One More Perspective on the Buy-Back: Bryan Wendt

Bryan D. Wendt, a Dallas-area attorney I met Saturday, sends me his account of the buy-back.

———————————-

The Brotherhood of the Loitering Gun-Scalpers

It was a cold, windy morning, sunny and bracing, when I arrived at Dallas’ nearly-abandoned Reunion Arena. Once home to the Reunion Rowdies and the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars, it is but a shell of its former masculine glory, on this day hosting that most effeminate of liberal delusions, the “gun buyback”. Yes, City Councilman Dwaine Caraway, with several hip hop radio stations and Kroger Food Stores combined this day to “get guns off the streets”. Come one and all, every gun surrendered netted the owner two T shirts and a $50 grocery card at Kroger. Such a deal!

Upon hearing of the event, the capitalist in me saw it as a possible buying opportunity. Some of these do’s bring in hundreds of guns. Someone with a decent .45 auto or a semi auto 12 gauge would get more from me than the pittance offered above. And perhaps some sentimental soul would think of his gun like an unwanted dog; better to give him a good home than have him euthanized, right? I was also curious. Just what kind of folks and what kind of guns would materialize? Were the “customers” just dumb, just political or just throwing out trash? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? My assumptions were that the sponsors were silly libs with little tether to reality and their dupes were likewise. But I needed to find out firsthand and maybe get a deal to boot. If I could irritate some gun-grabbers, well, that would be gravy.

The event began at 9:00 a.m. I did not arrive til after 9:30.The hosts provided free parking in the old VIP lot to those bringing guns. When I arrived I paid my $5 to park and approached the north entrance along with many others attending the mass home auction also inside. As soon as I got near the free lot I was approached by a writer for D Magazine. He suspected my intentions and our brief interview I confirmed his suspicions. This gentleman was cordial and sympathetic and we chatted briefly. He had seen mostly old and cheap guns thus far, but one Walther .380 seemed interesting. We positioned ourselves on the sidewalk where the customers had to walk by us. There were several Dallas Police officers standing around and three or four police volunteers with them. As customers approached they were screened to ensure they had guns to turn in. When parked, a volunteer would signal an officer to the vehicle. The officer would request to see the gun(s), ensure they were unloaded and escort the customer inside while carrying the gun. This was partly for safety I’m sure, but also tended to discourage folks like me. D Mag man reported that one officer told him that there was a temporary city ordinance specifically forbidding our activities. Undeterred by such nonsense, I stuck around.

My first victim was an elderly gentleman carrying a long gun of obscure make and vintage. I asked him what he had and would he consider selling it. Before he could reply, the officer piped up “We’re not doing that today”, and ushered the man inside. For some minutes afterwards no one came in, so D Mag and I chatted with the friendly DPD officers. One lovely lady sergeant lamented that very early a lady came in with a 1960 or so Colt 1911, never fired, still in the original box. You could tell she appreciated quality and it seemed to break her heart. After boldly inquiring as to the legality of our pursuit, she correctly informed us that to conduct sales on city property, including a sidewalk, is a Class C misdemeanor. The seller, not the buyer would be ticketed. If we didn’t buy and sell on the property we were not afoul of the law. We resolved not to expose our “customers” to criminal penalty and only to ask if they would like to talk about a sale elsewhere. More interestingly, our lady sergeant informed us that each working firearm would be fired and ballistic markings run through a national database to determine if the gun had been used in a crime. If not, they would all be destroyed.

(Query: since the owners had to fill out forms identifying themselves, were they informed of this little detail? The 5^th Amendment issues occurred to me only later; an interesting followup idea, eh?)

As the minutes passed, more guns arrived. All ages, races and incomes were represented. One elderly man thought he could perhaps negotiate with the sponsors and get real money. A DPD lieutenant explained as best he could that this was not possible. Between the fierce wind and the man’s two hearing aids something was lost. He entered with two long guns and exited ten minutes later with the same. At around 10:15 two more patriotic souls arrived with similar intentions. I updated them on the legal climate and my assessment of what was coming in: nothing but junk. The T shirts alone were worth more than the guns. It appeared that demand had far outstripped supply, but more people were coming, so we would see. We agreed to split our prospects and to be very friendly. I tried to ascertain what quality of gun was about to be killed before chatting the owner up. In our informal reports on prospects, I and my new compadres agreed that everything so far was crap. The officers and volunteers were well aware of what we were doing and never let on that it wasn’t kosher. In fact they were downright nice, and adeptly kept any amateurs from shooting anyone. Just before 11, another potential buyer arrived, a stalwart but realistic Libertarian. Thus the four brothers in referenced in the title. Our increased numbers emboldened us as we examined the guns from afar, occasionally talking to an owner, then to each other about guns, politics, the economy. The youngest brother commented how great the economy had been under President Clinton and how he had prospered. Liber and I gently counseled our tender charge as to basic economics, tax policy, etc. I’m not sure we got through, so continue to pray for this man’s lost political soul; he is not far from the Kingdom.

Eventually I saw something I liked. A man in his mid 50’s brought out a late model Remington 1100 semi automatic shotgun. I approached him and his police escort to discuss a possible sale (off

property of course). His escort seemed slightly annoyed and kept the man walking. I persisted. The man turned back briefly but then turned silently away again. Damn. The one gun I really wanted just walked the Green Mile. The brothers consoled me as we decried the loathsome selection to be had that day. We agreed that if anyone had in mind to rely on this garbage in a crisis, a big meltdown would be a good thing. At one point a young man in chef’s attire passed by with some awful off-brand semi automatic pistol. Liber asked him to display it to us. A collective groan went up from the brothers. Liber then pulled out a $5 bill and gave it to the chef, exclaiming he should be rewarded for “getting that gun off the street”. I enthusiastically did the same, wishing I’d thought of it first.

When I arrived I had felt a bit strange, but now I was going with the flow and confident. I was certain I could be a good home for a deserving firearm. But unbeknownst to me the enemy was nearby.

Though we had muddled about openly and unmolested for over an hour, one of the volunteers finally snapped to why we were there. He retrieved an officer of much lower rank (one stripe is the lowest, right?) to talk to us. The chip on her shoulder was bigger than an artillery piece, reflected by both her tone and sanctimony. I won’t embarrass her by identifying her, but she works under DPD’s PR officer Sgt. Cerda. Cerda can be seen almost nightly on the local news commenting on crime stories and other DPD issues. She loudly and condescendingly asked us if we were there to buy guns. Without the legal qualifiers I would have included, Liber replied that we were. Liber was calm, but when he started to record the officer on his digital camera, she became even angrier. There was some vague mention of First and Second Amendment rights, then Liber walked away. The recording was an unnecessary escalation for sure, but the officer used up the benefit of the doubt I give them all in about 10 seconds. The officer informed us that the event was all about “getting guns off the streets”, and nothing else. I informed her that we too were trying to get guns off the streets, but I was ignored. We were told we had to leave. As the officer’s directive was an adequate trespass warning and we were on city property, I complied, as the event was almost over.

Overall it was interesting and fun and confirmed what we all know anyway. Few people act against their own self interest; they exchanged something worthless for something of a little value. A few are uninformed and a few just irrationally hate guns. Most police officers want to enforce the law without bias or agenda, but a few do not. And gun buybacks are free publicity for silly ass politicians who want to look like they are “doing something”. They cannot and will not reduce crime, but do make a few folks feel better about themselves. Still, a defective firearm can, like some breeds of dogs, be dangerous, and should be euthanized for the sake of public and private safety. Still wish I could’ve bought that 1100 though.