The King County, Washington Sheriff’s Department—the only county in the state with an appointed, rather than elected, sheriff—has announced it will conduct an “anonymous gun buyback event” on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Shoreline Community College, according to KIRO News.
Gun buybacks, in recent years, have been considered little more than photo ops because even gun control groups acknowledge studies which have found “little empirical evidence to suggest that they reduce” violent crime.
Even The Trace, a pro-gun control publication backed by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, noted more than two years ago, “Several studies have found that people who participate in buybacks tend to be older, less likely to be involved in gun violence, and not residents of the city holding the buyback. And many people who turn over one gun still keep other guns at home.”
On social media, critics are already calling it “a political stunt at taxpayers’ expense.”
The Trace report quoted Dr. Garen Wintemute, University of California, Davis, who has long been associated with “gun violence research” who said back in 2021, “The value of buybacks is principally as a mobilization tool, bringing together people and organizations who want to work on the problem.”
According to KIRO, the department is offering the following gift card amounts:
- 25 for antique firearms, junk guns, inoperable firearms, receivers/frames only, and bump-fire stocks
- $50 for muzzle-loading firearms manufactured after 1941
- $100 for rifles, shotguns, .22LR weapons firearms, and revolvers
- $200 for pistols
- $300 for AR-15s, AK-47s, and machine guns
The department will not accept BB guns, toy guns, ammunition, magazines, scopes or other accessories, KIRO said.
The announcement is already raising some eyebrows, since Shoreline Community College has a no firearms policy which reads:
“Possession, carrying, or display of any weapon by any person, except a commissioned law enforcement officer, is prohibited on College property, in academic buildings, administrative office buildings, recreational facilities, dining facilities, child care facilities, or at any athletic, entertainment, or educational event.
“Any person who is lawfully permitted to possess a concealed weapon may secure such weapon inside their vehicle while on College property consistent with the provisions of state law, RCW 9.41.050, provided the vehicle is locked and the weapon is concealed from view. This policy does not prohibit lawful possession or use of a personal protection spray device as defined and authorized in RCW 9.91.160.”
