I don’t like gun buybacks, in part because no one is buying back anything. They didn’t own the guns in the first place, so they’re not buying them back. But that’s just me being pedantic, really. Regardless of what name they used, it would essentially be the same thing, and I don’t like that, either.

However, I don’t care enough to try and ban them or anything. I’d love to see laws that require gun buybacks to comply with all relevant gun buying laws, such as universal background checks in states that have them, but otherwise, waste your money as you see fit. It’s different with taxpayer money, of course, but private charities? Whatever.

But I’m always going to have an issue when a buyback is sold as something it’s not, which is a public safety effort.

That’s pretty much what happened after a buyback in Oahu.

Oahu residents turned in roughly 367 firearms of all types today in a gun buyback program at the Aloha Stadium, the Department of Law Enforcement (DLE) announced in a news release Saturday afternoon.

The guns were exchanged for $37,900 in Foodland gift cards contributed by the DLE.

The 2024 Legislature appropriated the funding for Saturday’s event.

The ongoing amnesty program is part of the efforts of Gov. Josh Green’s administration to keep Hawaii residents safe from gun violence.

No questions were asked; no identification was required. The Department of the Attorney General, the Honolulu Police Department and the Aloha Stadium Authority are also partnering in the initiative.

“I want to thank everyone who turned in an unwanted firearm today, because in doing so, you have helped to make our community that much safer,” said Green. “Keeping ourselves and each other safe and healthy is a personal choice that also benefits our neighbors. We thank DLE Director Mike Lambert for continuing this effort and for our partners’ help in this ongoing gun buyback program.”

Except they didn’t make their communities much safer.

I don’t care how many guns were turned in; absolutely none of those were likely to end up in criminal hands. Historically, most of the ones turned in at these things aren’t actually useful for crime anyway. They’re often old, rusty revolvers or hunting rifles that most bad guys would rather skip.

That’s not just me saying it, either. Study after study shows that gun buybacks don’t work. The side that always likes to cite studies keeps ignoring those that disagree with them, including the ones that show buybacks aren’t effective at reducing crime.

The lone exception I’m aware of claimed that they were effective in conjunction with other efforts, but failed to show how the buyback itself contributed anything to the reduction. The other efforts probably led to the reduction in violent crime all on their own.

I’m sick of people lying to folks and pretending these buybacks work.

If you still want to have them because it makes people feel better, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. It’s still absolutely moronic, but it’s also their money and they can do what they want with it.

But claiming it makes anything better, particularly compared to getting more money at a gun store or from a private, law-abiding individual seems to cross the line into fraud, in my book.

They should knock that nonsense off.