PA: Cheap Gun Opportunity in York, 27 October, 2017

Guns turned in at Cleveland, OH, event in October, 2017

A gun turn in event in York, Pennsylvania 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 Fire Station #5, 833 East Market Street, on the 27th of October. The only time given is 6 p.m.  From yorkcity.org:

The City of York and The York County District Attorney’s Office will hold a Gun Buy Back in the City of York on Friday October 27, 2017, 6:00pm, located at York City Fire Department, Station #5 – Goodwill, 833 E. Market Street, York, PA.

In an effort to assist with curbing the sensless gun violence in our community, individuals are encouraged to turn in their guns to the York City Police Department on the date of the event, in exchange for a gift card to The Villa, with no questions asked.

No permit is required to purchase guns in Pennsylvania.

Gift cards of $50 will be given for each gun turned in, no questions asked.
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 shoe store card or a number of twenty dollar bills.  Resources may be limited. Sources have informed me the Mayor and City Council are appropriating the money for the cards.

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. From fox43.com:

"If there's a guardian, a parent, or grandparent in the house and see a weapon they know is not there's... bring that gun in. No questions will be asked," explained Bracey.

Damien Mabie, a convicted felon, says he doesn't think gift cards will help the gun problems in York.

"If you really want to be able to get rid of these guys, you got to be able to get rid of the people who carry the guns. Giving these people gift cards, little gifts… that's not going to work," said Mabie.

 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.

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

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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