U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- On 21 July, 2020, the Flint, Michigan government announced they would conduct a gun “buy back” sometime in the future. It was not clear when the “buy back” would occur, but the implication is it would be sometime before winter. The term “buy back” is an Orwellian phrase, designed to imply that all guns belong to the state, thus the state is “buying them back”. That is false. You cannot buy back something you never owned. From mlive.com:
Flint has just 98 sworn officers but will ramp up efforts to fill 14 vacant positions, targeting city residents for the open jobs, and residents will be offered $100 per handgun or $50 per long gun during a no-questions-asked, buy-back program that will be funded by “philanthropic partners.”
Dates and times of the buy-back program will be announced at a later time, Hart said.
A more correct term is gun “turn in”, as the guns are being turned in to the police. On March 4th, 2020, a bill prohibiting government funding of gun “buy backs” passed the Michigan house. The bill was put forward because research had found gun “buy backs” are not effective in reducing crime. From abc12.com:
State Rep. Annette Glenn proposed the legislation because she believes gun buybacks are not effective in removing guns from criminals or preventing crime.
“There is no research to show buyback programs reduce crime,” she said. “However, there is research that shows criminals tend to steer clear of these types of programs and that gun owners use these programs to turn in broken and unwanted guns and use the money received to purchase new guns and more ammunition.”
Glenn said her bill won’t prevent gun owners from turning over their firearms to local police voluntarily. The legislation also wouldn’t prevent nonprofit organizations from using private funding on gun buybacks.
In 2017, on 30 april, the City Council of Flint authorized the guns that had come into the possession of the Flint Police Department be sold at auction. It was estimated that half a million dollars would be raised. From flintbeat.com:
“If we don’t do what is on the table then the guns go to the (Michigan State Police) and they may not be as diligent as we are…this is a one time only,” said Poplar. “We are not getting into selling guns online each week. There’s an inventory. The city needs money. The crooks are always going to have guns. They are selling them illegally everyday. You can basically go to any 12-year-old child in the city of Flint and they can tell you where to buy a gun. That’s another story within itself. I’m doing it for the one time.”
The resolution passed with a 6 to 3 vote.
Gun turn-ins “buy backs” have been good opportunities for Second Amendment activists to obtain firearms at low prices. They often outbid the government at these events. Flint has indicated they would offer $100 for handguns and $150 for long guns. Virtually any working firearm is worth more than that.
The Flint Police Department recently published a list of firearms in their possession. Legal owners were given the ability to identify their firearms so they could claim them. Claims had to be submitted before 23 July.
There were some nice firearms on the list. Perhaps the Flint PD will offer these firearms to an auction house. The nearly bankrupt city of Flint can benefit from the sale of these valuable items.
SSL firearms, in Byron, Michigan, is running an on site and online auction of firearms which ends on 28 July, 2020. The firearms listed suggest they may be from a police department disposing of unclaimed guns.
The auction would be an easy way for the Flint PD to dispose of the excess firearms and obtain operating cash at the same time.
The SSL auction house has about 150 lots in the current auction. Byron, Michigan is only 25 miles from Flint.
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.