Cheap Gun Opportunity: Clearwater Florida, 12 December, 2015

There will be a gun turn in event on Saturday, 12 December, 2015 in Clearwater, Florida.  Clearwater is in Pinellas County.  While these events are commonly labelled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them.

The event will be held at the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex parking lot, 2450 Drew St. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. From suncoastnews.com:

This will be the Clearwater Police Department’s first buyback event since June 2011, when it collected 189 guns. Hall said officers plan to buy about $10,000 worth of gift cards to hand out at the event.

Police will offer $50 or $100 Wal-Mart gift cards for the guns, depending on type of the firearm.    Private buyers have little to fear about buying stolen firearms at these events.   Florida even has a website where firearms purchasers can check to see if a firearm is listed as stolen in the State.

Some police departments are hostile to private buyers; others are friendly.  It is best to do local research before arriving to offer to buy firearms.  The choice of a public venue of the Joe DimMaggio Sports Complex means that the police will have wide discretion about where private buyers can set up, where parking is allowed, and what access there will be to the parking lot.  Some private buyers have been able to overcome these obstacles and achieve considerable success. 

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office offers free Concealed Carry courses to obtain the Florida concealed carry permit, so the entire county is not a hotbed of anti-self defense zealots.

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.

Private sales are legal in Florida. Open carry of firearms is generally not legal, but it appears that brief displays of a firearm are accepted, if the display is not in a threatening manner.

Here is how private buyers handled challenges in Jacksonville, Florida.

Link to article with numerous examples of private sales at gun turn in events
 
Link to most recent article about private buyers at Milwaukee event

Link to Phoenix Article: pictures of private buyers



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