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Texas Bill Would Put Local “Buybacks” Out of Business, Ending an Anti-gun Charade

Monday, June 2, 2025

Texas Bill Would Put Local “Buybacks” Out of Business, Ending an Anti-gun Charade

As Texas House Bill 3053 heads to Governor Abbott’s desk, it is serving as a broader reminder to all states of the gun “buybacks” scam, only this time with a legislative solution to this anti-gun mainstay. Time and again, decades of research and examples of diversion to criminals city by city continue to prove these initiatives to be futile, if not counterproductive. Yet anti-gun propagandists, and well-meaning dupes who get roped into supporting them, continue to find “buybacks” irresistible in most states. Texas took seriously a new approach to what is now an old problem by running legislation to ensure that municipalities and counties cannot adopt or enforce any ordinance or measure that facilitates a gun buyback program, i.e., that taxpayer resources are not expended on gun control cheerleading events that lack any real public safety value.

All government-sponsored gun “buybacks” in Anytown, U.S.A., have the same inherent flaws. First, nearly all of these programs are implemented at a county or city level using significant taxpayer monies.  These programs often offer cash, gift cards, or other incentives such as sporting event tickets for firearms under the guise of public safety.  On their face alone, these programs appear illogical as a method to reduce gun violence. The “buyback” itself is largely anonymous by design, often under a “no questions asked” format. While that may, in theory, give a criminal opportunity to easily rid himself of an illegal firearm with a reduced risk of prosecution, most of the firearms turned in are old and inoperable, not the sorts or firearms usable in crimes.

Yet neither option is poised to enhance public safety. In the first, the trigger puller remains at large, only without potentially incriminating evidence and slightly enriched on the taxpayers’ dime. In the second, the buyback organizers serve as glorified garbage collectors.

Additionally, in most cases, the offered prices are less than the potential sale price of a firearm in good operating condition. In other reported cases, people were receiving large sums of money for items that were not even firearms; recall that New York was forced to change their buyback rules after a participant exploited the system by using a 3D printer to make parts in bulk that he exchanged for over $21,000 in gift cards.

Again, the most rigorous studies over the course of decades now show no empirical evidence to support that these initiatives have any anti-crime benefit even after utilizing millions of dollars. In Harris County, Texas, the county alone provided over $1 million dollars in taxpayer money specifically for gun “buyback” programs. These programs continue to raise questions about the relative effectiveness of each intervention when these notable sums and resources could and should have been redirected in a more meaningful way for citizen safety.

The gun owning community finds these programs cringeworthy; as well, the term “buyback” falsely suggests that the government had ownership of these firearms in the first place. NRA, in working to protect Second Amendment rights in all 50 states and their municipalities, knows all too well the necessity of guardrails to check the misuse of local government authority, and this is what Texas is ultimately seeking to do.

Local efforts like gun “buybacks” can have an enduring effect on establishing an official anti-gun orthodoxy, while serving as a socially engineered distraction to the honest conversations needed on real safety measures. States should be focusing on efforts that provide solutions, not merely attention, and what happens next in Texas is worth watching for all states.

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U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

In a single sentence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit added to the high-profile and consequential national conversation on firearm suppressors.

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

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Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

2A News Out of New Jersey You Won’t Believe: It’s Actually a Good Thing!

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

2A News Out of New Jersey You Won’t Believe: It’s Actually a Good Thing!

The Garden State is not where most seek positive developments regarding our right to arms, so we were pleasantly surprised when Englishtown, N.J., recently made a move to support the Second Amendment.

Switched Off: A Case Study on Minnesota’s Illegal Machine Gun Law

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

Switched Off: A Case Study on Minnesota’s Illegal Machine Gun Law

There’s been a lot of noise of late about auto sears or so-called “Glock switches” – devices to convert a semiautomatic firearm into an automatic weapon. 

Update: Washington Post Fact Checks Misleading Ad Council “Children” and Firearms Talking Point

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

Update: Washington Post Fact Checks Misleading Ad Council “Children” and Firearms Talking Point

Last week, NRA-ILA explained how a recent public service announcement campaign from the federally-funded Ad Council, and the gun control lobby more broadly, manipulates statistics to create misleading talking points about “children” and firearms.

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

Friday, June 20, 2025

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

On Monday, June 9th, outside of regular session, the Senate passed the Environment Omnibus bill, removing shotgun-only hunting zones in the state. 

DOJ Files Amicus Brief Supporting NRA-Backed Challenge to IL’s Ban on “Assault Weapons” and “Large-Capacity Magazines”

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

DOJ Files Amicus Brief Supporting NRA-Backed Challenge to IL’s Ban on “Assault Weapons” and “Large-Capacity Magazines”

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit supporting an NRA-backed challenge to Illinois’s prohibition on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines.”

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Friday, June 20, 2025

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California’s law prohibiting people from buying more than one firearm in a 30-day period violates the Second Amendment.

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Recently, House Bill 193 (H193) was reported favorably out of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee, with amendments.

The Trace Marks a Birthday: Ten Years of Anti-gun Propaganda, Little to Show for It

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

The Trace Marks a Birthday: Ten Years of Anti-gun Propaganda, Little to Show for It

On June 18, the anti-gun propaganda mill The Trace celebrated its tenth birthday with a self-congratulatory article entitled “How The Trace Came to Be and Other Stories From Our Early Days.” 

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NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.