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Petersburg Police: Cash for Guns!!

Repeater

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Nov 5, 2007
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2,498
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Golly:

Petersburg Police to offer cash for guns
Petersburg Police are working to get dangerous weapons off the streets. They are even offering cash--no questions asked.

...

People turning in weapons will receive a $60 gift card for handguns, shotguns and rifles. Those with assault weapons, as classified by the State of Virginia, will receive a $100 gift card, while supplies of gift cards last. All firearms should be transported in the vehicle's trunk and must be unloaded.

"The whole point is to not have something where people will be penalized for bringing their weapons to police," said Esther Hyatt with Petersburg Police. "They will actually be rewarded. We are attempting to help people get rid of guns for whatever reason."

Wow, a great way to dispose of your crime guns.
 

The Wolfhound

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Karma indeed....

I think my favorite story on one of these was a group (in Ohio, I think) that used the gift cards to buy rifles and ammo for youth shooting clubs.:banana:
 

Grapeshot

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Good working guns not likely to be destroyed anymore

Disposition of firearms. Provides that no locality may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the locality. The ordinance shall require that such firearms shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer before otherwise disposing of, which may include destruction or sale to a dealer.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB22
 

TFred

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Sad folks, "we" as a group are slipping. I just saw the story this morning, TWO major problems, nobody's said anything!

First the little problem, "All firearms should be transported in the vehicle's trunk and must be unloaded."

Localities are not allowed to dictate how firearms are transported. 15.2-915.

Second the BIG problem.

§ 15.2-915.5. Disposition of firearms acquired by localities.

I could find no ordinance in the Petersburg Municode authorizing a buy-back program.

If this goes on as scheduled, Petersburg will be in violation of State Law.

Someone in Petersburg needs to pick up the phone and give someone a call!

TFred
 

Grapeshot

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Sad folks, "we" as a group are slipping. I just saw the story this morning, TWO major problems, nobody's said anything!

First the little problem, "All firearms should be transported in the vehicle's trunk and must be unloaded."

Localities are not allowed to dictate how firearms are transported. 15.2-915.

Second the BIG problem.

§ 15.2-915.5. Disposition of firearms acquired by localities.

I could find no ordinance in the Petersburg Municode authorizing a buy-back program.

If this goes on as scheduled, Petersburg will be in violation of State Law.

Someone in Petersburg needs to pick up the phone and give someone a call!

TFred
Congratulations - A "twofer" :exclaim:
 

stealthyeliminator

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Texas
Maybe you should just be honest and call 911 and say there's a bunch of thug-looking fellows illegally buying a bunch of guns and you're afraid of what they might do with them all.

As to Citizen's comment, on the same note of the funding for this, isn't it kind of ironic that in reality they're "purchasing" these people's firearms with money that was (forcefully) taken from those same people? How different is that from them just (forcefully) taking the firearms to begin with? What if someone needed that extra $60 to put food on the table? Could the taxation refunded in exchange for surrender of firearms then be considered a coercive means of seizing the firearms? Yeah, it's a stretch, I'm just thinking out loud.
 

Grapeshot

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Sad folks, "we" as a group are slipping. I just saw the story this morning, TWO major problems, nobody's said anything!

First the little problem, "All firearms should be transported in the vehicle's trunk and must be unloaded."

Localities are not allowed to dictate how firearms are transported. 15.2-915.

Second the BIG problem.

§ 15.2-915.5. Disposition of firearms acquired by localities.

I could find no ordinance in the Petersburg Municode authorizing a buy-back program.

If this goes on as scheduled, Petersburg will be in violation of State Law.

Someone in Petersburg needs to pick up the phone and give someone a call!

TFred

Tried to find the Petersburg City Attorney's contact information - came up blank :(

Point is to ask him under what legal authority the "buy back" is being conducted in light of § 15.2-915.5.

I'm running out of time - maybe someone local can pick up the slack.
 

builtjeep

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Jul 13, 2008
Messages
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Location
South Chesterfield, VA
I had no luck contacting the city attorney with my clerk business, but the city manager was quick to forward things on to him. I'll send some emails tomorrow.

Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk 2
 

Citizen

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Fairfax Co., VA
Maybe you should just be honest and call 911 and say there's a bunch of thug-looking fellows illegally buying a bunch of guns and you're afraid of what they might do with them all.

As to Citizen's comment, on the same note of the funding for this, isn't it kind of ironic that in reality they're "purchasing" these people's firearms with money that was (forcefully) taken from those same people? How different is that from them just (forcefully) taking the firearms to begin with? What if someone needed that extra $60 to put food on the table? Could the taxation refunded in exchange for surrender of firearms then be considered a coercive means of seizing the firearms? Yeah, it's a stretch, I'm just thinking out loud.

Whoa! That's a great point!
 

TFred

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Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
Anyone who makes contact with Petersburg be prepared for "We aren't running the buy-back, "Mothers Against Violent Crime" is.

