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Private Buyers Compete with Police for Choice Guns at Cleveland “buyback”
Guns turned in at the Cleveland “buy back” in 2016.
Cleveland is going against the trend on gun “buy backs”. They are having one every year, whether they do any good or not. In 2016, they had one on the 4th of December. Very little notice was given. At least one Second Amendment support group, Ohioans for Concealed Carry, predicted a low turn out for the event. From cleveland.com:
Jeff Garvas, founder of the group, said the short notice for the Sunday event may not motivate people to exchange their weapons for gift card incentives.The Ohioans for Concealed Carry have protested the event in years past, but Garvas said there are no plans to hold an organized protest this year. Garvas said that he guarantees gun-rights advocates and collectors will be there trying to buy firearms before citizens exchange them.
Garvas was right. Last year, in 2015, the “buy back” gun turn in event collected about 200 guns. It is unknown how many were purchased by private buyers. In 2015, this Winchester Model 94 lever gun was turned in. It caught my eye because it has a nice scope with a side mount on the right side. Nearly all sidemounts for Model 94s are on the left side. This was obviously done by a sinister (left handed) individual who knew what he wanted. Now it has been melted down. I have never seen a story of street crime with a scoped Model 94.
In 2014, the turn in organizers got 270 guns. At the same event, private buyers got 100 of the best brought in.
This year, 2016, there were private buyers working at saving the best guns, even though turnout was down. Police collected 168 guns. From wksu.org:
As in years past, several private buyers lined up nearby with signs reading “Cash 4 Guns,” looking for interesting or historical pieces. Dan Smith from Streetsboro was there, and says gun buybacks should be operated a little differently so rare pieces are not destroyed.Smith on rare firearms
“We operate police auctions all the time; they sell cars and everything else. There's no reason they shouldn't be able to dispose of firearms at an auction at fair market value and make some money for the city and get these guns to people who are actually going to take care of them and be responsible with them.”
It is unknown how many guns the private buyers saved from being melted down.
Maybe next year the police will give more notice. It seems to work out better for both the private buyers and the police.
Real cooperation would be to encourage private buyers to “work the line”. It takes more guns “off the streets” and stretches the resources for police to take guns that no one else is willing to pay the $100 or $200 value of the gift card for.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Source: http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2016/12/private-buyers-compete-with-police-for.html
