Progressives Shocked to Find Gun Buybacks Don’t Decrease Gun Crime – Opinion

We can file this one under “No sh*t, Sherlock.”

Recent research has shown that gun buybacks have about the same effect on gun crime reduction as using a pocketknife in order to chop down an oak tree. CNN reports that research over years has revealed that the programs do not have an impact on gun violence levels in these areas. The bottom line is that these researchers were compensated to report what anyone could have said without the enormous pay.

When Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Chicago’s buyback program, she called it a “bold new initiative” and claimed it would get “guns out of the hands of dangerous people.” Cities typically offer gift cards in exchange for firearms turned in by residents.

CNN

Chicago officials take in hundreds upon hundreds of guns every year through buyback programs. But decades of research shows such programs don’t reduce gun violence, in large part because they don’t result in guns being taken from people who aren’t supposed to have them. One recent study found “no evidence that (gun buyback programs) reduce suicides or homicides where a firearm was involved.”

These types of programs are common in cities across America, and Chicago’s goal is ambitious compared to other programs. Long Beach police confiscated 280 firearms at an September event. At an event in Desoto (Texas), more than 250 guns were surrendered. This was how 40 were collected by police in Albany, Georgia last spring.

Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD officer, told the activist media outlet, “It’s good theater. But it’s not helping deal with gangs and drug dealers and everyone else using the guns.”

He continued:

“These things are dog-and-pony shows … Look, a million dollars to do all this stuff, it’s not going to help violence in Chicago or anywhere else one iota. It’s feel-good, it’s to make it look like politicians are going to do something, but it means absolutely nothing.”

It’s fair to say that no one could have predicted that drug dealers or gang members would turn in firearms to get gift certificates.

However, CNN and the anti-gunners tried to save some credibility in spite of all these facts.

“And when the goal is community engagement or awareness — when the goal isn’t violent crime reduction — the programs can have some benefit,” the author wrote. “Notably, taking guns out of homes where the owner doesn’t want them and giving people an incentive to take them out of circulation.”

Glen Brooks, director of the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Community Policing, said the program “is a way for people to have a solid connection to the city” and that it is “showing love for their city.”

Yeah sure, Glen.

Last year, researchers examined data from the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the National Vital Statistics System in an effort to determine if buyback programs reduce crime. They found “no evidence” that they reduce suicides or homicides committed using firearms. Their findings “suggest that (gun buyback programs) have been an inefficient use of taxpayers’ dollars.” They speculated that “alternative firearm-related policies, such as safe storage laws or stricter background checks, would be more effective at deterring gun violence.”

It is a fact that gun buyback laws are similar to other strict gun control laws. These programs only disarm those who don’t intend to commit gun crimes. Most people don’t need to be worried about law-abiding citizens. People who illegally obtained guns are responsible for the majority of gun violence.

It does not take a rocket scientist – or an expensive study – to figure out that none of these programs has a chance at addressing gun violence. The gun control group insists that the country accepts their empty arguments. However, the growing rates of gun ownership show that they have lost this fight.