The Futility of a Gun Buyback

Before you ask how many Americans will give up their guns, ask how many cops will even try to take them.




By Jon Stokes
Reason
September 5th, 2019
Gun bans are back in the news again, with the idea of a ban on the AR-15, the AK-47, and any other gun that looks remotely "military."

The most aggressive recent version of this proposal was floated by a certain Texan who's currently sinking in the polls, and it includes a mandatory buyback. When asked if he plans to actually take away people's guns, Beto O'Rourke replied: "I want to be really clear that that's exactly what we are going to do. Americans who own AR-15s, AK-47s, will have to sell them to the government."

Meghan McCain's response to O'Rourke on The View—"if you're talking about taking people's guns from them, there's going to be a lot of violence"—and Tucker Carlson's subsequent pile-on (that it'll spark a "new Civil War") sent the usual suspects straight to the fainting couch, pearls in hand.