Why economic elasticity suggests gun buyback programs rarely reduce firearm ownership
When a government enters a market as a new buyer, does it actually reduce the total supply? This video applies the model of perfectly elastic supply to examine the real-world economic impact of local US gun buyback initiatives.
Economist Alex Tabarrok uses supply and demand graphs to analyze how buybacks function. In a market with a perfectly elastic supply curve, the entry of a new buyer—such as the police—increases the quantity sold without altering the equilibrium price. Because the supply is effectively unlimited at the market price, the program simply facilitates more transactions at that existing rate.
The core issue is that these programs do not alter the incentives or preferences of other participants in the market. Consequently, while the goal of such programs is often to decrease the number of firearms to reduce crime and accidents, the economics of supply elasticity suggest it is nearly impossible for these buybacks to impact overall firearm ownership levels.
Source: Elasticity of Supply: Do Gun Buybacks Work?
