Evanston Gun Turn In Nets 32 guns

The Evanston, Illinois Police Department held a gun turn in on 9 June, 2018. They offered $100 for any gun turned in. People turning in guns had to identify themselves as from a limited geographical area. They had to be residents of Skokie, Evanston, or the North side of Chicago.

It is interesting to note that ID has to be used to turn in guns to the police, but must be forbidden in order to vote.

The requirement for I.D. was likely caused by Second Amendment entrepreneurs who use these events to dump old, cheap, guns.

The advertisement for the event says there will be no arrests; that it is an amnesty event. 

The guns were supposed to be functional. Some amount, to be determined at the gun turn in, would be paid for ammunition and magazines. 32 firearms were turned in for $100 each. There were 6 long guns, and 26 handguns. From patch.com:

EVANSTON, IL — Police announced 32 guns were brought in to a gun buyback event Saturday at Christ Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Evanston. The buyback brought in 26 handguns and six long guns at $100 apiece. The unwanted firearms are not longer at risk of misuse or entering the criminal market, police said.

Police thanked all the citizens who turned in their guns and said community cooperation made the event a success. The $3,200 in cash that funded the event was provided by an anonymous donor. The buyback was organized by the Evanston P.D.'s Problem Solving Team, according to a release.

The long guns had a couple of collectible items. There appears to be a WWII M1 carbine. Carbines, if they are original, command a good price. Even aftermarket carbines are worth hundreds of dollars. A Winchester Model 1907 is just above the Carbine. They were chambered for the .351 Winchester round, which is expensive and difficult to come by.  The rifles go for about $600-$900.

It is harder to ID most of the handguns. Several are inexpensive semi-autos. I suspect one of the semi-autos is an Iver Johnson or Erma TP-22. Two look to be the ubiquitous, but reliable, Raven .25.  I see a Beretta pocket top break semi-auto. There appears to be a couple of Smith & Wesson revolvers, but they might be Spanish clones. Taurus or Rossi Revolvers have a similar appearance. An later model H&R is represented just above the single shot shotgun folding shotgun.

One intriguing turn in looks like a Webley top break that was nickel plated, with a 2 inch barrel.  There are a three other older top break revolvers, along with a North American Arms mini revolver.

There is one shotgun with a sawed off barrel, wrapped in something like duct tape.  Those generally require an NFA tax stamp to own legally.

It is unlikely that any of these collectible and inexpensive guns would ever be used in a crime. Even leftist academics agree with that. From  Freakonomics

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.

It is not unusual. Academic studies are in agreement that gun “buybacks” do not reduce crime; that police resources used for them could be better spent elsewhere.

The major purpose of these events seem to be to send the propaganda message: Guns bad, turn them in to the police!

I did not see evidence of private buyers at this event. If any showed up, please let us know about it.

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

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