Fort Worth Gun Turn in Runs out of Cards, Private Purchasers Clean Up

Some guns purchased by private buyers at the Fort Worth Gun "Buy Back"

A few days ago, this correspondent wrote about the upcoming gun turn in event scheduled for Fort Worth, Texas. Police were offering $100 gift cards to people who turned in working firearms. As predicted, the police quickly ran out of gift cards. The event, scheduled for four days, ended in three and a half hours.

The private buyers did not run out of cash. They got some pretty good deals. CJ Grisham, who founded Open Carry Texas spoke to a reporter.  From cbsnews.com:

"So we wanted to come out here and get some good deals," Open Carry Texas President and Founder, CJ Grisham said.

Right outside of the event there was a group of people who were able to offer cash and buy guns themselves.

"We offered them $100 in cash, instead of one hundred in gift cards," Grisham said. "And if they were just going to take it in there we might increase it a little bit but I think the average price we paid was maybe $150 today."

Grisham said majority of the people they approached accepted his offer. CBS 11 asked Fort Worth police about guns they hoped would be taken off the street, remaining in the community.

The police said the private buyers were within their rights to make offers and purchase guns themselves. The private buyers purchased about 30 guns, according to Grisham, at an average of about $150. 

From the image shown on the video, the private buyers did well. The firearms purchased appear to include an SKS rifle, a double barreled shotgun, a Freedom Arms mini-revolver, a Remington semi-automatic centerfire rifle, an Explorer II .22 pistol,  a Smith & Wesson Scandium revolver, and many more. 

The police showed an image of 107 firearms they accepted in exchange for gift cards. Included in the guns turned in was a classic model 12 Winchester shotgun, a Colt revolver, and numerous other rifles and shotguns. As expected, there was the usual assortment of inexpensive pistols, single shot shotguns, and .22 rifles. One of those appeared to be a Marlin lever action model 39 in good condition.

Most of the guns turned in were worth more than $100. The Model 12 Winchester usually goes for over $400. A model 39 Marlin would easily bring $400. There appeared to be an antique Smith & Wesson model 3 top-break revolver. It might have been worth over a thousand dollars. 

There was at least one air rifle. Air guns and blank pistols may help account for a slight discrepancy in the reporting of the number of firearms turned in. Some reports state 112 guns were turned in to the police.

From wfaa.com:

"Maybe was inherited, maybe just lying around. They had no use for and they didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands or the hands of a child," said Carabaja. "We respect everybody's rights, everyone that came in here voluntarily and they got something out of it."

Officers planned to collect weapons for four days. But they run out of gift cards within hours, collecting 112 handguns and rifles of almost every make and model, according to police. 

None of the funds used to purchase the gift cards came from taxpayer money. The program uses confiscated monies for gun buyback events.

One of their goals is to keep weapons like these out of the wrong hands. 

The academic response to these sort of events is uniform. They do not work to reduce crime or suicides. The only plausible effect is a propaganda, to send a message to the public: Guns bad. Turn them in to the police. The private buyers countered that message with another: Guns are good. We pay Cash. 

T.J. Grisham and the other private purchasers had a good day. The guns brought in were "taken off the streets" and into the hands of the police or into the hands of responsible private citizens.

Some AmmoLand readers were considering attending the Fort Worth event. Comments from those who attended would be a welcome addition to knowledge about what happened at the event. 

©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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