The debate about gun control and gun rights rages across the United States. In the first four months of 2021 there have been more than 100 mass shootings, nearly double the number during the same period of 2020.
Since the 1970s voluntary buyback programs have been organized across the country by law enforcement agencies, churches, and other citizen advocacy groups to encourage gun owners to sell their firearms, “no questions asked,” for cash or other items of value. Generally, people turning over their guns are not subject to background checks or criminal inquiries and, in some instances, do not have to provide identifying information.
Since the 1970s voluntary buyback programs have been organized across the country by law enforcement agencies, churches, and other citizen advocacy groups to encourage gun owners to sell their firearms, “no questions asked,” for cash or other items of value. Generally, people turning over their guns are not subject to background checks or criminal inquiries and, in some instances, do not have to provide identifying information.
On May 12, 2018, the public was invited to surrender guns anonymously at two Gun Buyback locations in Los Angeles. Upon surrendering a weapon, a $100 gift card was issued for handguns, shotguns, and rifles and a $200 gift card was issued for assault weapons. The citywide Gun Buyback Program is an initiative of the Mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development. Los Angeles, California, May 16, 2018. Courtesy of Mayor Eric Garcetti
The photographs and video presented below were made on January 19, 2013, when a gun buyback, sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas’ ministry The Stewpot was challenged by a competing event across the street. Rev. Bruce Buchanan, one The Stewpot’s organizers, confronted Collin Baker, a concealed handgun license instructor, who leased an empty lot for the day and advertised a pro-gun and marketplace event on an online message board. The Stewpot, with money donated specifically for the gun buyback, offered $50 for handguns and upward of $200 for rifles and semiautomatic assault weapons, while Baker’s event auctioned firearms and promised higher sales prices for gun owners, “looking to place their guns in a new home.”
Two sides of the street
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Gun buyback at The Stewpot.
Dallas, Texas, January 19, 2013. © Alan Govenar 
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Competing gun buyback across from The Stewpot.
Dallas, Texas, January 19, 2013. © Alan Govenar 
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“Early research on gun buybacks, mostly from the 1990s, largely finds these programs ineffective at curbing gun violence. Recent research frames gun buybacks in a more favorable light. On their own, buybacks might not be effective if the goal is to use them to directly reduce violent crime. But research shows buybacks can help if they’re part of a broader effort to reduce gun violence. They can influence public perception of how authorities are dealing with gun violence and serve as opportunities to educate communities about gun violence reduction strategies, according to academic researchers.”
~Clark Merrefield ”Gun buybacks: What the research says,“ The Journalist's Resource, January 9, 2020 |
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Gun buyback at The Stewpot. Dallas, Texas, January 19, 2013. © Alan Govenar
