By Dean Weingarten
Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- The Atlanta gun turn in event by NAACP and local churches had considerable competition from private buyers, as acknowledged by the wsbtv.com report
Gun collectors and enthusiasts, like David Daum, caught the attention of some people before reaching the Turner Field parking lot where the buyback was taking place.
“I personally just collect, restore. My personal preference is antique firearms,” explained Daum. He said his reason for being out there based on preservation. “Being a collector, especially trying to keep some of the historical firearms from being melted down and destroyed.”
From the video, it appears that Mr. Daum got at least a couple of decent deals. One that appears to be a Colt .45 semi-auto pistol, for $500, and an early Smith and Wesson revolver for $50. Private parties buying valuable items that otherwise would have been destroyed invalidates the whole “guns are bad” theme of gun turn in events. Mr. Daum paid more that 12 times the average of what the turn in organizers were paying for the guns that they purchased. Perhaps Mr. Daum heard about the program when Gun Watch was quoted on Fox News.
The story is not clear as to what will happen with the guns that were purchased by the NAACP. It says:
All those guns will then be processed by authorities.
But it is not clear exactly what that means. Turned in guns often sell for an average of $100 or more at auctions to licensed dealers, so the NAACP could turn a tidy profit if they sell these guns to dealers, complete with background checks on every gun when sold at retail. The video claims that almost 1000 guns were turned in at a cost of $40,000. There is a boom in gun sales at present, so they could get top dollar.
One police agency in Maine sold the guns that they collected and gave the money to charity. Either option would make more sense than simply destroying valuable property.
©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.