Over the weekend, Houston's Democrat Mayor Sylvester Turner held a gun buyback event in a church parking lot where residents could turn in their firearms and receive a gift card ranging from $50 to $200 with no questions asked. According to the Mayor's announcement, the funds provided to those turning in firearms came from the American Rescue Plan — aka American taxpayers — and the amount-per-firearm was $50.00 for a non-functioning firearm, $100.00 for a rifle or shotgun, $150.00 for a handgun, and $200.00 for a fully automatic rifle.
Heralded as a success by the mayor and hyped up by the liberal Houston Chronicle, the event on Saturday saw 845 guns bought back and some $100,000 in gift card payments given. But the alleged success isn't exactly what it seems.
The FAQ section for the buyback noted that there's no limit on the number of firearms that could be turned in by an individual, nor was there any restriction on the types of handguns, as long as they're functioning. Enter some creative and apparently entrepreneurial individuals who saw an opening and decided to make some extra cash.
Photos and videos from the event show authorities unloading boxes of... fresh 3D-printed firearms.
This is a look at the The City of Houston’s gun buyback event in Wheeler.
— Brittany Ford (@BFordKHOU) July 30, 2022
The event brought out hundreds of people with lines wrapped around the block! @KHOU pic.twitter.com/GL4DTbBp0T
One man showed up to the buyback with dozens of 3D-printed firearms, and Houston authorities had no choice but to accept them and hand over gift cards in return. The real kicker: it only cost the man $3 to print each firearm, of which he made 62, and received $50 per 3D-printed gun for a total of nearly $3,000 in gift cards.
NEW: One man shared this photo with me. He says he sold more than 60 3D printed guns at Houston’s gun buyback event Saturday. The city paid him $50 per gun. #houston #texas #guns pic.twitter.com/hfgVZc07Vc
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) August 2, 2022
FOX 26 caught up with the man, who remained anonymous, and asked him why he 3D-printed a bunch of firearms to sell back to Houston authorities. "The goal was not personal profit, but to send [Houston leaders] a message about spending $1 million tax dollars on something that has no evidence of any effect on crime," he said.
3d printed guns will no longer be accepted at Houston area gun buybacks after one man sold several during a recent buyback event. The man who sold the $3 3d printed guns claims to have sold 62 at $50 each. Profiting approximately $2900. ?? https://t.co/X94HQ8dWIV pic.twitter.com/S725HMrALY
— John Curtis ? (@Johnmcurtis) August 2, 2022
Still, Houston's mayor thinks his buyback program will convince criminals and gang members to hand over their firearms for as little as $50.
Before others think of taking advantage of Houston's latest attempt to get firearms off the street, FOX 26 reported that Houston's mayor won't allow 3D-printed firearms at future buyback events. "We’re going to exclude those next time around," the mayor said. "This is a program designed for people who want to voluntarily relinquish their guns," he emphasized, despite that technically being what the creative 3D firearm maker did.