Hi Jim,
I have to support you in your view of Gun ‘Buy-back’ schemes. When the law changed over here in the UK in 1996 and the private ownership of handguns was made illegal the government put in place a scheme where all handguns were to be handed into police stations and the owners were given what the government called ‘fair recompense’. This took no account of the market value of the firearms handed in and most were overvalued. So what happened was that many people were spending their time buying cheep handguns and immediately going to a police station handing in the weapons just purchased and making a profit. I heard of several people who made over £10,000 (GBP) in profit doing this. So why not take advantage of schemes like this and if you have, or can get hold of, any cheap weapons hand them make a profit, and put the money to a better use.
Allied to the illegality of many weapons in the UK, semi-automatic rifles (made illegal in 1987) and handguns (from 1996), crimes committed in which firearms have played a part have increased by over 1000%. Making firearms illegal only removes them from the hands of the law abiding people not the criminals, especially as breaking the law tends to be part of the job description of a criminal. (If you are going to break one law why not break another especially if it will help you get away with it.) Also, illegal firearms are ridiculously easy to acquire, and relatively cheap, in the large cities in the UK if you have the contacts. Regards, – Ross
JWR Replies: I would only recommend taking advantage of schemes like these, under the following circumstances: 1.) You can “donate” guns anonymously (no record of sellers name), 2.) You sell only junker guns with no practical value, 3.) You receive cash rather than amusement park or movie coupons, and 4.) You immediately invest the cash generated into practical/tactical guns, ammunition, and accessories. That would warm my heart!