A man who identified himself only as “Kem” scored big last month exploiting a state-run “buyback” in Utica, New York.
Kem told News Channel 2 that he received “$21,000 in $500 gift cards” from the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
“I 3D-printed a bunch of lower receivers and frames for different kinds of firearms,” said Kem, who said he made the cheap plastic guns on a $200 3D printer he got for Christmas.
Originally, Kem was hoping to get more as he brought a total of 110 guns with him to the event but after negotiating with organizers, settled on the $21,000. Still a great haul considering the initial investment.
News Channel 2 had asked the Attorney General’s office if it was worried about being taken advantage of weeks before this particular “buyback.”
SEE ALSO: Gun ‘Buybacks’ Don’t Reduce Crime, Says New Study
A spokesperson did not answer the question but instead just doubled down on the program, touting what a success it’s been and that it “keeps New York families safe.”
Kem disagreed.
“I’m sure handing over $21,000 in gift cards to some punk kid after getting a bunch of plastic junk was a rousing success,” laughed Kem. “Gun buybacks are a fantastic way of showing, number one, that your policies don’t work, and, number 2, you’re creating perverse demand. You’re causing people to show up to these events, and, they don’t actually reduce crime whatsoever.”
Last Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office responded to the report.
It’s shameful that this individual exploited a program that has successfully taken thousands of guns off the streets to protect our communities from gun violence. We have partnered with local police throughout the state to recover more than 3,500 guns, and one individual’s greedy behavior won’t tarnish our work to promote public safety. We have adjusted our policies to ensure that no one can exploit this program again for personal gain.
It’s been well documented that gun “buybacks” don’t reduce crime and that they are a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.
The fact that politicians and bureaucrats continue to praise a buyback program as an effective crime-fighting tool underscores how clueless they are or, worse, how corrupt they are in that they are willing to waste precious resources on what are, in effect, fruitless PR stunts.
A 2021 study examining gun buyback programs (GPBs) from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that “Using data from the National Incident Based Reporting System, we find no evidence that GBPs reduce gun crime.”
“Given our estimated null findings, with 95 percent confidence, we can rule out decreases in firearm-related crime of greater than 1.3 percent during the year following a buyback,” the authors of the study continued. “Using data from the National Vital Statistics System, we also find no evidence that GBPs reduce suicides or homicides where a firearm was involved.”
Congrats to Kem for the big score.