CO gun control law backfires; Gun "buyback" cancelled due to "universal" background checks

by Chad D. Baus

KOAA (NBC Colorado Springs) reported recently that anti-gun rights organizers have had to cancel a so-called gun "buyback" at the request of Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, who says Colorado's new gun laws would make it nearly impossible to comply.

From the article:

Pelle says a strict law that went into effect July 1 requires buyers to go to a licensed firearms dealer and undergo a background check.

The computer systems are not portable and could not be used at the sheriff's compound where the buyback was planned next month.

The Boulder Daily Camera reports the group would have to find a licensed firearms dealer to hold the event and then pay the dealer for each transaction, which would be too expensive and too difficultTogether Colorado -- a group that bills itself as a nonpartisan multi-faith organization -- had planned the event.

In an e-mail announcing the cancellation, Sheila Dierks said: "Sheriff Pelle has stood strong for this event, has done tremendous work to make it happen and he is as disappointed as we are."

According to the article, event organizers had planned to give gift cards or tickets to sporting events to people who turned in firearms. Students had raised nearly $8,000 to purchase the incentives.

The idea, according to KOAA, was to collect guns and then immediately hand them over to the Sheriff's Office for destruction. Some of the remnants of the destroyed firearms would then be passed along to Boulder-area metalworking artist Jessica Adams to use for a sculpture aimed at creating gun violence awareness.

This is a lesson in the unintended consequences of gun control laws that I hope these students and all residents of Colorado won't soon forget.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.