Haynes.tv

This is a picture of, what was assumed to be, a SAM launcher. A SAM (acronym meaning surface to air missile) is as its name implies a SAM is designed to shot down airplanes. Of course the police and CNN seemed to have wrongly identified it as a SAM launcher initially, and as far as I know right now CNN has not yet corrected their error. It turns out it is just a casing for an anti tank weapon, which the guy said he found in a shed he tore down. He first tired to disposed of it at three different dumps; none of which would accept it.

I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it, and they told me to get lost.

So he decide to bring it to the Orlando police’s, no questions asked, guns for shoes trade in, where he exchanged it for size 3 Reeboks for his daughter.

I think he would have done better on ebay with it, assuming that it is harmless, being that it is just a casing. I am sure there are many people out there who collect that type of stuff, and would probably be will to pay more than $50 (the police offered shoes or a $50 gift certificate for the guns). Of course with something like that it may not have been worth his time to try and sell it, although some of the other people got an even worst deal: According to the Orlando Sentinel “An unblemished 1903 .32-caliber Colt pistol caught the eye of a knowledgeable deputy who checked the Internet and found it was worth about $1,400.” Since the trade in was no questions asked the guy will probably not be able to get his gun back and the police get a 2800% profit on just that gun alone. Maybe if they want to be really good-natured they will try to get in touch with the poor guy that traded his $1,400 antique gun in for $50. To be fair, they were able to get several hot (stolen) and illegal guns off the streets too.