Cheap Gun Opportunity in Crawfordsville, Indiana, 28 April, 2018

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- A gun turn in event in Crawfordsville, Indiana, delivers an opportunity for brave Second Amendment activists to obtain some nice guns for little money. Their actions would also create a media event to protect Second Amendment Rights.

The event will be held at the Crawfordsville Police Department from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Crawfordsville is about 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis.  From journalreview.com:

Residents can turn in semi-automatic rifles, bump stocks or large-capacity clips in an upcoming program sponsored by a local church.

Wabash Avenue Presbyterian invites owners to take the weapons and accessories to the Crawfordsville Police Department from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 28. All items turned in will be melted down at Nucor Steel.

Owners will receive a $100 gift card from Kroger or County Market for guns and a $25 gift card for accessories.

No permit is required to purchase guns in Indiana.

Gift cards of $100 will be given for each “assault-style” gun turned in. $25 will be given for accessories such as bump stocks and “high capacity magazines”. This is a generous offer for magazines. I suspect the gift cards to run out very quickly. If you have some old magazines, you might want to turn them in and order excellent new standard capacity magazines for going rates of $9-$15 each.  I do not expect many “assault-style” firearms to be turned in, but alert Second Amendment supporters might intercept an SKS or a someone turning in an AR15 type rifle they inherited from their brother or husband. At one “buyback” event, one woman was going to turn in her boyfriend’s AR15 but took cash for it instead.

Across the country, communities, police departments and churches are sponsoring gun turn-ins to get “guns off the street”. At many of these events, private buyers are showing up, offering cash for the more valuable guns. These private additions to the public turn-in are effective, no doubt, in getting more guns off the street, because they add to the resources that are available to those who want to get rid of guns for something of value, be it a grocery store card or a number of twenty dollar bills.  Resources will be limited.

You can help make the turn-in in Indiana more effective by standing on the curb with your “Cash for Guns” sign, or at a folding table, willing to offer more than the gift card for firearms that are more valuable. It would be best if numerous private parties were available, as more good guns could then be transferred into responsible hands.

This action serves many useful purposes. It stretches the turn-in budget so that more guns can be taken off the street. It helps keep fearful widows from being defrauded of most of the market value of the gun they are turning in. It prevents valuable assets from being destroyed by bureaucratic inflexibility.  It is a win-win-win situation.

At least one commenter sees the event as an opportunity. From foxnews.com comments:

I’m waiting for something like this in my area. I still have an old .22 revolver that broke in the late 60′s (Saturday night special). In 1967, I paid about $17 for it. It’s kind of pretty but the frame was made of “pot metal”. I’m guessing that some of these do-gooders would pay the same price for it as an operable weapon. It would give me money to go out and buy a new gun. This would be a win-win. The anti-gun people would feel good and so would I.

While the articles about the event say the offer is for “guns”, in the video, the couple makes clear it is only for “assault weapons”.  Do not take an old revolver and expect to get $100 for it.  Many people bringing revolvers, hunting rifles, shotguns worth far more than $100 may be surprised to learn that their guns do not qualify. It could be an opportunity for private purchasers.

Academics have long written about the ineffectiveness of these events. Only a few places are still having them. In Washington state, public disarmament activists asked politicians to stop them because they were making the disarmists look bad.  From the Freakonomics” web site:

When it comes to gun buybacks, both the theory and the data could not be clearer in showing that they don’t work. The only guns that get turned in are ones that people put little value on anyway. There is no impact on crime. On the positive side, the “cash for clunkers” program is more attractive than the gun buyback program because, as long as they are being driven, old cars pollute, whereas old guns just sit there.

Having private purchasers show up at these events is cheap activism for Second Amendment supporters. It shows that guns are valued assets for many people in the community.

Link to article with numerous examples of private sales at gun turn in events

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

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About Dean Weingarten

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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