A shoulder-fired rocket launcher stands on end amidst a display 2,600 guns, including 700 that were illegal, that were turned in during a gun buyback program in Trenton, NJ, Jan. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Mad Mike's America
Yesterday crazy republican Governor Jan Brewer, long a dear friend of the fanatic NRA, signed into law a bill forcing cities to sell any guns they buy back, in lieu of destroying them as has been policy, says Reuters. Curiously, the law doesn’t include any sort of penalty, in other words no one knows what would happen to cities that don’t comply with this ridiculous law.
Supporters of the NRA-backed measure say local governments were wasting money by not grabbing the revenue to be had by reselling the guns. But opponents say it sort of defeats the purpose of the popular program.
“This action by the governor is not only outrageous, but it is insensitive for us now to be putting these guns back on the streets,” one Democratic state senator fumed. “That’s just plain wrong.”
Yes, senator, it is wrong, but as long as the Republicans and the NRA own your state there’s little you’ll be able to do. It’s clearly what the people want.
When we talked abou this before, I said I wasn't necessarily opposed to it. Yet, I understand the point made by Peter Lake on Mad Mike's. Returning guns to the FFL gun dealers is kind of useless given the lack of proper gun control laws in Arizona. What do you think?
Please leave a comment.
It's useless to sell guns to dealers who are required to run background checks? No, that makes good sense, especially in a period of tight budgets. What makes no sense at all are the things you believe in, Mikeb and Mad Mike.
ReplyDeleteThey have said that the point is to provide an easy avenue for people to get rid of guns if they don't want them. So why the big deal if it goes into the hands of people who do want them? It sure seems like the organizers are the ones who don't want anyone to own a gun.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you consider "proper" gun laws. All of the FFLs in the state are required to follow federal regulations in selling their weapons. Including an NICS background check.
ReplyDeleteAs I said before, I'm not opposed to this one. One ironic twist is that you guys used to say the only guns that are turned in are useless broken-down pieces-of-shit. Now, all of a sudden, they're valuable enough to be recycled.
ReplyDeleteThey're not all broken down POS, but a significant number are. Most of the police resells I've seen (in this area, it's mostly confiscated guns, not buybacks) are crap that they can't give away for parts at $50.
DeleteWe've pointed out that a significant number of the guns turned in are crap because that's just a logical way of gaming the system--a product of human nature. This happens with any such government program--think cash for clunkers.
However, there are plenty of usable guns turned in at these--many of them valuable pieces of history that it's a tragedy to see destroyed. It's nice whenever some of these are saved.
No, what we've told you is that some people take advantage of the programs. We also pointed out how silly it was for grandma to sell her dead husband's working and valuable gun in these feel-good efforts.
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