Conway, South Carolina, will be having a gun turn in event on Saturday, 29 March, 2014. While these events are commonly labeled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them.
The event will be held at Father's Place, 809 Wright Blvd.
The event is scheduled to run from 9 am to 2 pm. People often turn up early at ese events.
The incentives for the gun turn in will be gift cards. They will be offering $100 for long guns, $200 for handguns, and $300 for "assault rifles". These are fairly high incentives, but that is a double edged sword. With these high incentives it is likely that the police will run out of gift cards before the public runs out of firearms that they want to turn in. If individuals show up with firearms to turn in, and there are no gift cards available, they are often willing to make a private sale. Private sales are legal in South Carolina, as they are in most states.
The first event in March of 2012 resulted in 130 firearms being turned in at two locations. Last year, 70 firearms were turned in at the April event. About half of the firearms turned in were long guns, the other half handguns.
The tactics that will be used at this turn in event are similar to those that were used in Phoenix this last May. People are asked to store the guns in the trunk of the vehicle. The organizers have said that dealers and pawn shops are not welcome, and that police have the ability to limit the number of gift cards given out to a single individual. If there is much of a turn out at the turn in, private buyers should look for easy places for people to park so that the merchandise can be looked at prior to purchase. Often people bring several guns to these turn in events.
You might want to read about the Phoenix event to see how things were handled there.
Be prepared for a percentage of people who refuse to talk to anyone but police. All the private buyers that I saw in Phoenix were very polite and let these ideologically driven people turn in their guns for a fraction of what they would be worth on the open market.
Signs are helpful, as are good grooming, cash, and a friendly attitude. Dale Carnegie's advise for dealing with people works very well.
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 card or a number of twenty dollar bills.
You can help make the turn-in in your area 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.
It also dispels the pernicious message that guns are bad and should be destroyed.
Link to article with numerous examples of private sales at gun turn in events
Link to most recent article about private buyers at Detroit event
Link to Phoenix Article: pictures of private buyers
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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