Guns and Gear

Guns Save Life uses Chicago’s gun turn-in as a fundraiser for NRA youth camp

Matt Pitchford Contributor
Font Size:

The pro-gun group Guns Save Life took advantage of Chicago’s gun turn-in program by trading in “rusty, non-firing junk” for $6,240 in gift cards. Unfortunately for Chicago, this was not how they expected the program to work.

In an interview with The Daily Caller, Guns Save Life president John Boch said, “There are always people out there opposed to individual rights to self defense, and the real thing that angers them is using the money from their program to train the next generation in responsible gun ownership.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that most of the money would go toward buying ammunition and rifles for an NRA youth camp in Bloomington, Ill.

Boch told TheDC that the rest of the money may go toward a donation to a local indoor shooting range, and that the donation might be made in Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s name. “Then there would be a story behind that plaque,” Boch said.

Not everyone was as pleased about Guns Saves Life’s “fundraiser.”

“We host the gun turn-in event on an annual basis to encourage residents to turn in their guns so we can take guns off the street and it’s unfortunate that this group is abusing a program intended to increase the safety of our communities,” Melissa Stratton, a police spokeswoman, told the Sun-Times.

But Boch asked in return, “What criminal would turn in the tool he uses to do his trade for a $100 card?”

Boch told TheDC that Guns Save Life also turned in useless firearms for a profit in 2007. They waited until 2012 when the reward was again substantial enough, at $100 a gun, to pull in a nice haul.

“We hope they do it again next year,” Boch said, “We’ll be loaded for bear in 2013.”

Follow Matt on Twitter

Tags : gun rights
Matt Pitchford