wants something with a larger caliber, but I don’t want to take that for granted.

Either way, this buyback is funding this woman’s disposal of one weapon and the purchase of another–an arguably more lethal one. Ain’t this country great?

Reason points out, however, that this isn’t the only example of someone “gaming” the system.

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There are other ways to game the system as well. For example, the city is offering $25 for every “hi-capacity” magazine turned in. Some digging from Daniel J. Mitchell of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) discovered that such a “hi-capacity” magazine can be purchased online for about $12. The $13 in profit may not seem like much money to some, but it can be the difference between paying for food, rent, a bill, or even a Christmas gift.

Of course, the vast majority of participants of the program are not those with criminal intentions. In fact, interviews revealed that participants wanted to declutter their homes, get rid of old family heirlooms, or simply make a buck.

Honestly, picking up a few $12 magazines and selling them at a buyback is just entrepreneurship at work. I mean, if they’re going to pay a going rate like that and you can provide the product and make a healthy profit at the same time, who am I to judge.

But there is a problem here, and that’s how buyback program organizers are so eager to “win” that they don’t bother to understand what they’re talking about first. For example, a blanket $25 for all magazines means people can purpose-buy magazines expressly for the buyback, which does nothing about the number of magazines on the streets. Nothing at all.

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Further, we’ve seen examples of some people turning in ridiculous “weapons” at buybacks. Among those is a “rocket launcher” and one where the guns being turned in were pipes strapped down to pieces of wood. These people don’t know what they’re doing, what they’re looking at, or what they’re talking about. They’re just handing money to people and pretending they’re making things all better.

Guess what, folks? It isn’t.

And here’s the kicker about buybacks. These are the best case scenarios we can see. This doesn’t even touch on murder weapons being turned in and destroyed, thus hampering criminal investigations or things like that.

Then again, it’s not like anti-gunners care about any of that. To them, the gun is the problem and always will be.

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