Crowds swamp gun buyback program
City gives away $75,000 for 750 firearms Sunday, August 12, 2007By EDDIE CURRANStaff Reporter
Operation Safe Gun opened for business shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday with $10,000 in Wal-Mart gift certificates, or enough to buy and remove 100 firearms from Mobile area streets and homes.

In the next three hours, Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett and members of his staff made seven frantic trips to Wal-Mart, each time using their own money to buy more $100 gift certificates and feed the frenzy of gun-selling taking place at the old Dairy Queen location on Spring Hill Avenue in Crichton.

"We cut off the line and we're at $75,000 now and the money has come from us," said police spokeswoman Nancy Johnson, who dipped into her own funds to buy 100 certificates -- or $10,000 worth.

Garrett spent $15,000 -- writing two $5,000 checks and putting $5,000 worth of certificates on a credit card. Major Tyrone Wilhelm spent $10,000, and others gave as well -- raising $65,000 that was doled out to citizens willing to dispose of their guns for the $100 certificates.

Garrett and the others anticipate being reimbursed for their outlay, which Garrett authorized in the hope that the buyback program will save lives and make Mobile safer.

"It was just the thing to do. We'll have 750 guns," said Garrett, as people waited in line to hand in their guns. "We came here thinking 100, but I don't want to turn one away because the one we turn away might kill someone."

Even with the extra gift certificates, the buyback ended more than two hours before the scheduled 4 p.m. conclusion. At about 1 p.m., police started informing people that the certificates were running out, but that there would be another buyback in about a month. Latecomers had to be turned away.

Residents black and white, old and young, male and female, braved the baking heat to sell their handguns, rifles, shotguns, and sawed-off versions of the same. Many sought refuge under umbrellas.

At the buying end of the line, police sat behind a long table, quickly reviewed each gun, and handed out certificates.

Bea Allo of Chunchula walked away with a certificate after giving up a rifle that appeared decades old.


"It's just taking up space and we just wanted to get rid of it," said Allo. "My husband is an avid gun collector, and it was just a gun that didn't fit into his collection."

Clarissa Richardson, 70, of Mobile, brought a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol.

"I had it in the house. It was my friend's and he passed away," she said. "When my grandbaby said, 'Where is the gun?' -- she had found the bullets and the clip -- I said, 'It's time to get it out of the house.'"

It was Richardson's only gun, she said, and she has no plans to buy another. Others said they have other guns and wouldn't feel comfortable without having a firearm.

"I'm not out to shoot anybody, but you never know what might happen," said Edith Allen, who sold a .38-caliber handgun that belonged to her late husband but plans to eventually buy a replacement.

Two rooms in the police trailer used as the operations center were spilling over with rifles, shotguns and boxes of handguns. Some of the firearms were jammed with bullets that the sellers couldn't remove.

Police took these guns apart, and for safety, stuck the muzzles into a bucket of sand.

There were more than 750 guns collected, and they will be destroyed.

Some people, said Johnson, bypassed the line and just gave police their guns. Most said they'd been wanting to dispose of their guns but really didn't know how to, the spokeswoman said.

http://www.al.com/mobileregister/

There's a pic of some of the guns on the main page.

Makes me want to take a pile of those $40 Raven 25s

This will not prevent any crime, it's a waste of $.

"We came here thinking 100, but I don't want to turn one away because the one we turn away might kill someone."

Right, they have a mind of their own.  

Watch them get stuck with the guns when no one steps up to reimburse them

Wal Mart certificates? Hehehehehe...

Give the gov a gun for a Wal Mart certificate, then BUY A GUN WITH IT!

There were more than 750 guns collected, and they will be destroyed.

Those damm guns, always out there killin' and maimin'.
Glad to see them rounded up and stuck in the sand.







I wonder what the percentage of airsoft and non-operating guns there were.
I'd love to do a buyback, there's bound to be a few good ones there.

Quoted: Wal Mart certificates? Hehehehehe... Give the gov a gun for a Wal Mart certificate, then BUY A GUN WITH IT!

Sounds interesting...

I'll be googling for a gun that sells for under $100...

