this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2025
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Summary

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has launched the nationwide "Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace" program.

The program offers cash to citizens who anonymously surrender firearms, including $430 for revolvers, $1,200 for AK-47s, and $1,300 for machine guns.

The weapons will be destroyed.

The program, expanded from a 2019 Mexico City initiative, aims to combat violent crime, with firearms responsible for 70% of Mexico’s 31,062 homicides in 2023.

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[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 66 points 2 months ago (2 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive

This is the name for the concept which many commenters are describing

[–] mke_geek@lemm.ee 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You can breed cobras but you can't breed guns.

[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

You can manufacture them with a lathe and CnC machine, and thats if you want quality. There are some rather terrifying Sten and Grease gun "replicas" in my area which you shouldnt shoot under any circumstances because they were manufactured in a shed by a half crazed Redneck and/or veteran back in the 90s.

[–] amon@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

In some places I heard they make AK47 clones in village workshops

[–] PetteriPano@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

When my old man was little the local tobacco company would give you 50 penni for every rat tail you brought in.

It didn't take long for some kid to realise the best source of rat tails was the dumpster behind the tobacco factory.

[–] ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml 58 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

Step 1. Buy ~$500 AR15

Step 2. Sell said AR15 for $1300 to the government

Step 3. Buy 2 ~$500 PSA AR15s

Step 4. Sell them to the government for $2600

...

Step11. Buy 32 ~$500 AR15s

Step 12. Sell them to the government for $41600

...

Step 25. Buy 16,384 ~$500 AR15s

Step 26. Sell them to the government for $21.3M

...

Step 39. Buy 2,097,152 ~$500 AR15s

Step 40. Sell them to the government for $2.7B

...

Continue until Mexico has run out of money

Calm down, Mr. Soros

[–] biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I've never found a more intelligent loaf of bread

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

He's certainly on the level of Bernd das brot

[–] MolecularCactus1324@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

You always hear about these programs creating the wrong incentives. Soon enough, it’s easier to set up an AR15 factory and just start producing them so you can sell them to the government.

Georgia had program to try to cut down on the number of wild hogs that were overpopulated. So, they paid people a price per tail. Soon enough, you had people breeding wild hogs, so they could kill them and get the bounty.

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Step 1. Buy ~$500 AR15

From where?

If you're in Mexico it would make more sense as the seller to sell it for the $1300.

If you're in the states, are you going to travel to and smuggle to Mexico?

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 months ago (4 children)

It's not going to be perfect, and unless you can stop the guns coming from the border it's not a permanent solution, but maybe it can help a handful of struggling youngsters to stay out of gangs and crime rings.

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 26 points 2 months ago

I think Mexico should invest in building some kind of border wall to keep all of the harmful stuff from the U.S out. They could even make the U.S pay for it

[–] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Brazil did something similar a couple decades ago and it helped reduce numbers of violent crimes to some extent. The numbers were constantly going up year after year and this iniative made it go down drastically, but it continued going up at the same rate as it did before. After a decade or so it was already at the same rate as it used to be before they got the guns - and it kept going further up since

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

Interesting. Did the buyback offer eventually expire, or the buyback rates not increase? If either were the case, renewing it might continue to have benefits. Like I said, a good solution but not a permanent one.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 4 points 2 months ago

Maybe guns will stop coming across the boarder if they ask the CIA nicely?

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

but maybe it can help a handful of struggling youngsters to stay out of gangs and crime rings.

Nah. Mexico needs a cultural shift for that to happen.

Too many of them revere gang violence, which is why it's so prevalent in their society.

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, you have to be a citizen to take advantage of the deal. That’s a huge paycheck for an AK though.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I'm pretty sure you could make a deal with a local. Only trouble is getting an AK47 over the boarder.

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Just thinking about this a bit more now; in the world we live in, and considering the number of guns in the USA... if Mexico allowed for this program to go on for a while the USA could potentially inadvertently bankrupt the Mexican economy in gun-buybacks. It's kinda funny in a scary as fuck way.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 2 months ago

I wonder how much gun running usually makes per AK.

[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Just like with US buybacks, they will get guns that would never be used in a homicide, unless it were stolen.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What?!

You know guns last longer than people right?

Even if never sold and never stolen, they will eventually be inherited.

Like, you know great grandma didn't really move to a farm upstate, right?

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[–] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Pretty much a lot of those guns are stolen.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

And the same with other countries buybacks. The government gets sold a load of trashed/trashy guns, sellers get money for better guns.

[–] lud@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago

Still fewer weapons 🤷

Unfortunately so long as they border the US guns will be widely available. One of many reasons concerns about guns entering the US from Mexico are silly

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

I'll pay $1400 for the machine gun. Let's do this.

[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago

Fuck this autoplay video bullshit.

[–] Jerkface@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Surely they mean submachine gun? Or are there Brownings on the streets of Mexico?

[–] CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

What’s the legal difference in Mexico between an AK and a machine gun? If the $1200 is for a semi AK, it’s only an extra $100 for a select fire one?

[–] mastod0n@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Would be too bad if there was one or more organisations in Mexico with the means to import arms from abroad to make big bucks with this. Bonus for using the money to fund illegal operations.

[–] SoftTeeth@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Generally buyback programs are a success because they reduce the amount of guns.

Sorry you would rather pretend in some made up situation that there is an infinite amount of guns and nothing can be done to stop the unlimited flow of guns.

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