Movie Review of "Let There Be Light"

I saw the movie at an afternoon showing at the Harkins Theater in Yuma, Arizona on 28 October, 2017. I knew the movie dealt with theme of a prominent atheist converting to Christianity.

The movie is not an action packed drama, so well loved of Hollywood of late. It deals in personal interrelations and faith.  I suppose you you could say it is a "chick flick". 

The opening scene, where the main protagonist "debates" with a Christian academic, is powerful, because it shows the primary value left to secularists: hedonism.

I suspect many will be able to relate to this scene. I found the film engaging and moving. But I did so because many of the actions connected to my personal history. I was an acting agnostic/atheist for 40 years before I came to Christ.

It is an intensely personal experience.  Most Christians can tell you their story.  I have doubts about the movie resonating with people who have not experienced it.

I found Sean Hannity's limitied time on screen to be well done and believable.

It is a film worth seeing, but it did not keep me on the edge of my seat. Instead, I found tears running from my eyes.

I would like to see Christians support the film, if only to encourage more Christian oriented films. They need not be as openly proselytizing as this film.

I would like to see a movie made of "The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico" by Bernal Diaz.

That would be a guy flick. Dozens of battles, intrigue, cannibalism, and human sacrifice. With Christians, however flawed, triumphing over pagan warriors both brave and cruel. Better ideas were a significant part of the Christian victory.

Maybe Mel Gibson could direct it. 

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch

NY: Governor Cuomo Vetoes Knife Law Reform... Again!

Common knives defined as "gravity knives. The two knives in the lower left corner are original WWII "gravity knives".

On 24 October, 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed bill A. 5667A, a reform of New York State's antiquated and misused gravity knife law. The law has been popular with almost everyone in the state but the Governor and those who are profiting off of the suffering caused by the misapplication of current law. Support for the bill came from a number of uncommon allies. The Legal Aid Society and the National Rifle association both supported the bill, as did he Brooklyn Defender Services, the Office of Court Administration, the NAACP, even the New York Times editorial board.

Here is the relevant portion of the bill, which changes the definition of "Gravity Knife" to a knife opened solely by gravity, instead of "or the application of centrifugal force". Nearly all folding knives can be opened by the application of centrifugal force in the hands of a person who practises and perfects the technique. Square brackets, [ ] is old law to be omitted.  From nysenate.gov:

Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 265.00 of the penal law is amended to read as follows: 

5. "Gravity knife" means any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath thereof SOLELY by the force of gravity [or the application of centrifugal force] which, when released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device. 

S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

The bill passed the New York State Senate 61-1. The vote was originally unanimous. The bill passed the assembly 136-1.

So why did Governor Cuomo veto the bill, in the face of overwhelming support?

From gothamist.com:

"Today's veto of gravity knife reform is a dark mark on our legislative process," challenged Assembly sponsor Dan Quart, a Democrat. "For the second year in a row this legislation was overwhelmingly supported by a broad and diverse coalition. And, for the second year in a row, it was vetoed by one single signature."

"The governor should not pretend as if he cannot solve this problem," added Todd Rathner, Director of Legislative Affairs for Knife Rights, an advocacy group for knife owners and sellers. "In the end Governor Cuomo chose to side with Cy Vance over the citizens of the state of New York."

"For decades, black and brown New Yorkers have been arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated for possessing a basic work knife sold at retail stores across the state," said Legal Aid Society Criminal Practice Attorney-In-Charge Tina Luongo. "Albany had a second chance to right this injustice tonight but failed to enact needed reform."

The answer appears to be that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance loves the bill and the power it gives him. Nearly all the prosecutions under the current statue are in New York City. There are rarely any prosecutions in the rest of New York State. Most of the prosecutions are of minorities, about 86%, according to the Village Voice.

So why doesn't the legislature override the veto of Governor Cuomo? In New York State, the legislative session is from January to June. The bill was not sent to the Governor until October 11th. The legislature is not in session, so no veto is possible.

The bill did not pass the legislature until the very end of the session.

Did the leaders of the legislature pass a broadly popular bill, only to send it to a Governor who had vetoed it last year, with no way to override the veto?

The legislators can claim they voted for a popular bill, giving the Governor full power to veto it. The Governor claims that law enforcement, Mayor Di Blasio, and AG Cyrus Vance all pushed him to veto the bill.