750 guns @ $100 each? Methinks someplace nearby had some cheap shit on sale for $75. The funny part is all the obvious shit they got. Stuff that's all seized up. Yeah, like those would ever be used in a crime. About the only one that half-assed makes sense is the little old lady who wanted to get it away from her curious grandkids. And she's a dumbass, because she probably could have gotten more for it someplace else.

Just out of curiosity, how are these trades for cash or equivalent, legal? There was a similar event in the city of Chicago with some churches buying guns... Guns that are illegal to have possession of.

I mean can I setup a booth and buy a whole bunch of guns for 100 bucks each?

Or is there always some government agency involved that does not  have the follow the rules of us citizens?

RR

Quoted: Makes me want to take a pile of those $40 Raven 25s

Exactly. I bet there was a ton of that sort of thing mixed in with the 750...

Quoted: Quoted: Wal Mart certificates? Hehehehehe... Give the gov a gun for a Wal Mart certificate, then BUY A GUN WITH IT! Sounds interesting... I'll be googling for a gun that sells for under $100...

I bought a Savage youth model .22 for my son from Wal-Mart with a $100 gift certificate that my Mom sent them for Christmas. I even had enough to buy a BSA scope that was on the clearance rack for $7 and 100 rounds of ammo for it. All for under $100............... Like a poster said earlier, bring in a pile of raven .25's and get 3 or 4 gift certificates.... You could end up with a pretty nice rifle that way!

- Clint

I don't know of any cops around here that have that much liquid cash sitting around to buy shit out of their own pockets....even if it is temporary

Quoted: Wal Mart certificates? Hehehehehe... Give the gov a gun for a Wal Mart certificate, then BUY A GUN WITH IT!

+1,000,000  That's what I would do but I would only give them a POS then use the money toward a new gun at Wal-Mart.

Quoted: Just out of curiosity, how are these trades for cash or equivalent, legal? There was a similar event in the city of Chicago with some churches buying guns... Guns that are illegal to have possession of. I mean can I setup a booth and buy a whole bunch of guns for 100 bucks each? Or is there always some government agency involved that does not  have the follow the rules of us citizens? RR

Probably something along he lines of;

Police are present and are actually taking possession of the firearms. The church/organizer is simply giving you money for turning in the weapon to the police. But rather then complicate how it appears, you just put cops out where people can see them, make it look responsible, and call it a "buy back."

Teh $100 Wal-Mart Gunz....



- Clint

Clarissa Richardson, 70, of Mobile, brought a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol.

Oh my!

I bet if you hade a couple gift certificates you could score a couple nice rifles or shotguns.

I can just imagine someone turning in an O/U or Winchester levergun.

I always have the fear that some old widow is going to turn in "that old gun he brought home from the war" at one of these things. And off to the smelter goes a piece of history.

Quoted: I don't know of any cops around here that have that much liquid cash sitting around to buy shit out of their own pockets....even if it is temporary

DITTO on this.  How many HONEST cops do you know who could round up $10,000 in a few minutes to "donate" to a city gun buy back??

Everyone of the HONEST ones is up to their eyes with regular cost of living and hardly flush with stacks of $100's just stacked all around their place.

BIGGER_HAMMER


I'd have liked to walked the line to cherry pick - you never know if there might have been some great old treasures in there like Hilter's Personal Luger or something...

"It's just taking up space and we just wanted to get rid of it," said Allo. "My husband is an avid gun collector, and it was just a gun that didn't fit into his collection."

"I'm not out to shoot anybody, but you never know what might happen," said Edith Allen, who sold a .38-caliber handgun that belonged to her late husband but plans to eventually buy a replacement.

Well i feel safer.

I wish they would have one of those here. I have a few old junkers i aquired over the years that i would love to get $100 for.

They had one nearby but you had to be a resident of that city to participate

Video about the buyback

Gunstore owner laughs about it.

POLL about buyback in middle of page

I voted no, but maybe I should say yes, so they have more of them and I can sell some junk guns!

Quoted: In the next three hours, Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett and members of his staff made seven frantic trips to Wal-Mart, each time using their own money to buy more $100 gift certificates and feed the frenzy of gun-selling taking place at the old Dairy Queen location on Spring Hill Avenue in Crichton. "We cut off the line and we're at $75,000 now and the money has come from us," said police spokeswoman Nancy Johnson, who dipped into her own funds to buy 100 certificates -- or $10,000 worth. Garrett spent $15,000 -- writing two $5,000 checks and putting $5,000 worth of certificates on a credit card. Major Tyrone Wilhelm spent $10,000, and others gave as well.

