U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- La Crosse County, Wisconsin may have engineered a new event, the cheap ammunition event. Ammunition has often been accepted at gun turn-in events, though it is not paid for. Some excellent deals have been found for ammunition at these events.
The event will be held at 3202 Berlin Drive, La Crosse. It appears to be the local landfill, from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, the 24th of October.
The La Crosse event is specifically organized to collect unwanted ammunition. The county states it often receives requests to dispose of unwanted ammunition. Someone in La Crosse County organized this event to collect unwanted ammunition. They promised all ammunition collected would be incinerated!
Private parties can do much better, of course. They can promise the ammunition will be disposed of properly, which gives much greater and more frugal options. From lacrossecounty.org:
Residential ammunition disposal is a service frequently requested by our customers. We are happy to announce that the La Crosse County Hazardous Materials Facility will be hosting its first ammunition drop-off event on Saturday, October 24th from 8 a.m. to noon. This is a great opportunity for La Crosse County residents to dispose of unwanted or unneeded ammunition in a safe and responsible manner. All collected ammunition will be shipped to a licensed hazardous waste facility where it will be incinerated.
WXOW gives a bit more information. People who dispose of ammunition at the disposal site (near a landfill) must remain in their vehicles. Any ammunition greater than five pounds (Two boxes of 12 gauge or 650 rounds of .22 LR) will be required to pay a disposal fee of $5 per pound. ($12.50 per box of 12 gauge or $5.75 per 150 rounds of .22 LR.) The county will not accept reloads. It is not clear if they will accept smokeless powder or primers. They would probably take empty cases From wxow.com:
The drive-through event is open to La Crosse County residents only. Anyone who comes to the event must remain in their vehicles.
Disposing of the first five pounds of ammunition is free and $5 per pound after that.
They are accepting only factory rounds of .50 caliber and 8-gauge or less. No black powder, military munitions, fireworks, or explosives are accepted. No other waste materials are accepted during the event.
This presents an interesting scenario. After the first five pounds, the county will charge people more than the ammunition costs at retail to dispose of it by destroying it.
Might some widow, knowing nothing of ammunition, but wanting to get rid of it, turn in some boxes of 7mm magnums? .45-70? .455 Webley? Perhaps they will wish to rid themselves of cases of 5.56, or 7.62×39, which was purchased cheaply 20 years ago?
Enterprising Second Amendment types could make signs and advertise to properly dispose of the ammunition for free, or to pay for unwanted ammunition. They might even agree to dispose of black powder and reloading supplies. At gun turn-in events, folding tables have been handy.
I have heard of widows turning in many thousands of dollars of ammunition to the police to dispose of.
There appear to be only two entrances to the landfill. Perhaps it is a one-way road. It would not be difficult to find a place where people could park and a deal could be made. If there are two entrances, Second Amendment enthusiasts who wish to perform a public service could arrange to cover both entrances.
Those disposing of ammunition could be asked if they had any firearms they wished to dispose of as well.
Wisconsin does not have any laws forbidding the purchase of ammunition or reloading supplies, or firearms, which I know of, by private parties. Felons are forbidden to purchase firearms, generally. This is not legal advice; readers should make their own inquiries.
If any readers attend the event on Saturday, the 24th of October, please take numerous pictures. You can contact the author at AmmoLand.
Pictures and a personal account of the action would be an excellent candidate for an AmmoLand article, but nothing can be promised or guaranteed.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
