A gun turn-in program offering “gas for guns” with “no questions asked” that was planned for last Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi, was halted last week when event organizers were advised that it violated state law.
That law, passed in 2014 with the support of the NRA, ended publicly funded firearms destruction programs; prohibited the confiscation of firearms during a declared emergency; stopped public housing authorities from disarming residents; and clarified that local governments have no authority to regulate the possession of firearms.
So-called “gun turn-in” programs have proven to be a waste of taxpayers’ money, anyway, since criminals don’t turn in their guns, and the guns that are turned in are usually old, broken or worth less than the value of the “reward” offered. As the National Academy of Sciences reported, “the theory underlying gun buy-back programs is badly flawed, and the empirical evidence demonstrates the ineffectiveness of these programs.”
