With solid pro-Second Amendment majorities in the North Dakota Legislature, a new bill has passed that will outlaw so-called gun “buybacks” subsidized by taxpayers.
Many studies have shown that such programs fail to make a positive impact on crime and may even provide an opportunity for criminal gangs to offload unwanted firearms and raise money for new guns. Instead, their only real purpose is to be an expensive spectacle suggesting that anti-gun politicians are “doing something” to stop violence.
Republican state Rep. Luke Simons says that gun “buybacks” send a message to children that “government is buying evil guns to get them off the street.”
North Dakota is not the first state to pass such legislation, with Kansas and Indiana already prohibiting “buybacks” funded with taxpayer dollars.
Many studies have shown that such programs fail to make a positive impact on crime and may even provide an opportunity for criminal gangs to offload unwanted firearms and raise money for new guns. Instead, their only real purpose is to be an expensive spectacle suggesting that anti-gun politicians are “doing something” to stop violence.
Republican state Rep. Luke Simons says that gun “buybacks” send a message to children that “government is buying evil guns to get them off the street.”
North Dakota is not the first state to pass such legislation, with Kansas and Indiana already prohibiting “buybacks” funded with taxpayer dollars.
