by Chad D. Baus
Ohio – -(Ammoland.com)- A recent Cincinnati News article highlighted a gun “buyback” program being run by Deer Park City Councilperson Charles Tassell – a program that focuses on the problem of guns in the “wrong hands” rather than the firearm itself.
From the article:
Typically, the guns are destroyed in buybacks conducted by cities and police departments.
Deer Park City Councilperson Charles Tassell, who is pro-gun and holds a concealed-carry permit, didn’t think that was the best way to run “Street Rescue,” his gun buyback program.
Instead, he turns in the collected guns to federally licensed firearms dealers to be sold to the right hands.
“It’s not my determination of the ‘right hands,'” Tassell said. “It’s the federal government’s decision.”
According to the article, most of the 41 guns he collected off of the streets in Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills and East Westwood were handguns and pistols. He’s taken many of those to shops around Cincinnati, including TargetWorld and Point Blank Range & Gun Shop.
The article goes on to say that when the guns come in, Tassell runs the serial numbers through the Deer Park Police Department. If anything is stolen, it goes back to the proper owner. If the serial number is rubbed off, then it is destroyed, per the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“We made sure none of them were stolen, sought by law enforcement or wanted in connection with any crimes,” said Deer Park Police Chief Michael Schlie, who confirmed none of the guns from Street Rescue’s buybacks were stolen.
Tassell takes the guns that are safe and can be sold again to licensed federal firearms dealers, who register them in their inventory.
“Allowing the guns to go back into the secondary markets is a much better solution than simply destroying the firearms,” said Joe Eaton, treasurer of the Buckeye Firearms Association. “It protects the historical and collectible guns and makes families safer by making less expensive firearms available to them.”
Eaton said many dealers would be interested because it would add to their regular business.
According to the article, when the guns are sold legally from that dealership to a customer, who has passed a background check run by the ATF, Street Rescue recoups the funds to host more “buybacks.”
“This is a way to sustain the program,” he told the Cincinnati News. “Functioning guns are a valuable asset that can be resold to bring funds back into our program to again get guns off the street.”
“You have to get them out of the hands of bad guys first,” Tassell is quoted as saying, “and that’s where we come in.”
Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.
About:
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities. Visit: www.buckeyefirearms.org
In WWII the Jews were told they were taking a shower to delice them only to to go willingly to their death. I have 43 guns from old black powder to automatics I will not give up my rights for anything. To quote a man of wisdom “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands”
I don’t get it? Criminals don’t turn in their firearms! None of the guns were stolen, that’s a dead giveaway right there. This only takes guns away from people who are already down on their luck. They’re either trying to get money to pay bills, or getting rid of a gun that they didn’t want anymore anyway. They’re taking guns from the dirt poor and reselling them to the less poor. IMHO
Many seniors find guns their spouse brought back from a war and don’t feel comfortable with them in the house. Sometimes a senior dies and their family, while getting ready to sell the house, find weapons not just from wars but more modern arms and turn them in. I was given a 7.7mm Jap Arisaka rifle by the spouse of a friend of mine. It was found buried in the attic by her children. One woman turned in a real Thompson .45 cal. carbine her husband brought back from WW2 and was given $200. The police supposedly destroyed the gun.… Read more »
do you think bad guys are turning in there guns I don’t think so
I like what they have done , but he took them to the higher priced stores in the area. I wished he had taken them to a regular gun store that doesn’t charge new prices for used guns.
Now THAT’S a valid point.
I believe that is a great idea on the buy back guns.
It would be very good to see the program extended all around the entire country.
It’s too bad the idiots in Washington DC couldn’t come up this logical way of taking care
of the unwanted guns.
The Congressmen in Washington have nothing to do with any of this. It’s not in their job description. It is up to private organizations like Tassell’s and those organizations are springing up in most states. The deep blue gun free zone of NJ isn’t one of them. We don’t even have gun shows anymore. At one time you could get black powder long arms in the mail but not anymore. Now you can’t get any black powder weapon in NJ through the mail. We can’t own a baton, pepper spray, stun gun and have never been able to carry.
The person that started this program is making money on this program by reselling these guns to gun dealers. Who’s the idiot the people who give their guns away or sell them for pennies on the dollar, or the people that buy these guns from a dealer? This program is making someone RICH! Check for yourself. Its not the people who is selling their guns. I would like someone to really check this guy out.
Street Rescue is a non-profit entity.
It may be non-profit but so was the Wounded Warriors Project. It’s full of crooks. As for politicians how many of them are CROOKS, check out Asst. Attorney General in the state of Ohio. The people involved with non-profits get paid by the non-profit that’s one reason they form it —- to make free money! I suggest that people needs to ask questions, do checking for yourself there are plenty of NON-PROFIT crooks listed on the Internet.
Wounded Warrior has started to clean up it’s act. I have no problem with someone making a profit doing something worthwhile. When it escalates to millions of $$ it’s time to clean house.
Wounded Warrior is a staunch anti-gun organization. There are a lot of other organizations helping veterans that support the freedoms they fought for.
This program is funding itself, instead of using a great deal of taxpayer funding. It also returns the guns to law-abiding people instead of destroying them and provides for a less expensive alternative for people to purchase a gun for protection. My question to Kevin: Does it hurt a lot when you have your aluminum foil hat on while you stick your head up your butt?
That’s a great idea then when we get a EMP attack I’ll be the only one to be able think correctly. Why so defensive we are living in the great USA which gives people the right to FREE SPEECH and for now at least the right to BEAR ARMS?
Any “program” whether non-profit or not has the potential for abuse, but in this case it seems above board. This individual is doing what many of use have said for years, if you’re going to buy-back guns, then make some money from them to pay for the program. You need to consider that out of 41 weapons recovered, some had serial numbers removed and some are returned to rightful owners, so nothing is made on them. Also, there are those who can now afford one of these used, inexpensive weapons, where they couldn’t afford one before. The wounded warrior program… Read more »
IF THIS IS A “NON-PROFIT ENTITY” WHY IS IT NOT LISTED IN OHIO’S LIST OF 501c3 COMPANIES? IF THIS A NON-PROFIT YOU MOST LIST THE OFFICERS IN THE NON-PROFIT, CAN YOU PROVIDE A LIST?
The guns would normally be destroyed and lost for ever. Tasell pays for the guns with money from his own pocket so why shouldn’t he receive money from the dealer’s sale so he could buy back more guns? The guns would be cheaper to purchase for anyone with a low income and with a carry permit so they could defend family, friend and self.
As to your questions, who cares except maybe you? As long as the guns aren’t being destroyed it’s fine with me.