Cops in Alabama must be teh rich.  I don't know any cops with that kind of money.
Besides that, this "buy back" shit is just feel good nonsense.

Quoted: Clarissa Richardson, 70, of Mobile, brought a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol. Oh my!

The black ones are teh scariest!!!!!!    

I've got a mosin that is about shot out, if they had done this at the right time I coulda got cash back on what i got at wal-mart and bought 1000 rds of 7.62x54r!

I wish they announced these a good deal before-hand, like public auctions.

I'd love to get first crack at a lot of these.

Maybe my friends and I could set up a "roadblock" -- erm, "public safety checkpoint" -- along the way, in order to intercept all the good stuff.

Quoted: a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol.

That's Racist.

shouldnt there be a record somewhere with the make, model and serial number of every gun collected? how could there not be? what if one of those weapons had been used in a crime? yet, i never hear of anyone actually reviewing, analyzing the receipts, or determining the cost effectiveness of these "buy-backs."  

and wtf would anyone, and in this case - several supposedly thinking people, antcipate being reimbursed for a project they've authorized to run 650% over budget. christ, in any other sector, you'd be fired on the spot.

something is not at all right here.

Quoted: Watch them get stuck with the guns when no one steps up to reimburse them

That would be my plan!!!!

I would be particular about what guns I gave certificates for too!
If they can get an average of $150 per gun, they would WANT to NOT get reimbursed, and keep the guns. I'm sensing that is going to be the case!!!!

Quoted: I always have the fear that some old widow is going to turn in "that old gun he brought home from the war" at one of these things. And off to the smelter goes a piece of history.

I highly doubt that would happen. I'm sure the swindlers would be paper rock scissoring for it in the parking lot at the end of the day

Quoted: Quoted: Watch them get stuck with the guns when no one steps up to reimburse them That would be my plan!!!! I would be particular about what guns I gave certificates for too! If they can get an average of $150 per gun, they would WANT to NOT get reimbursed, and keep the guns. I'm sensing that is going to be the case!!!!

The truly poetic justice would be if they ended up having to cut their losses by selling any nice, functioning units to the gunshop owner that was interviewed. For about $25 each.

Quoted: Quoted: a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol. That's Racist.

So, after they ran out of gift cards the Chief and members of his Staff used their own money to purchase more $100.00 gift cards in several trips to Wal Mart?

And the Police Spokeswoman used $10,000.00 of her own money to purchase more gift cards? Her personal money or her department's budget money?  

These 2 points are the most astounding thing about the article....where the fuck do they get that money in a few  minute's notice?

Robbing drug dealers?

I wish I could get paid $100 to dispose of a gun I just killed somebody with.  You know about half or more of those gun were murder weapons and the gangsters are getting paid to dump the evidence no questions asked.  I'd like to see somebody walk up there wearing latex gloves with a ski mask on so they can't identify him.  That'd be teh funny.

What pisses me off about these things is, I'm about 100.9% confident that any stolen guns they come across get destroyed. In other words they knowingly destroy other peoples property....people who want their guns back.

It's a very unethical practice.

height=8

Quoted: I found out too late that LAPD was doing one of these buy backs. I figured that I could go to the store, buy an AK or SKS for, say, $150 (this was a long time ago), turn it in for $200, repeat the cycle a few times and get a good rifle for my effort.

And all those perfectly good SKS's will go to the smelter. They A) shouldn't be destroyed and B) someone else might want to purchase one who actually wants to use it.

If they ever host one of those in the DFW area, I'm going to walk up and down the line and make sure nothing of monetary or historic value gets sold. Hell, if it's a good gun (like an old, but functional revolver) I'd see if I could buy it from the person in line.

And if anyone wants to get rid of gun, but doesn't know what to do with it, just PM me. I'll make sure it doesn't kill any puppies or small children.

My bet is that most of the guns turned in were stolen. Probably stolen about the time the coppers announced the grand buy back program.

Quoted: http://wkrg.com/news/article/gun_buyback_this_saturday/4313/

Total Votes: 89
Yes
12 %  11% (10)

No
100 %  85% (76)

Don't Know
3 %  3% (3)

Clarissa Richardson, 70, of Mobile, brought a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol.