Vance and the NYPD are able to keep on making busts and putting people in jail for possession of common pocket knives. It appears that Vance is no longer pressuring businesses to contribute to Vance' knife education fund. Differed prosecution agreements resulted in 1.9 million dollars going to Vance' office in four years, as of 2010.  From sohojournal.com:

District Attorney Vance’s investigation led many of the sellers, including Home Depot, Eastern Mountain Sports, Paragon Sports, and four others, to enter into deferred prosecution agreements. The agreements require the companies to turn over all profits from the sale of such knives during the past 4-year period, totaling nearly $1.9 million to date, and to finance a campaign to educate the public about illegal knives. In addition, DA Vance announced the appointment of a District Attorney’s Knife Sales Monitor, to ensure compliance of the seven companies with the terms of the deferred prosecution agreements.

1.9 million may seem like chump change in New York City politics, but as they say, a million here and a million there, and it starts adding up.  The village Voice has shed considerable light on the practice. It appears no education program was ever set up, and that over 800,000 dollars remains in an account set up for the purpose, the Voice reported in 2014.

With the overwhelming support for knife law reform in New York State, it will happen. It won't happen while Governor Cuomo, Mayor DiBlasio, and Cyrus Vance are in office.

Another avenue may be Knife Rights long running lawsuit against the gravity knife law as unconstitutionally vague.  The appeal should be heard in the Second Circuit some time in the future.

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

Gun Watch

AZ: Man Shoots Tresspasser During Struggle

During the struggle to keep the suspect locked inside the shed, the man’s gun accidentally discharged and he shot the alleged intruder in the leg.

The suspect was allegedly impaired and has warrants out for his arrest, officials confirmed.
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OK: Homeowner Fataly Shoots 1 of 2 Intruders

SAND SPRINGS, Oklahoma -

Police say a Sand Springs man is dead after they say he was shot by a homeowner during a burglary Thursday evening.
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IA: Occupant armed with 9mm Shoots Man Attempting Break-in

SAC CITY | A man allegedly breaking into a Sac City apartment was shot twice by a resident inside Wednesday.

Bendji Joseph, of Fort Dodge, has been charged with burglary and is in stable condition after he was flown to a Sioux City hospital for his gunshot wounds.
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VT: Man Shoots 1 of 3 Burglars

Police responded to Strange Brew Tattoo on Elliot Street on Friday at about 8:20 p.m. after receiving a report that three people had broken into the business. Kenneth Murphy, 59, had called 911 after firing several shots at the burglars, Brattleboro Police Det. Greg Eaton wrote in an affidavit.

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Philadelphia Reforms Unconstitutional Stun Gun Ban

Philadelphia has joined the growing numbers of cities and states that have removed unconstitutional restrictions on stun guns and Tasers, collectively known as electric weapons. The reforms are happening because of two related things. First the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in the Caetano Second Amendment case from Massachusetts. In the Caetano PER CURIAM decision (pdf), the Court held that:

The Court has held that “the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding,” District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570, 582 (2008), and that this “Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States,” McDonald v.Chicago, 561 U. S. 742, 750 (2010).

Second, civil rights groups such as the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and others have sued the jurisdictions that have illegally banned stun guns for decades.

In the face of a clear, obvious, and unanimous Supreme Court decision, those jurisdictions are changing their laws.  Below is the new law in Philadelphia. The change is in italics. The law passed 16-0 on the 26th of October.  From phila.legistar.com:

§ 10-825. Stun Guns.
(1)
Definitions.
(a)

Stun Gun. Any device which expels or projects a projectile which, upon coming in contact with a person, is capable of inflicting injury or an electric shock to such [person.] person; also known as an electric or electronic incapacitation device.

(2)

Prohibited Conduct.
(a)

No person under eighteen (18) years of age shall own, use, possess, sell or otherwise transfer any "stun gun".

(b)

The parent, legal guardian or other legally responsible adult of any child under the age of eighteen (18) years who violates subsection 10-825(2)(a) shall be in violation of this Section and shall be responsible for payment of any fines assessed against the adult’s minor child.

 Similar bans on stun guns and Tasers have been repealed or reformed in Annapolis, MD; New Orleans, LA; the State of New Jersey; Tacoma, WA; and Westminster, WA.  Lawsuits are ongoing in several other places around the United States.

From the Firearms Policy Coalition:

Later that month, a representative of the City of Philadelphia’s Law Department contacted Mr. Stamboulieh and said that the City was considering its response. Then, in June, the City’s Law Department sent a copy of bill no. 170674 that was filed in response to the demand, which would effectively repeal the ban for adults and narrow the reach of the law to persons under 18 years of age.

