“[G]un surrender event will honor the memory of Stow Taco Bell shooting victim Megan Keleman,” Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS News 5 reported Wednesday. “Family supporting upcoming Guns to Gardens event in Green.”
“It will take place Sept. 14 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church located at 3891 Arlington Rd.,” the story elaborates. “It is not a buyback program, but gift cards to businesses will be given to people who surrender their guns while supplies last.”
Surely, Harmony Springs Christian Church, event sponsors, and the family must realize that such gestures have no effect on stopping those inclined to commit criminal acts of violence with a gun. Keleman was slain by a cowardly headcase loser who first deliberately rear-ended her in the fast-food restaurant’s drive-through lane before getting out of his car, shooting the defenseless, terrified woman, and then taking his own life. As for more laws against that being any kind of solution, an earlier report notes:
“[The killer] had a pending case in Summit County Common Pleas Court for improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and OVI. A condition of his bond, originally set by a Stow Municipal Court judge, was ‘no possession of firearms.’”
In any case, the family donated a pair of April Lavigne tickets to a concert Keleman had originally intended to go to with her mother. Those who made a contribution to support the gun surrender event, scheduled for this coming Saturday, had a chance to win them in an auction.
“[B]ring your unloaded firearm(s) stored in the trunk of your vehicle where a volunteer will remove it for dismantling,” the Guns to Gardens page instructs. “Raw materials are sent to a blacksmith to be made into tools.”
Several unanswered questions for them come to mind:
- How can you assume that people unfamiliar with guns know how to safely handle, transport and unload them? Removing a magazine could still leave a round in the chamber.
- Will the event be “no questions asked”? On whose authority can you guarantee that? What if someone brings in a functionally “illegal” gun?
- Will you determine if the person surrendering a gun is its lawful owner before destroying it? How?
- How is handing a firearm to a volunteer not an illegal transfer that has not been subjected to a background check? Will you have an FFL on premises? Do you know what an FFL is without looking it up? Will law enforcement be overseeing things? To what extent?
- Considering the volume, how does your organization get around ATF’s “In the business of” determination?
- When do you consider a gun to be “dismantled”? Is it the same as what ATF considers? Are you sure you won’t be further complicating things when you transfer them to the blacksmith?
These are all important questions to consider, because earlier Guns to Gardens events apparently treated things cavalierly. A similar event in New Mexico reported on by AmmoLand resulted in the city manager suddenly withdrawing sponsorship after their potential liability was pointed out. And the sheriff declared advocacy groups are not exempt from background check requirements.
One wonders if the legal departments of local radio stations 97.5 WONE, FM94.9 WQMX, 93.5 FM/1590 AM WAKR, and 107.3 Alternative Cleveland gave the greenlight to tying their stations and brands in with what could be multiple violations of gun laws in what is effectively a virtue signaling exercise anyway. And one wonders if local, county, and federal law enforcement will investigate the event’s procedures and controls beforehand and in progress to ensure that “commonsense gun laws” are adhered to by the very people demanding them.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
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