Another interesting conversation held by Asheville City Council concerned a proposed gun buyback. Something there is about these programs that appears to run counter to the Second Amendment. Members of council admitted violent criminals usually aren’t the most ambitious to turn in their weapons. Instead, they said the greatest number of participants were people who had guns in their homes and didn’t want them there. As we all know, guns sprout legs and make people commit crimes.
Bill Russell, an insurance salesman, supported the program stating guns were one of the most popular items stolen. Government may at some point, therefore, wish to look into jewelry and electronics buybacks.
Dr. Carl Mumpower thought it would be a good idea to sell the guns purchased back to members of the public. This would create a revolving fund to make the buybacks self-sustaining. Kelly Miller wanted to be sure government would only be selling guns to screened and qualified citizens. That’s whence came the title of this entry.
Mayor Terry Bellamy said any method of disposing of guns would have to be transparent. She didn’t want the city getting into scandals like former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford did when confiscated guns disappeared. Medford said they had been used as rebar for the concrete in the new jail, but nobody bothered to check out his story.
Robin Cape thought the fewer guns there were, the better. She expressed a preference to see those bought back beaten into plowshares.