“We thank Councilmember Jones for his leadership on this important issue,” said Brandon Combs, president of the Coalition and chairman of the Foundation. “City of Philadelphia residents and visitors can now exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear these important arms for self-defense.”

Caetano is an important decision.  In the recent case Kolbe v Hogan, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that semi-automatic rifles are not protected by the Second Amendment because they are "like" military arms. This is directly in opposition to Caetano. The Kolbe v. Hogan case is being appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Court does not have to hear it. The Supreme Court has been reluctant to take Second Amendment cases lately.

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

Gun Watch

AR: Homeowner Holds Escaped Suspect at Gunpoint

According to police, 31-year-old Jonathan Ware, a suspect who escaped police custody and was facing a felony charge of second-degree battery was inside of Smith’s trash can.

Smith immediately called 911 upon discovering Ware and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

“I told him to stay in the can. Don’t get out,” said Smith.
More Here

Followup TX: Man Shot by Store Owner Indicted by Grand Jury

A 30-year-old man police say was shot during a failed smoke shop robbery attempt in August was indicted Wednesday by a McLennan County grand jury.
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UT: Police Say Fatal Shooting was Self Defense

Ogden police say the fatal shooting of a man over the weekend is being treated as a case of self-defense.

On Saturday, officers responded to the 800 block of 27th Street on a shots fired call about 4:30 p.m. One victim, a man, was found outside and was soon declared deceased. At the time, police announced they were looking for the attacker.
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Followup WI: Third Person Charged in Case Where Resident Shot Burglar

Isaiah Brueggen, 20, was charged Wednesday with burglary as a party to the crime for the Aug. 11 break-in at 417 S. Eighth St.


According to court documents, a resident told police he heard someone kicking in his back door just before 7 a.m. and found a man in his kitchen with a bandanna covering his face. He shot the burglar as he ran out the back door and reported seeing him get into a red Ford Escape.

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.22 LR Prices Below 4 cents a Round

In this screenshot from an online ammunition search engine, you can see that .22 LR ammunition prices have dropped below 4 cents a round in some cases. Federal American Eagle is as low as 3.8 cents per round, the Federal champion 510 round is just under 4 cents a round, and there are several offerings of Aquila Super Extra Standard Velocity from 3.7 cents to 4 cents a round.

The  3.8 cents per round Federal American Eagle ammunition is available at Ammo King. The 3.7 cents per round Aquila Super Extra .22 LR Standard Velocity 40 Gr LRN is at AmmoMen. The Federal 510 Champion .22 Long Rifle Solid 40 Gr LRN high velocity has a 10 box limit at Ammo Fast.

I predicted that LR bulk ammunition would be below 4 cents a round in October, 2017. This verifies the prediction, but all of the above are in 50 round boxs, not bulk packs.  Bulk packs should be cheaper because the packaging for 50 round boxes raises the price a bit. Here is the prediction made on 15 November, 2016, nearly a year ago:

I expect the demand for .22 ammunition to drop when the reality of a Trump administration hits home.  The current protests and riots are not helping.  Nor are the conspiracy theories about a Trump assassination.

After President Trump is safely inaugurated, and starts to move his legislative agenda, demand will drop and prices will fall.
I expect bulk .22 ammunition to be available for 4 cents a round by October of 2017.

Bulk .22 ammunition is becoming available in stores across the nation. Limits have been taken off of purchases in most stores, including WalMart. Prices at Cabela's have remained fairly high. Prices at Academy Sports have dropped a bit.

I have not seen .22 LR prices on the shelf in Yuma, below 4 cents a round. Alert readers around the nation may have noticed lower prices in their area.

 Ammunition manufacturers have ramped up production, increasing .22 production about 20%, from 4 billion rounds a year, to 5 billion rounds a year in the United States. In person in the ammunition industry told me that the delays due to stifling regulations in the United States have delayed the creation of one manufacturing plant for at least five years.

Aguila has increased its productive capacity by about 70 percent in Mexico. They now produce over a billion rounds a year, with about half of that going to the United States.

An increase in new shooters in the United States, and an increase in semi-automatic .22 rifles and pistols has increased the base line demand for .22 LR. When recreational shooters go shooting, they may expend 500 rounds of ammunition instead of 50.

There has been quite a bit of geographic variability through out the .22 ammunition bubble. What has happened in your area? Are people still lining up to purchase all the .22 ammunition on the shelves?