Not sure what role can be allowed by a Police Department in a private event - I would call such "mislabeling" an exercise in bovine scatology, borrowing from Norman Schwarzkopf... but the next question would be, is MAVC a licensed FFL? Aren't there strict limits on how many guns one may purchase without becoming a licensed dealer?

What's to keep VCDL from showing up, outbidding the sellers by $10 a pop and auctioning the guns to a FFL for a fund-raiser?

TFred
 

va_tazdad

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Feb 23, 2009
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Richmond, Virginia, USA
Wait a minute

Anyone who makes contact with Petersburg be prepared for "We aren't running the buy-back, "Mothers Against Violent Crime" is.

Not sure what role can be allowed by a Police Department in a private event - I would call such "mislabeling" an exercise in bovine scatology, borrowing from Norman Schwarzkopf... but the next question would be, is MAVC a licensed FFL? Aren't there strict limits on how many guns one may purchase without becoming a licensed dealer?

What's to keep VCDL from showing up, outbidding the sellers by $10 a pop and auctioning the guns to a FFL for a fund-raiser?

TFred

"No questions asked"???? What about the background checks these anti-gun people are always screaming about????

Are they running one of those evil gun shows ???????
 

Riana

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Dec 23, 2008
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Fairfax County, VA
Anyone who makes contact with Petersburg be prepared for "We aren't running the buy-back, "Mothers Against Violent Crime" is.

Not sure what role can be allowed by a Police Department in a private event - I would call such "mislabeling" an exercise in bovine scatology, borrowing from Norman Schwarzkopf... but the next question would be, is MAVC a licensed FFL? Aren't there strict limits on how many guns one may purchase without becoming a licensed dealer?

If MAVC is conducting the buy-back, and is NOT a licensed FFL, then perhaps someone should make a call to the ATF...

Edit: I see that there are two locations: Tabernacle Baptist Church, located at 418 Halifax St., and Monumental Baptist Church, located at 2925 S. Crater Road. Sponsors are listed as Mothers Against Violent Crime, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Brenco Inc., Tabernacle Baptist Church and, Monumental Baptist Church and the Petersburg Bureau of Police.

If this isn't a police buyback, I'm betting none of those other groups are FFLs either.
 
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Grapeshot

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If MAVC is conducting the buy-back, and is NOT a licensed FFL, then perhaps someone should make a call to the ATF...

Edit: I see that there are two locations: Tabernacle Baptist Church, located at 418 Halifax St., and Monumental Baptist Church, located at 2925 S. Crater Road. Sponsors are listed as Mothers Against Violent Crime, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Brenco Inc., Tabernacle Baptist Church and, Monumental Baptist Church and the Petersburg Bureau of Police.

If this isn't a police buyback, I'm betting none of those other groups are FFLs either.

That could make for some interesting headlines. :D
 
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Blk97F150

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Virginia
Related, from a VCDL Alert. This one is going to be fun to watch.... :p


**************************************************
2. Petersburg doing a gun-buy up - but it may not be legal
**************************************************

Petersburg is planning a "gun buy-up" on Saturday, September 14th. But there appears to be a problem and I am going to be all over it: the event may not be legal!

Virginia law 15.2-915.5 requires that a locality have an ordinance on the books authorizing such an event. We can't find one for Petersburg. I will be talking to the City Attorney on Monday. Also, they CANNOT just destroy guns that are bought up, they must try to sell those guns BY LAW. I'll bet that will be a surprise to them, too.

More on this issue later in the week.
 

markand

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VA
If this is all being done by a private group or groups, that might let the town of Petersburg off the hook in regard to § 15.2-915.5. The Petersburg police ought to think twice about openly and knowningly providing a venue for the conduct of illegal gun transactions. I find it rather ironic that gun grabbers would try to use private sales to skirt the background check. A private sale doesn't need a background check, but handgun sales can only be made among residents of the same state. They've got to at least ask that question.

If the firearm is stolen, these gun grabbers might have a problem becoming involved in the receipt or sale of stolen property. I would think they would need to ask if the seller is the lawful owner of the firearm.

If somebody shows up with a class 3 item, like an illegal short barreled rifle or shotgun, or a firearm with the serial number filed off, all of which would be quite feasible, that should be a really big problem for the BATFE as well.

Police and BATFE shouldn't turn a blind eye to any of this. Having said all of that, I'll take a wild guess and predict that the BATFE will happily let all this take place, particularly if the end result is the destruction of the firearms collected. This administration has shown no hesitation or reluctance to ignore the law when it suits their purposes.
 
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Grapeshot

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If this is all being done by a private group or groups, that might let the town of Petersburg off the hook, although collecting guns at a police station doesn't seem right. I find it rather ironic that gun grabbers would try to use private sales to skirt the background check. A private sale doesn't need a background check, but handgun sales can only be made among residents of the same state. They've got to at least ask that question.
--snipped--
This buy back is not taking place at a LEA, but on private property by private individuals that would seem to be in violation of BATFE rules related to FFLs.
 
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