Anyone in Philly Area want to turn a profit?

[Kennedy 0]

JohnRich can explain how, based on the article below.

Quote

Gun Buyback Program

Mar 28, 2005 12:33 pm US/Eastern
PHILADELPHIA (KYW) Community leaders and the Philadelphia Police Department are offering the most money ever for the newest citywide gun buyback program.

Anyone turning in an assault weapon such as an AK-47 or Uzi will be given a voucher for $200. Handguns are worth $100 while longer guns like shotguns and rifles are worth $50.

No vouchers will be given for B.B. guns, paintball guns, or other non-firearms.

You can turn the guns in at any city police district through the end of April.

Another wonderful waste of taxpayers' money and law enforcement's time.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[peregrinerose 0]

I just lost my job. I have 4 handguns and a rifle. I wonder if the pellet gun counts? Minimum that's $450, which will pay my student loans for 1 week. Hmmmm. Philly's only 2 hours away.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Kennedy 0]

A better plan is to go down to your local pawn shop and ask for their cheapest, shittiest left over guns.

Buy a couple handguns for less than $100, and turn them in. It's actualy easier soemtimes to find long guns for elss than $50.

No, they're not taking bb guns.

(fair warning: at some of these things they give you gift certificates or free passes worth the advertised amount, not always cash)

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[peregrinerose 0]

Ooooh, good thinking.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[tigra 0]

Or just steal the guns and tell them you "found" them but want to be a good citizen and get them off the streets!

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

JohnRich can explain how...

Back by popular request:

My Gun Buy-Back Experience
by John Rich

Houston City Councilman Ray Driscoll has offered two gun buy-back days, one on November 18th and one on December 2nd, 1995. In exchange for turning in a gun, you would receive a gift certificate for either Fiesta Supermarket or Target department store, with a value of $50 to $100, determined by the caliber of the gun; the larger the caliber, the larger the value. Men's Wearhouse (a clothing chain) also contributed $5,000 cash to the project.

Optionally, you could receive a voucher for $100 off your rent at
any of eight different apartment complexes in Driscol's district.
Additionally, for each gun turned in received you received two tickets to a Houston Arrows hockey game. The information given out over the phone stated that no questions would be asked, no checks run on the guns, and no police would be handling the guns. All guns received would be melted down.

I decided to take advantage of this offer to show them how foolish
this proposal is, and to make some money off of their foolishness. Here is my story.

I purchased four "junk" guns at two different pawn shops; one .22
handgun, two .25 handguns, and one 10 gauge single shot shotgun. They were all functional but very cheap, worn-out guns. I paid $30 each for these guns, for a total investment of $120. I did this 10 days in advance of the buy-back date to cover the Brady background check waiting period for the handguns. One of the pawn shop owners related to me that he had already turned in some junk guns at the first buy-back event, which he couldn't sell in his store.

As I drove up to the Gulfton police storefront office, the front
walk was alive with people standing around. These included about six police officers, about four others in civilian clothes that looked like off-duty police officers, and another half-dozen well-dressed men and women in suits, who were Councilman Driscoll and his staff, and maybe some other politician or media types.

A man in civilian clothes approached me as I got out of my car.
He checked the firearms right there to make sure they were unloaded before entering the building. These workers were the same ones chatting noisily with the police officers when I pulled up, and they also had free run of the police station, which no-one else did.

So, Big Lie #1: they were police officers, just not in uniform. If they wanted to encourage criminals to turn in guns, they wouldn't have had all those cops standing around. The other impression I had was that the politicians standing there all eyed me warily, wondering if I was some kind of evil person to have all those guns.

He took my four guns and headed for a room off to the side where he said they would be tagged and checked for functionality, and meanwhile I talked to a lady behind a table. As the worker carried the guns past, he told her; "Four guns; three handguns, and one shotgun". The lady exclaimed in surprise; "Four?" As if no-one had ever turned in four at one time before, and as if this was an unfair deal. She wrote this info on a sheet of paper, and said I would receive coupons of $50 for each handgun, and $75 for the shotgun, for a total of $225. Thus, I made $105 profit on a $120 investment (87.5%). There were similar notes on the paper indicating that two other people had turned in three guns already that morning, and I was there only about 20 minutes after they started at 10:00.

As the cop walked into the back room with the guns, she commented; "I hate shotguns" and she shuddered as if in revulsion. I asked her: "Why?" but she did not respond. She asked me if I wanted Fiesta or Target coupons, and then she counted out nine $25 coupons, along with eight hockey ticket coupons (value: $8 each). There were only about ten coupons left in her pile for Target. I wondered what she would do when she ran out. I had to wait for the cops in the back room before I could pick up the coupons and leave.

I strolled a few feet toward the side room to watch what was going
on with my guns, and while one guy was putting a tag in the trigger
guard with a number on it, another was reading a serial number to a cop sitting at a computer terminal. He was typing the numbers into the terminal, apparently checking to see of they were stolen. It was not a personal computer where they might just be recording serial numbers for record-keeping purposes, it was only a 3270- type terminal hooked to a mainframe somewhere else, without any storage devices attached to the terminal itself.

Thus, Big Lie #2; they were in fact checking the guns. When a uniformed officer saw me standing there, he quickly and firmly told me I had to wait out front and moved towards me to make sure I did so. Very unfriendly. I asked the lady out front; "I thought they weren't going to check the guns?", and she replied; "I think they have to."

They decided the guns weren't stolen and that they were all functional, so I departed with my loot. At no time did they ask for personal ID. As I was departing, a man in a pick-up truck had pulled in, and was getting out with a short-barrel shotgun. The plain-clothes worker almost immediately told him "that's illegal." The guy was taken aback, and the plain clothes worker pulled out a tape measure and measured the barrel length. He decided it was legal after-all, and they proceeded inside together.

In conclusion, the atmosphere was not conducive to getting guns out of the hands of criminals. Any criminal wouldn't go near a place crawling with cops like that. The people I saw turning in guns were all "normal" looking folks, and the guns were all junk that no-one would use in a crime anyway. It'll get the politician some publicity and make him feel good, but that's about it. Probably all he wanted anyway.

My next step was to write a letter documenting how I took advantage of their foolish system, with copies of gun purchase recipts, and coupons received to prove it. This was sent to Councilman Driscol, the Hoston Chronicle newspaper, and the presidents of Fiesta, Target and Men's Wearhouse. My hope is that this will persuade the Councilman not to hold another gun buy-back, and to persuade the sponsors not to support it again if he does.

With the coupons I got to buy a lot of stuff at the department store, and treated a bunch of friends to a free hockey game!