Man Claims He Got $21,000 from New York Gun Buyback with ‘Plastic Junk’ — Brought 110 3D-Printed Firearms

A man identifying himself as “Kem” claims he got $21,000 in $500 gift cards by bringing 110 3D-printed frames and receivers to a Utica, New York, gun buyback which was sponsored by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.

WKTV reports Kem pointing out that the 3D-printer only cost him $200.

He said he “3D-printed a bunch of lower receivers and frames for different kinds of firearms” then drove to the buyback location during the September event. When buyback personnel asked how many firearms he brought Kem replied, “110.”

FOX News notes that after Kem told them he had 110 firearms “he spent the rest of the day negotiating with the Attorney General’s staff over how much the payment for the 3D-printed parts would be.”

Kem told WKTV he and the New York attorney general’s office staff went back and forth all day over what he should be paid, and in the end they gave him 42 gift cards worth $500 each.

Kem laughed at the idea the buyback was hugely successful, as James’s office contended, saying, “I’m sure handing over $21,000 in gift cards to some punk kid after getting a bunch of plastic junk was a rousing success.”

He added, “Gun buybacks are a fantastic way of showing, number one, that your policies don’t work, and, number 2, you’re creating perverse demand. You’re causing people to show up to these events, and, they don’t actually reduce crime whatsoever.”

The NY AG’s Office released a statement in response to Kem’s windfall payout: “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. We have partnered with local police throughout the state to recover more than 3,500 guns, and one individual’s greedy behavior won’t tarnish our work to promote public safety.”

The AG’s Office noted, “We have adjusted our policies to ensure that no one can exploit this program again for personal gain.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.