Cheap Gun Opportunity, New Orleans, 25 October, 2014

 

Long Guns Recently Turned In at Phoenix event in May, 2013

The New Orleans Jefferson Parish and Kirsha Kaechelel, will be hosting a gun turn in event on 25 October, 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 The Embassy located  at  1200 Franklin Avenue, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

It appears that they will be giving out cash.   $75 will be given to those who turn in a handgun, $200 will be given to those who turn in "Assault Rifles" (no definition given).  I did not see the price for ordinary rifles and shotguns.

A "progressive" "artist"  states upfront that the purpose is a political message:

"The project itself is basically an anti-gun violence message," Lozano said. 

Nola.com writes a pretty balanced article about the "buy back".   It quotes Steve Levitt:

 Steve Levitt, an economist and co-author of the Freakonomics books, once called gun buybacks the most "ineffectual public policies that have ever been invented in the history of mankind."

 A particularly ironic note is that Kaechele's husband is coming up with the $100,000 for this bit of political theater, but she still owes over $33,000 in back taxes.  It is not unusual for people to abandon properties in overtaxed, Democrate run cities.   But the people who still live in New Orleans have mixed feelings about giving this "progressive" artist a pass.

It's certainly an uncomfortable place she has put herself in. On the one hand, the lifeisart installations seem quite beautiful. On the other hand, it feels like New Orleans was just a convenient place for artists to get that 'third world vibe'. It's some form of poverty tourism/exploitation. These are people's homes, afterall.

Still, her wealthy husband's money might create some opportunities to buy some nice firearms relatively cheaply.   If anyone attends, I would love to have a report.

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 curve 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


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