Full transcript
0:01In 2008 , Oakland police discovered that
0:03there were 5.2 firearms per person in
0:05their city , so they decided to launch a
0:07special operation . You could bring any
0:10of your weapons to the police station ,
0:12where they would take them , give you
0:14250 dollars , and ask no questions at
0:15all . It sounds like a brilliant idea ,
0:17and what could possibly go wrong ? That
0:19same day , a line formed at the station
0:21of people wanting to dump all their old
0:22junk that wasn't worth 5 dollars and
0:24sometimes couldn't even fire . People
0:26drove for hours from neighboring states
0:28just to turn in all their rusty scrap
0:29for decent money . By the end of the day
0:31, the police had collected so much
0:33scrap metal that they ran out of cash
0:34and had to take out a 190,000 - dollar
0:36loan . But that’s not all . By creating
0:38a huge line of people with piles of old
0:40guns , the police effectively created an
0:42open-air black market for antique
0:44weapons , where enterprising Americans
0:46rushed in to scout for rare historical
0:48pieces they could buy for 300 dollars .
0:50An elderly man standing in that line
0:52had his original STG - 44 , made back in
0:54Hitler's Germany , bought right off him .
0:56By the way , it was later sold at
0:57auction for 35,000 .