> how is it stupid when all offers are below cost?

That was his point - in this age of 3d printed and CAM'd gun parts, the cost of production is extremely low. He was getting $450 for a sear - a very small part. Even their rule changes don't fix this - for that kind of $$ I could have hundreds of those CAM'd or even 3d printed in metal, and use the $$ to pay for a decent chunk of a production shop.

Just a heads up: those are wildly illegal to manufacture. The few sears grandfathered in (legal to own/sell) are worth $20k+. This man risked a life sentence in federal prison driving around with a ziploc bag full of those things.

Trivial to 3D print, or file down a piece of scrap metal into the right shape. Just goes to show how inane gun laws can be.

> This man risked a life sentence in federal prison driving around with a ziploc bag full of those things.

How do you get the parts to the buyback program if you can't drive to them?

Under the speed limit I assume

It's not the driving part. He risked federal prison for even making them.

Which is ridiculous.

You can carve one out of sheet metal in a couple minutes. This won’t stop evil people.

Even worse, a self centering punch and 5 seconds can turn your AR-15 into an illegal automatic weapon as far as the ATF is concerned (just punch approximately where the auto pin would go).

The only people affected by these garbage laws are the ones who aren’t interested in harming anyone.

> You can carve one out of sheet metal in a couple minutes. This won’t stop evil people

You can murder a person with the same level of effort.

The only people affected by these garbage laws against murder are the ones who aren’t interested in harming anyone.

Those laws exist to protect gun manufacturers and their profits, not the American people.

Gun manufacturers can't profit from selling auto sears either (except to cops and the military I guess)

Technically, but by that standard everyone who's ever purchased marijuana at a state-legal dispensary is risking prison time as well.

It's also one of those situations where the practical reality of being caught for something like this is basically nil. Especially when the intent is neither to sell, distribute, nor use them yourself.

> The few sears grandfathered in (legal to own/sell) are worth $20k+.

Isn't a "sear" a standard part of a trigger mechanism? What is illegal about it?

A sear is a standard part, and legal on its own. A specific design, an “auto sear”, prevents the weapon from locking back up in battery after the slide/bolt returns. That’s effectively a “machine gun” and unlicensed (technically, untaxed) ones are a felony to possess since 1981. The anonymous creator is an idiot for making them, much less using them in a publicity stunt.

As is synthesizing meth. Yet if you want it it's always within a few blocks distance. Imagine if you had a meth buyback. Same thing. The war on alcohol didn't work, the war on drugs didn't work, now we think the war on firearms will work. Politics has to have some demon to point at so voters will give away more power.

They are not illegal to make. Not sure where your info is from but PayPal would like their $2.5k.

Making a sear is completely federally legal in the US.

It is however illegal to make a sear featuring support for automatic or select fire, unless you have the appropriate licensing to manufacture.

This guy built sears for a 3D printed gun. I think he will be okay.

The sears in this context are auto sears, if that was not obvious :)

The reality is that buybacks only get worthless guns and the occasional gun that has been sitting around for ages. Crime guns only go to the buybacks if they're in such poor shape they're not worth the buyback amount.