TTAG has slagged off these gun buyback programs before. A gun amnesty? Sure. If you must. But paying people to hand over firearms—which may or may not have been involved in a crime—is the worst kind of nonsense. The kind of nonsense that has the exact opposite effect to the one intended. You know; a program designed to reduce gun crime that increases it. Specifically, one that encourages criminals to steal firearms. As we’ve also pointed out, the higher the price paid for a tendered firearm the stupiderer the “gift card” scheme. So here’s the bottom line for the exchange under consideration by the Rocky Mountain City Council [via rockymounttelegram.com]: “If approved, the city would offer $10 for a BB gun or non-working firearm, $50 for a rifle or shotgun, $75 for a handgun and $100 for an assault-style gun.” Are you ready for the usual self-righteous rhetoric justifying spending taxpayer’s money buying [possibly] stolen weapons without arresting the people trying to sell it to the taxpayer? Here we go . . .
