yesterday was the first day of the Phoenix, AZ so called firearm 'buy-back' program. How one can "buy-back" something one never owned is beyond my ken.
I parked 5 cars back from the entrance. The first man I approached when I asked "are you selling?" replied with "not to you". How rude! The second car had a woman of my age. She had a Remington Nylon 66 in the back seat and I stated so. She said "you recognized my grandfathers gun". I told her I would give her $25 more than the gift certificate that was being offered. She agreed. So for $125 I had a nice .22lr semi auto, one I have wanted for years.
There were perhaps a dozen people with signs "cash for guns". they were mostly young men. I on the other hand am beyond 60, walk with a cane, was carrying an umbrella and was wearing a large straw hat with am multi-color ribbon and tied on with a large bow. I would stop at each car, smile, say hello and engage the person in conversation, asking what they were selling. Most said things like 'oh, I would not sell this to you, it is junk' or 'it doesn't work'. What I saw were rusted shotguns (think about how long a shotgun must be neglected for it to rust to junk in a desert!), pocket pistols like lorcins that were broken, old off brand single actions with parts missing or broken. A very few people would look away to which I would say "have a nice day". I always smiled, was polite and thanked the person for their time. The youngsters that were several cars ahead of me made a few purchases, very few. I think most people were put off by their manner. I was rather intimidated by a couple. Not confrontational just the way they carried them selves. After an hour and a half I called it quits. I had surveyed over half of the cars present and the young men were all the way to the end of the line.
So what did the tax payers get for their money? Oh I know the purchases were made with an 'anonymous' donation of $100,000, however there were 5 police SUVs and at least 10 police officers at this one location. The program operated at 3 churches.
For tens of thousands of tax payer dollars the police took in JUNK! I am sure they will claim the program a success but it was a total farce. No "assault weapon" were received. One man I spoke with was in line for over an hour, however for his time he received $200 in gift certificates to a major grocery store. Not a bad dollar per hour investment.
If I left after my first 15 minutes I would still have had a nice .22lr and not wasted over an hour. There were no 'little old ladies' selling their husbands collection of single action Colts or 1911s. No Thompson submachine guns.
Just JUNK and a waste of tax payer money.