We would like to see what the lowest prices for .22 ammunition are in your area. Where are the best deals? Is .22 ammunition mostly in stock in the stores in your area? Is there any .22 ammunition (on sale counts) at or below 4 cents a round?

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

Gun Watch

Courthouse Storage for Self Defense Guns Filed in Florida

Florida is considering a bill to minimize the restriction on Second Amendment rights at courthouses. From floridapolitics.com:

A measure that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to store firearms with security officers at courthouses was filed Monday in the state House for the 2018 Legislative Session.

The proposal (HB 383) by Rep. Cord Byrd, a Neptune Beach Republican, is identical to a measure (SB 134) filed in August by Senate Judiciary Chairman Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican.

This year, a version of the bill passed the Senate 19-15, but died in the House.

There have always been practical exceptions to the exercise of the Second Amendment.  Prisoners of war are disarmed. They do not have the rights of citizens of the country.  People who are locked up for crimes are not allowed to have arms. They have forfeited their rights. People are not allowed to bring weapons into prisons. In the Supreme Court decision of Heller, mention is made of "government buildings" and "sensitive areas". Courthouses are a place where arms have been excluded, off and on, for about a hundred and fifty years.

The problem with creating "gun free zones" is that it creates serious obstacles for people who wish to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms. Court houses are particularly problematic. The state may require you to enter them, and require you to leave your personal protective weapons outside. Guns are often stolen from parked vehicles, and courthouse parking lots are a concentrator for criminals.

On the issue of fundamental rights, legislatures are expected to create law that is minimally  disruptive of exercise of the right. In Arizona, we require public buildings that ban the carry of firearms to provide for safe storage of the firearms while the person is disarmed. Mostly, the government entities use lockboxes.

In our government of checks and balances, the three branches of government have limited power over each other. The power of the legislature and executive branch to order the courts to do things in the courthouse is limited.

Requiring the courts to reasonably accommodate the exercise of a fundamental right, such as the right to keep and bear arms, falls within that power.

Florida is not alone in examining this issue. Texas and other states are currently in the middle of a Legislative vs Judicial fight. The Texas Attorney General is in the middle of a lawsuit to require public buildings to allow the exercise of the Second Amendment. The law bans guns in court rooms, but not in the entire building that houses the court.

Wyoming limits gun bans to the courtroom, after a judge attempted to ban guns in the entire courthouse.

These accommodations for people exercising the right to bear arms are a logical response to more people exercising the right.

As of 2017, over 16 million people in the United States have carry permits, 13 states do not require a permit for carrying a weapon openly or concealed.  30 states do not require a permit to openly carry a weapon.

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

Gun Watch

CA: Armed Victim Drives Home Invaders from House

As many as eight masked suspects, wielding firearms and stun guns, stormed into a home in the 8000 block of Broadleaf Avenue shortly before 2 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Several victims were physically pinned down and assaulted during the incident, investigators said. At least one victim was pistol-whipped, but none of them was seriously injured.

One of the victims told ABC7 that a family member with a gun opened fire on the intruders, sending them fleeing into the surrounding neighborhood. The suspects remained at large; it was unclear if any of them were struck by gunfire.
More Here

Followup NM: Video of Clerk that Shot Suspect at Circle K

The clerk at that store had her own firearm. She says when he pointed his gun, she pointed hers right back and pulled the trigger. Police lapel footage and 911 calls released Wednesday capture those intense moments immediately after it happened. 

• Caller: "He came running in the store with a gun drawn and he got shot."
• Dispatcher: "He got shot?"
• Caller: "Yes, ma'am. My assistant had a gun."

The video shows police approaching the injured man later identified as 23-year-old Ferron Mendez. Police say Mendez tried to rob the Circle K on Eubank and Candelaria. But when he aimed the gun at clerk Jennifer Wertz, she took action.

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AL: Man who Shot at Suspect Arrested for Bullet Entering Home

Mobile Police have arrested a man accused of shooting at a robbery suspect. The robbery happened one week ago Wednesday night at the Riverside Food Mart on Riverside Drive.

Tyrone Taylor was arrested and charged with firing into an occupied dwelling. Police say Taylor saw the robbery in progress and suspect running away on foot when he fired his gun. The bullet went through a home across the street and hit the family's TV. Fortunately no one was injured inside the home.
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NV: Armed Man Stops Kidnapping

“‘Hey, stop!’ I said, real loud. He turned and looked at me. There was just enough of a delay for the kid to get out of the car. I know he saw the firearm.”

