Man Arrested at Gun Buyback Event for Putting a Sign on His Jeep that Read: "I Buy Guns"

John Gillis didn't like the price Miami Police offered him when he attended a gun buyback event this past March. So he put a sign on his Jeep that said, "I Buy Guns." The cops weren't too fond of that, so after what Gillis describes as some back and forth, he was arrested for contracting without a license. The charges were later dropped by the prosecution due to a lack of evidence, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

Gillis, an NRA instructor and avid gun collector, had contacted the police department in advance to ask how much they would pay for 27 AR-15 lower receivers, which is the part of a firearm that provides housing for internal components such as the hammer. He says he was told the department would pay $250 for AR-15s, a type of weapon that has often been used in mass shootings. Nikolas Cruz used an AR-15 when he murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. An AR-15-style rifle was used to kill 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooter used one when he ended the lives of 12 people and injured 58 others.