High Point?

For all intents and purposes a gun is a tool, some people had rusty old tools they got rid off.  Now it bothers me when some bitter old snatch sells her husbands expensive gun collection in this manner.  That old shrew knew it was worth more and wanted to disrespect him or further ruin his life.  Nothing worse on this earth than a life sucking parasite of a woman. But this does not bother me in the least.


Here's why.

1. It lets hood rats and their families get rid of extra Gats that may honestly kill someone.  Besides it is a wonderful place to toss a murder weapon, since you get immunity for turning it in.

2. It forces the lefty assholes like that creep cop and mayor to dip into their bribes and graft to support their own good work.  This is less money spent with national anti-gun groups. Besides he may spend the money he needed for cancer treatment and kill two birds with one stone.

3. It is a wonderful thing to do with a 13 dollar RG pistol.  My brother buys them and other broken crap from local gunsmiths in his area and saves them for buy back day.  Him and his buddies got free football tickets, gift cards and airline tickets at one time of another.  

Quoted: So, after they ran out of gift cards the Chief and members of his Staff used their own money to purchase more $100.00 gift cards in several trips to Wal Mart? And the Police Spokeswoman used $10,000.00 of her own money to purchase more gift cards? Her personal money or her department's budget money?   These 2 points are the most astounding thing about the article....where the fuck do they get that money in a few  minute's notice?

Personally, I think it is BS that these people actually spent their own personal money for this.  I bet the town council or the PD has a slosh fund for this stuff, and they will be reimbursed.

bring airsofts

Quoted: What pisses me off about these things is, I'm about 100.9% confident that any stolen guns they come across get destroyed. In other words they knowingly destroy other peoples property....people who want their guns back. It's a very unethical practice.

In Illannoys the law doesn't allow outright sales of recovered fireamrs, but allows the agency the "discretion" of disposal. Usually, if the weapon was reported as stolen, as long as it wasn't used to commit another crime it gets returned to the original, rightful owner. Obviously if it was used as a "prop" then it's held as evidence until the trial is over; if it was actually used as a weapon it gets kept as evidence.

There's a police chief in the southern Chicago suburbs who has stated that his belief is that the theft of the weapon itself was the comission of a crime; as such, he orders all weapons to be destroyed.

He's a politcal hack asshole.

were there any guidelines the police were following on what they accepted?

would pellet pistols count?
if so, talk about an arbitrage opportunity...

Quoted: Quoted: Clarissa Richardson, 70, of Mobile, brought a more threatening piece of gunware -- a black 9 mm pistol. Oh my! The black ones are teh scariest!!!!!!

Well, this did take place in Alabama.

Quoted: shouldnt there be a record somewhere with the make, model and serial number of every gun collected? how could there not be? what if one of those weapons had been used in a crime? yet, i never hear of anyone actually reviewing, analyzing the receipts, or determining the cost effectiveness of these "buy-backs."

If I was a criminal, I'd find out if they took this information...... if not, I'd turn in any guns I had with a body on them, and let the "pigs" melt 'em down, yo.

I'd wager a couple bucks that they probably took *some* info down for the folks who were compensated w/ the gift cards, but probably not from the folks who cut line to give them away....... and at least a few of those line-cutters were probably criminals.

and wtf would anyone, and in this case - several supposedly thinking people, antcipate being reimbursed for a project they've authorized to run 650% over budget. christ, in any other sector, you'd be fired on the spot. something is not at all right here.

Something's rotten in Denmark.  That one broad wasn't even a cop ("police spokeswoman Nancy Johnson").  How did a spokesperson for a PD have $10k just lying around?  Did she say "Oh, we're running out of cards, and I just happen to have $10k in my freezer."

Quoted: My bet is that most of the guns turned in were stolen. Probably stolen about the time the coppers announced the grand buy back program.

Would be hilarious to do a study linking gun buy-back programs with increased burglaries/thefts of firearms.

This pisses me off to no end.  I have 5 rusted and busted small ring Mausers I bought back about 10 years ago SPECIFICALLY for a gun buyback program (they were 10 bucks each)

The only buyback programs I've seen since then give out !@@#$%% sneakers or free downloads to your Ipod.