CO: Planned Gun "Buyback" in Denver and Aurora Likely Illegal/Unworkable

Image courtesy Dean Weingarten, small portion of guns turned in, Phoenix, May, 2013

Colorado politicians have planned a gun "buyback" for March of 2022. They probably will not be able to hold the event, as Colorado law makes if nearly impossible to hold a "buyback" legally.

Those who want a disarmed population coined the Orwellian term "buyback" to describe events were people turn guns in to police, to be destroyed, for money. The police cannot "buyback" guns they never owned to begin with. 

About 2013, people started fighting back against this propaganda effort by privately purchasing guns at these events. 

At some events people used the money to buy better guns.

States started requiring guns purchased by local governments be sold, and the money used for the public good. 

Local entrepreneurs/activists started selling home made guns at these events, earning a profit and making for good photo opportunities.

Organizations such as Guns Save Life organized turn-in of junk guns in order to buy good guns for youth programs.

The number of "buybacks" fell precipitously. A few continued in states where draconian law prevented private parties from purchasing firearms at these events, such as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California.

Academic studies have confirmed these events do not reduce crime or suicides, and may have a small effect of increasing crime for a short period. 

Colorado banned such events as a byproduct of a push for gun control. 

Most people who initiate these programs do not research them. They insist on doing them for illogical or propaganda reasons. That seems to be the case of Denver and Aurora "buybacks" planned for 2022. From cbslocal.com:

Starting in March 2022, a new gun buyback program will be implemented in hopes of remedying the problem.

“Our goal is to get guns off the street. What we’re seeing is an extraordinary uptick in crime in both Denver and Aurora,” Denver District 5 Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer told CBS4’s Mekialaya White via Zoom.

Sawyer says now is the time to take action, after a massive increase in violent and property crime in recent weeks. That includes two shootings in Aurora injuring several teenagers just last week.

“I think for a long time there’s been a hesitancy for government to get involved in a program like this, especially in the metro area. There’s a crisis in our communities, especially with young people,” echoed Aurora Councilman-at-Large Curtis Gardner. “So, we are partnering with Colorado Springs-based nonprofit RawTools that will take guns volunteered at our buyback that will turn them into garden tools and jewelry. It creates a really neat synergy for the community.”

“We think it’ll be a really valuable partnership between both cities,” added Sawyer.

At each buyback, residents can turn in firearms anonymously.

Such events are not allowed by Colorado law. Every transfer has to go through a federally licensed dealer. The dealer charges a fee. It makes an anonymous turn-in unworkable, and almost certainly illegal. It is an unintended consequence of the draconian "Universal Background Check" law.

The law, passed in 2013, made private sales illegal. All transfers have to be conducted through a Federal Firearms Licenses, making them subject to government approval, thus, no longer private.  Permanently giving a weapon in to another entity to be destroyed, is a transfer, under the law.  

In 2013, Colorado "buyback" events were cancelled because they were made nearly impossible by the new Colorado law. 

It seems unlikely the proposed event organizers will be able to get an exception to the Colorado law passed before March of 2021. It appears the event organizers and those promoting the event in the Media, have not considered the legal implications before publishing their efforts. 

Ignorance of gun laws is common among those who push for disarming the public. 

©2021 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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