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Gun buyback programs may not be the worst idea in the history of gun control—taking firearms away from freed slaves tops that list—but they’re right up there. Gun buybacks waste taxpayer money, perpetuate an anti-gun culture, destroy criminal evidence and do sweet FA about reducing crime. In fact, by creating a black market for stolen guns, gun buybacks encourage people to commit crime. On that last point, evanstonnow.com reports an Illinois police chief is set to take buyback stupidity to a whole new level . . .

“Evanston Police Chief Richard Eddington [above] told residents at a 2nd Ward meeting Thursday night that a planned gun buyback program will offer ‘market price’ for some high-end firearms.

With $17,000 raised from donations to fund the program [not including police officer’s time], Eddington said, it will be able to offer full price for guns like AK47s, “those guns that are exceptionally dangerous.”

I’d say something about the exceptional danger posed by PC po-po and their political paymasters and leave it there but it gets better/worse.

Gun buyback programs in Chicago and elsewhere have been criticized for offering a flat $100 for any working weapon turned in, with critics saying that’s not enough to get people to turn in guns that are actually likely to be used in crimes.

“One of the most difficult things is to get criminals to turn in their guns,” Eddington said. “It’s like offering $100 to a plumber to turn in his tools — it ain’t gonna happen.”

He said the city is only interested in buying Evanston guns, “not junk from Kankakee.” To that end, people turning in weapons will have to show some proof that they live in Evanston — which could be a utility bill or something similar.

“But we just want the gun,” the chief said. He said police won’t check whether the person turning in the weapon has a firearm owners identification card, making it legal to posess the weapon.

Let’s see if I’ve got this right: Eddington figures that paying market prices to local residents for guns will get them to turn in firearms that would have otherwise been used in a crime. Or not.

But he said he knows that a lot of the weapons likely to be collected will be ones unlikely to ever have been used in a crime — “something that’s been in Uncle Ben’s drawer forever, or a shotgun that’s been in the closet, even though the owner hasn’t been hunting in 15 years,” Eddington said.

But even getting those weapons should cut down on accidental shootings, the chief added.

So SOME of the guns the cops buy WILL be ones that MIGHT have been used for crimes? What if it turns out they’re stolen? Will they be returned? And what if it turns out they were stolen and given to a local resident to sell to the police? What then Einstein?

 

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35 COMMENTS

  1. As one who was born and raised in Chicago, Crook County, Illinois, and finally moved here to one of the few states that really cares about what our 2nd Amendment really means……..

    Stupidity taken to a whole new dimension!!

  2. I actually like that the grabbers are wasting resources on this type of wheel spinning. Better they devote time and money to this keystone cops kinda BS than something that might interfere with the lawfull gun owners rights.

    • No Kidding. Maybe if they offer a no questions asked market price buyback for cars and iphones we can get some of those off the street, too. You know, so they won’t be stolen or used in other crimes.

  3. According to Wiki — Evanston, IL has a population of 74,486 of which 65% are white and the entire city has a median income of 65K. How many guns will get turned in?

      • “He said the city is only interested in buying Evanston guns, “not junk from Kankakee.” To that end, people turning in weapons will have to show some proof that they live in Evanston — which could be a utility bill or something similar.”

    • Plus there are thousands of college students at Northwestern U, who probably wouldn’t know one end of a gun from the other. The rest of the town is a typical liberal paradise, except for the “wrong side of the tracks”. Which in fact it has-once you cross the CTA and Metra tracks, it’s a very different world.

  4. Someone should break into his house while he’s at work, steal his stash ‘o guns, and go resell right in front of his face. Find his address on the appraisal district website. Get to it, citizens!

  5. Lets be honest.This chief isn’t doing a buyback to stop crime any more than Best Buy sells product warranties to promote customer service. The Chief, like many of Evanston’s residents is personally opposed to legal gun ownership and is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to roll back on the number of legal gun owners in city limits. Since he can’t kick down anyone’s door and forcibly seize their guns, he’s resorting to bribery.

  6. Another police chief and he has more stars on his collar than the milky way galaxy. What’s with these guys?

    Oh yeah, more scrambled eggs on the visor than a waffle house griddle.

  7. “One of the most difficult things is to get criminals to turn in their guns,” Eddington said. “It’s like offering $100 to a plumber to turn in his tools — it ain’t gonna happen.”

    This is my favorite part. The analogy that states one of the best cases for gun buy-backs not working, yet sublimely ignores that fact. Why would any profession, criminal included, turn in their tools for any amount of money? Although the plumber might, if you gave him enough money to replace them with better/newer tools! A criminal on the other hand would have to consider how easy/hard it might be to replace that tool, probably decreasing the likelihood of participating in the exchange.

    It also occurs to me that this makes the police department a fence for stolen goods. If I were to offer cash for stolen goods I would be jailed.

  8. Well, sadly, the Chief is not only a clubmate of ours, but a shooting buddy as well.
    This is painful.
    Actually, he’s not anti-gun, not in any visible way. He’s a very expert action pistol competitor, too, and can win almost any match he attends. He’s not gun-ignorant, either, like so many of his colleagues. He’s attended multigun matches I’ve put on and done very, very well with all three guns.
    Evanston is indeed a horribly anti-gun place, and the immense Northwestern University is even moreso, if that’s possible.
    My assumption is that the Chief is doing what he’s told.
    And no, he doesn’t pick the uniform regalia- that was already there.

  9. And you guys didn’t email me!

    Shame on you.

    Let’s hope the “details” include $100 per gun, no questions asked.

    I won’t give that dipstick junk from Kankakee.

    I’ll give him junk from Champaign!

    John

  10. This just in: 4 Criminals break into gun store and steal $17,000 worth of AR’s and AK’s

    “No questions asked” gun buyback purchases them all and gives them the full price.
    Criminals use the $2,000 to buy 4 Ak’s and 4 glocks from their homies, and the other $15,000 to get in a shipment of cocaine that they’ll cook into crack and end up profiting $100,000 from.

    Good job there, Chief.

  11. The design on his hat looks stereotypically fascist, like something you’d see in a comic book portrayal of a police state authority figure. Sometimes you just can’t even make this shit up.

    I find that reality is often times more absurd than fantasy.

  12. That will work – for a minute. The only thing separating Evanston from Chicago is a line on a map. Let’s go after the problem! How about a bounty on criminals?

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