Comments on: Jackie Speier to co-host gun buyback tomorrow

By: Bruce R. Peterson, Lafayette

Bruce R. Peterson, Lafayette — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:28:25 +0000

Good photo Josh. Some of those guns have been illegal for decades. The sawed off shotgun with the pistol grip, could not be sold legally.

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:53:16 +0000

Here’s one of the photos that the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office tweeted during the buyback: https://twitter.com/SMCSheriff/status/295253909189042176/photo/1

By: Bruce R. Peterson, Lafayette

Bruce R. Peterson, Lafayette — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:00:06 +0000

The story I hear is: Gun dealers are getting cash for trash.

By: RR senile columnist

RR senile columnist — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:27:07 +0000

There’s an elderly German fellow I’ve heard about who is said to be eager to dispose of an .88 mm antitank gun. Would he be able to arrange pickup by the authorities? PS: His neighbor is an elderly Frenchman with a .75 field gun.

By: JohnW

JohnW — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:11:34 +0000

Re: #4 JAFO Says

You may be right about about the grenade launcher, but that doesn’t change my guess that some portion of the guns turned in are illegally owned firearms. Isn’t that why they make it anonymous? But Josh’s point about legal guns just lying around the house seems right too. When I got out of the Army, I still had a .22 rifle at home and wanted to get rid of it. Would gladly have exchanged it for $200.

Speaking of tanks, at least one California citizen, our former governor Schwarzenegger owns a 1952 vintage 50-ton M47 Patton tank. I’m guessing the gun is non-operational. Hope so. But the vehicle is very operational. He uses it for a variety of purposes, including charity. But he likes to take it out for a spin and crush old cars with it. That would be quite a sight if he showed up at a gun buyback and asked for his $200.

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:18:22 +0000

@ #7 – That’s quite a leap of reasoning, Elwood. I think the rationale here is that if you have a gun laying around that you don’t want, and you can get cash for it, and by voluntarily selling it you’re also ensuring nobody will ever break into your house and take it, what’s the harm?

By: Elwood

Elwood — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:13:34 +0000

@ Josh #5

Oh, good grief!

By that reasoning all guns should be taken out of all homes because they might be stolen.

And I’m sure many “liberals” and “progressives” would think that’s a dandy idea.

By: RR Senile Columnist

RR Senile Columnist — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:28:41 +0000

What’s next? Let’s try cash for illegally obtained drugs—no questions asked.

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:20:21 +0000

I read Speier's comments to mean she hopes the buyback is less about taking guns directly from criminals than it is about taking guns out of homes from which they could be stolen by criminals.

By: JAFO

JAFO — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:03:13 +0000

Let’s not mislead with half-truths. Yes, I saw the article where the AP reporter breathlessly informed readers that one “grenade launcher” was turned in. However, I also recall reading past the sensational headline where the article provided additional information about the obsolete Army-surplus nature of the equipment. I don’t recall reading anything about the equipment being operational. Just think how much fun the reporter and headline writer would have had if someone had turned in a WWII-era Sherman tank. While fairly unusual, it’s legal to own one of those as well, so long as it’s non-operational, and a few collectors actually do.