Another child sleeps safer tonight, with the knowledge that another gun is off the streets

As many of you know, a victim disarmament program...er, gun buy-back program is going on this Friday and Saturday. It's been widely reported in the local mainstream press as a program whose results will result in a decrease in violence. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. The only guns that are ever turned in during these types of programs are broken, rusted and stolen guns. Who in their right mind who willingly turn in a legally-owned fully-functioning firearm?

I put the program to the test. A couple years ago, I made the mistake of purchasing a pistol at a gun show that I didn't know much about. All that I knew then was that I wanted a .45, and this one fit my hand very nicely. Almost as if it were built just for me. Once I started shooting it, though I found out why Llama has such reasonably priced pistols--they're basically junk. Only on a few occasions have I managed to fire an entire 10 round magazine through it; normally it jammed several times throughout.

Eventually it became a laughing stock amongst friends and came to rest in a curio cabinet on the coffee table, unloaded and useless, aside from being a conversation piece. When I found out that this group would give me $75, I jumped at the chance to unload it on them. My conscience would not allow me to sell it at a gun shop, because I knew that eventually it would sell to someone who probably would be trusting it with their life. The main plus with the buy-back program is that the guns brought in would eventually be destroyed. While $75 wouldn't quite cover what I paid for the pistol originally, I decided to write off the loss and also take a chance to expose the futility of the program.

The operation started at Noon on Friday, and I pulled in at about 12:30pm, passing by people standing in the street waving signs saying "Turn in your guns now!" It reminded me of various other times in history. After I parked, several friendly black men walked past and greeted me, thanking me for coming. Once through the door, I was surrounded by four huge black men. It felt like I was entering a notorious nightclub or something, except that everyone was extremely friendly.

They wanted all guns to be in a clear plastic bag, and unloaded. I took the extra mile by removing the mags (so that I could sell them on eBay) and even running a cable lock through it. They commented on the fact that I had the action open and locked, then carefully placed it into an empty 55 gallon barrel. I was then ushered through another door where a woman stood behind a counter to explain the payment.

We were given stored value cards with the MasterCard logo on them, in $25 increments. Since I turned in a semi-auto, I was given 3 cards. Revolvers only get 2 cards, because they're not as dangerous. I was also given a folder full of propaganda which I later perused and threw away, offended by the lies in the contents.

She also gave me a survey, which she explained was completely optional and anonymous. I decided to fill it out.

In brief summary:

Age/gender--31 M

How did you hear about this? --Newspaper

Why did you decide to turn in a gun? --Other: The gun wasn't working very well, and $75 was more than I could have gotten for it on the street.

Should we have future buy-backs? --Yes

Does your neighborhood feel more safe or less safe now? --Less

Additional comments? --More guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens equals less crime.


I was then escorted out the door to the parking lot by another very friendly black man who enthusiastically thanked me for coming. It was about the friendliest bunch I had ever seen. The odd thing is that the only other person I saw selling a gun was another white guy. Maybe the racial dynamic changed later into the evening when everyone got off of work, but I doubt it. Most likely everyone who went there were people like me, unloading a useless firearm and taking the booty to the bank. Actually, I didn't take it to the bank; knowing that they would probably look at where the cards were spent, I promptly visited the local ghetto liquor store, then Target, and finally the gun shop to buy more ammo. Someone always has to ruin it for the others :)