(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) In New York, a pro-gun-rights man, who called himself “Kem,” found a way to profit off the state’s gun buyback program without supporting its mission to disarm citizens, WKTV reported.
When Kem heard that the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James planned to hold a firearm-buyback event at the Utica Police Department in September, he started making guns with his $200 3D printer that he got as a Christmas gift.
Authorities call 3D-printed firearms “ghost guns” because governments cannot register and track them.
“I 3D-printed a bunch of lower receivers and frames for different kinds of firearms,” he said.
Kem printed guns until the event came, drove six hours to Utica, and walked into the police station with a box full of guns.
“And he sees the tote and says, ‘how many firearms do you have?’ And I said, ‘110,’” Kem said.
Kem said he negotiated with the Attorney General’s Office staff for the whole day to get the best price for his plastic guns, but he finally managed to get the employees to pay him almost $200 per gun.
“And it ended with the guy and a lady from the budget office finally coming around with the 42 gift cards and counting them in front of me,” he said. “$21,000 in $500 gift cards.”
Kem profited off the event, but he had a political point to make, too.
“Gun buybacks are a fantastic way of showing, No. 1, that your policies don’t work, and, No. 2, you’re creating perverse demand,” he said. “You’re causing people to show up to these events, and, they don’t actually reduce crime whatsoever.”
The Attorney General’s Office did not appreciate the stunt, though they still called the buyback event a success.
“It’s shameful that this individual exploited a program that has successfully taken thousands of guns off the streets to protect our communities from gun violence,” the AG’s Office said. “We have adjusted our policies to ensure that no one can exploit this program again for personal gain.”
