The Patriot Post® · Minnesota's Gun Buyback Backfires

Gun control advocates tried to paint this weekend’s gun buyback in Minnesota as a raving success. “After strong response, gun buyback closes early in Minneapolis,” a Minneapolis Star Tribune headline stated. The article explains that Saturday’s event, “which had been intended to run until 6 p.m., closed down before noon after organizers from the nonprofit Pillsbury United Communities ran out of money, having handed out more than $25,000 in gift cards for about 150 guns.” But the gun buyback wasn’t quite the success they claim.

According to CBS Minnesota, “One anonymous gun owner said he received $200 in gift cards for his firearm and plans to use the freed up funds for a new gun [emphasis added].” Guy buyback? More like cutting-edge opportunism! Some residents resorted to faux firearm contraptions to nab some of the gift cards. Fox News reports, “One person constructed a ‘shotgun’ out of a piece of wood, some tape and a pipe. They were given a $100 gift card for the contraption, according to a Facebook post from the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.”

Meanwhile, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that gun ownership is proliferating, with “44 percent of the country [admitting to having] a gun in the house,” according to the Washington Examiner, which represents “a jump in ownership from the mid-30 percent found in other recent polls.” Because ill-informed gun control advocates can’t win at the polls, they lower themselves to spewing disinformation instead. Whether it’s in Minneapolis or Boston, gun buyback advocates are shooting themselves in the foot.