Starting on September 1, municipalities and counties in Texas will no longer be allowed to waste money on gun “buyback” schemes, after Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that prohibits local governments from participating in the programs.
These compensated confiscation events have no demonstrable effect on public safety, but they’re popular with politicians who want to say they’re “doing something” to fight crime. And in El Paso County, officials decided to have one last gun roundup before the ban takes effect in a couple of weeks.
County Commissioner Jackie Butler emphasized the importance of these events for community safety.
“Suicide by gunshot is the number one cause of suicide here in our community,” said Butler. “We’re just trying to do our best not only to dispose of unwanted guns but also to talk about gun safety and the importance of keeping the guns if you do have them safely stored, especially if you have teenagers, kids in your home, or anybody who may be susceptible to gun violence.”
… According to Butler, the buyback events were funded by state and federal resources, with about $150,000 allocated for the gift cards participants receive and the remainder for event staffing.
“We allocated $300,000 initially through ARPA funds, which were granted to us by the federal and state government to host these,” Butler explained. “And again, this is the fourth event that we’ve been able to host using that money.”
If the county wants to engage in suicide prevention efforts, great. This isn’t the way to do it, though. That $300,000 would have been better spent on training for mental health counselors or even a campaign to raise awareness for things like the 988 suicide prevention hotline instead of collecting “unwanted” guns.
Again, there’s not a single bit of research to suggest that these compensated confiscation events have any positive effect on reducing suicides, violent crime, or accidental shootings. Why would they? Butler says about 1,200 guns were collected in the county’s first three “buybacks”, which is a tiny fraction of the number of lawfully-owned firearms in El Paso. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that the number of guns turned in was more than offset by the number of guns purchased in El Paso County since the first event was held.
If county officials were really interested in providing people who no longer wanted their guns an option to get rid of them, they could work with local gun shops on a “buyback” program that allowed FFLs to purchase these firearms and offer them for sale to customers who do want them. That would never happen, though, because these programs are about destroying guns, not giving them new homes.
The anti-gun ideology at the heart of these “buybacks” is the reason why lawmakers passed HB 3053, and why Gov. Abbott signed the bill into law. Heck, even Second Amendment squish and congressman Tony Gonzalez, who’s facing a rematch against Brandon Herrera in 2026, took a dig at El Paso County over the event in a cringeworthy attempt to deflect from his own support for gun control.
The last worthless gun buyback event in El Paso is off to a killer start. Anxious to see how many non-working muskets get flipped for cash in the name of Justice. https://t.co/XjdRjNegbG
— Tony Gonzales (@TonyGonzales4TX) August 15, 2025
Gonzalez’s post was as effective at rehabilitating his image as El Paso’s “buyback” will be at reducing crime and suicide; that is to say, an utter and complete failure. At least events like this will soon be a thing of the past in the Lone Star State, though I’m sure that anti-gun politicians like Butler are already scheming to come up with a new do-nothing form of political theater that takes aim at our right to keep and bear arms.
Editor’s Note: Anti-gun politicians love spending our money attacking our Second Amendment rights.
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