With the boy out of the car and an armed citizen staring him down, the man decided to drive away. Pearson and his still-holstered pistol stopped a kidnapping. Police wouldn’t arrive for 17 minutes.

“If I didn’t have a firearm, I don’t think there’s much I could have done,” Pearson said.

A Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman confirmed many of the details in Pearson’s story, including the date, time and location. Pearson said — and Metro confirmed — that the would-be kidnapper was the boy’s biological father, who didn’t have parental rights or permission to take the child.

This isn’t the first time Pearson has used a firearm to stop a crime.
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Followup GA: Man Killed in Self Defense, 2 wounded

“He produced a gun first and fired a shot,” Dowe said. “The other guy defended himself.”

The man who Lewis accused of shooting him about a year ago returned gunfire, wounding Lewis. Another man was shot in the leg as the two continued to fire their weapons.

Police said Lewis, who was wanted on arrest warrants at the time, wounded both men during the shooting.

Authorities said no charges will be filed against the man who they said killed Lewis in self-defense. He purchased his gun legally and has no criminal history, Dowe added.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/crime/article180808576.html#storylink=cpy

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"Bump Stock" Overreach

The media frenzy over the mass murder in Las Vegas has died down faster than any other such story I have seen in the last two decades. The push for legislation to ban "bump stocks" has also died down.  It has not stopped.

As expected, the enemies of an armed population are using "bump stocks" as a vehicle for much broader bans. In Illinois, the last state to pass a concealed carry permit law, the Democrats are looking to ban as many as half the guns in Illinois with the broadly worded measure. Nearly all semi-automatic firearms would fit under the wording of the bill. From chicagotribune.com:

“This bill would essentially prohibit, or outlaw, in our rough estimation, 50 percent of the firearms out in Illinois today,” said Todd Vandermyde, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. “This may be a response to what took place in Las Vegas, but the net result is criminalizing a lot of very common things gun owners do to modify their guns to make them shoot better, to make them shoot more accurately.”

Vandermyde called the legislation an “overreach,” saying Democrats are seeking to take advantage of a tragedy to push through tighter gun controls even as facts surrounding the shooting continue to change.

The bill passed a committee on a 7-5 vote, sending it to the House floor. Republicans voted against it. They favor a competing bill that would only apply the ban to bump stocks, not other devices. That measure, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, has the backing of the Illinois State Rifle Association.

A correspondent in Wisconsin has informed me that normally dependable Second Amendment supporters, such as Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy, are caught up in the emotional frenzy. From Wisconsin:

At the end of the townhall meeting as Duffy said he needed to bolt, I was given the floor to ask my question. I said, as a knee-jerk reaction to the tragedy of the Los Vegas shooting, we will be seeing an attempt to ban bumpstocks and other accessories. Representative Duffy stopped me right then and said, "I will vote to ban bumpstocks. Automatic weapons have been banned for a long time, nobody should have access to automatic weapons." I replied, That I didn't think he understood the issue, and that it is the laws physics that they are trying to ban. I told him the effect of a number stock could be attained through, many ways that could not all be banned, a piece of stick, a belt loop and many other ways. I stated that the bill is very ambiguous and up for radical interpretation. Congressman Duffy agreed that it is ambiguous,  but again stated he will vote to ban the bumpstocks.  That ended the discussion.

The broad overreach to criminalize as many firearms and firearm accessories as possible needs to be exposed. The San Francisco 49ers are said to have donated $500,000 in an effort to ban bump stocks, silencers, and armor piercing ammunition. Notice that "armor piercing ammunition and silencers had nothing to do with the atrocity in Las Vegas.  From ktvu.com:

Now the 49ers, the SJPOA and the LA Protective League and other major law enforcement unions are coming together calling for new laws around bump stocks-- armor piercing rounds-- and gun silencers.

The police unions say the idea is not to restrict gun owners’ rights-- but to make the community as a whole safer.

For its part, 49ers are pledging $500,000 toward the campaign-- and are working to recruit other NFL teams to sign the pledge. The team and the unions are also working on public service announcements and ways to improve community police relations.

Legislators need to be reminded to be vigilant against including irrelevant items and activities.

Those pushing for a disarmed population always attempt to portray their extreme policies as "common sense".

Las Vegas is the only crime where bump stocks have been used. Armor piercing ammo is a virtual non-factor in crime, and silencers are so seldom used in crime the ATF is considering their deregulation.

This is the typical overreach of those opposed to an armed population.

When they push for too much, they should get nothing.

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

Gun Watch

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.

Gun Watch