Tag Archives: Gun Buy Back

Chasing relics for ‘public safety’

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Police in Northwest England have been celebrating ridding the tough streets around Liverpool of collectible antique firearms, air guns, and starter pistols. 

The Merseyside Police this month closed a two-week gun surrender event focused primarily on taking in antiques that were recently designated as being forbidden under the country’s strict firearm codes. The new change targeted firearm chambered in one of seven long-obsolete 19th Century ammunition types, once protected under the UK’s Firearms Act 1968, for old guns typically “held as an ornament” or curiosity.

“During the surrender, we had 14 viable guns handed in, comprising of shotguns, revolvers, and self-loading pistols as well as 9 blank firers, 12 air weapons, and a quantity of ammunition,” said Merseyside Police. 

The photos released by the agency showed off a sampling fit for the likes of Colonel Mustard or Professor Plum. 

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Nothing to see here

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The term “gun buyback” is kind of a misnomer as it implies that the people purchasing said unwanted firearms “off the streets” owned them in the first place. Nonetheless, they sometimes turn up interesting items for which those involved pay a song. In recent years this has included a revolver stolen from Teddy Roosevelt and a vintage museum-quality StG44, both of which were saved from the torch.

Sadly, a beautiful M1911 owned by Sammy Davis Jr. was not.

Well, speaking of odd catches at buybacks, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office hosted one earlier this month which was covered by the local paper and I picked up at Guns.com. Why would I pick up such a normally pedestrian news story?

Because they garnered a cherry HK MP5 with a side-folding factory marked stock and four-positon ambi Navy fire control pack lower, as well as a host of mags and a couple of suppressors for $200. At the very least it is a SP89 conversion Sterling VA marked H&K with nice laser on the front.

hk-mp5-with-a-side-folding-factory-marked-stock-and-four-positon-ambi-navy-fire-control-pack-lower
As California frowns on suppressor ownership altogether for civilians and you have to get special permission from DOJ besides your regular NFA hoops for full-autos, the MP5 combo likely came in from out of state, was illegal (say it ain’t possible), a prop house gun, or is a Post-86 dealer sample or LE gun. In any of these cases, there are likely some questions.

Gun Buyback Program Myths

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Gun by back programs, started during World War 2 in which the military purchased thousands of qualifying shotguns, rifles, and sidearms for use by Civil Defense units and for training purposes. One of the largest buybacks in history was the 1996 Australian Buyback in which over 600,000 firearms were purchased by the government from its citizens. The huge number was a result of most types of firearms being banned in that county the same year, and thus made illegal. Since the assault weapons ban in the United States, many organizations and cities have had their own buy backs with the publicly stated purpose of reducing the number of unwanted firearms on the streets and thus cutting back on crime. These programs have gained momentum in the past decade with agencies offering as much as $200 in gift cards (often donated by local businesses) for each firearm turned in– no questions asked, with the harvested firearms being destroyed.

However overblown headlines, overpaying for junk firearms, and over-hyping the number of firearms bought in relation to those still available are all oft-under addressed.

See the rest at my column at Firearms Talk.com http://www.firearmstalk.com/entries/Gun-Buyback-Program-Myths.html