Originally posted on the Chicago Tribune website.

Chicago’s gun buyback helps group pay for youth shooting camp
Downstate group collects more than $6,200 in gift cards for old, damaged weapons.

Last weekend, members of a downstate group drove to Chicago, handed in about 60 weapons as part of the city’s trade-in program and walked out with more than $6,200 in gift cards.
While the city gun buyback program is meant to reduce the amount of deadly weapons in Chicago, the guns traded in were rusted, damaged and, according to the group, pretty much useless.
Police said the pro-gun group is taking advantage of a program intended to take firearms off the street. Officials from Guns Save Life, based in Champaign County, countered that they are putting the money to good use — to purchase ammunition and firearms for a youth program that teaches gun safety and marksmanship. The group also traded in a handful of BB guns and starter pistols.
“We just took advantage of Chicago’s induced, artificial market on rusty junk,” said John Boch, the group’s president.

(Click the link above for the full article)

Absolutely brilliant! My hats off to these guys. I’ve seen their Burma Shave style signs going down I57 before. A very clever group working to protect our rights.

And for an even closer look, here’s a blog post from one of the members!

On Saturday, June 23, 2012, three of our intrepid members, Chris Betley, John Sutter and Steve Fuller made a trip to Chicago to participate in Chicago’s annual gun “turn in” event titled, “Don’t Kill A Dream Save A Life” [sic].
In short, the sum real-world value of the guns we took up to Chicago would have been calculated by most people, ourselves included, solely on the scrap metal price.
To the gun-hating do-gooders up in Chicago though, they were worth big dollars. $100 for each “gun” and $10 for BB-guns and replicas, no questions asked.
To take advantage of this artificial market for rust and machined parts, we sent our three members up north with sixty “firearms” and four pellet pistols.

(Click the link above for the full article)

So happy Independence Day, everyone. Enjoy the freedom that so many fought to secure for you, and still a few are fighting to keep for you.