Buyback guns in St. Louis, MO (courtesy ammoland.com)

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- Why destroy valuable property when it can be sold and the proceeds used for the public good? It’s a question that the Beehive State recently addressed. stgeorgeutah.com:

Another new law says authorities can sell abandoned guns or give them to a firearms dealer for sale or to the Bureau of Forensic Services for testing.

But law enforcement officials can only destroy a gun if its condition prevents it from being sold or if it’s associated with a notorious crime.

“I never saw the need for a perfectly good firearm to be destroyed,” the law’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Brad Daw of Orem, told lawmakers during a hearing on the measure.

At least twelve states now ban police from destroying valuable and legal guns that come into their possession. They are: Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.

The people that push for the expensive destruction of legal, safe, useful, and valuable firearms confiscated or “surrendered” to the police do so for emotional or political reasons, not for rational ones.  The numbers are relatively small.

Chicago has the highest numbers, with about 6,700 guns taken into possession each year. Los Angeles collects about 6,000, and New York City about 3,000.

Altogether, that amounts to 16,000 to 17,000 guns. That’s half of one day’s  increase in the civilians stock in the United States, or .0004 percent of the private stock that exists in the United States at present.

The only reason to destroy firearms in the hands of the police is to send the propaganda message that guns are bad.  That is another good reason to outlaw the practice. The message sent is the wrong one, in direct contradiction to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the rule of law.

2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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32 COMMENTS

  1. But law enforcement officials can only destroy a gun if its condition prevents it from being sold or if it’s associated with a notorious crime.

    WTF does that have to do with anything?
    The gun didn’t commit the crime.

    • That is an entirely emotional argument.

      If the rifle that the evil SOB used in sandy hook came up for auction, how much do you think it would go for? What kind of individual would buy it? Public reaction, affected individuals feels.. etc.. I can see why it would cause “outrage”

      • Yeah, if I had to guess, I’d say it probably has something to do with damnatio memoriae, and isn’t about the gun being “more evil” or anything so much as it is not wanting to immortalize the loser scumbag who wielded it.

        What constitutes “notorious crime” could be debated, but I don’t necessarily disagree with the motivation.

      • Recall that the progtards in CT demolished an entire, valuable and usable school BUILDING rather than cleaning it. For the chilens. Never enough money for schools.

        I chalk such up to a moronic belief in ghosts and the boogeyman.

    • Wasn’t there a law or legal doctrine in medieval Europe that actually required the destruction of weapons used in crimes? I think the rationale was that an evil spirit must have inhabited the weapon, so that now the weapon itself must be destroyed, but I really don’t remember much more than that. I want to say it started with a “D”, maybe?

    • “I never saw the need for a perfectly good firearm to be destroyed,”
      Poor Rep. Daw doesn’t get, apparently.
      Gun Bigots do not believe in the EXISTENCE of a “perfectly good firearm” any more than a herpetophobe believes in the existence of a “perfectly harmless snake”.
      Doesn’t he understand that guns are like wild predators? Once they taste human blood they will instinctively crave more?
      🤠

      • Garands are notorious for this… Once they bit the thumbs of hapless American GIs they’d go on a spree killing Nazis, Japs, or North Koreans left and right.

    • Zimmerman tried to sell the Kel Tec PF9 he used on Trayvon Martin and that turned into a mess.

    • these nuts get enough media exposure as it is. Guy shoots one or two people, fine. Selling the gun that so and so used to kill 50 people is just tasteless. I don’t see any of these guys shooting people with valuable collectors items, and one less Glock or DPMS rifle is no loss to anyone. Bury these people and erase them from history. If the weapon must be preserved, donate it to the FBI museum or one of the numerous prison/criminal justice museums around the country.

  2. “Altogether, that amounts to 16,000 to 17,000 guns. That’s half of one day’s increase in the civilians stock in the United States, or .0004 percent of the private stock that exists in the United States at present.”

    30,000 new guns a day? And what, 90 a day dead by gunshot?

    And what’s their problem with guns again???

    • Our own missing Dirk Diggler just *loves* when Shannon scrunches up her face and pouts.

      *snicker*

      • MISSING:
        TTAG COMMENTOR WITH STRANGE FETISH FOR MS. SHANNON WATTS OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FAME ANSWERS TO THE SCREEN NAME OF DIRK DIGGLER.

        REWARD:
        500 ROUNDS OF 22LR FOR SAFE RETURN OR INFORMATION LEADING TO SAFE RETURN OF MR. DIGGLER
        IF SEEN EMAIL MR. ROBERT FARAGO WITH INFORMATION AND TO COLLECT REWARD.

    • She doesn’t care enough to pout. kapo bloomberg’s money is her motivation. If another billionaire was to outbid him for her services she would be an ardent supporter of the right to keep and bear arms.

      For her, it’s a well paid job.

  4. The problem with this is that the Democrat cities will just sit on the guns forever, unless there is some penalty applied that costs the Democrat politicians personally.

    • Won’t the police departments start complaining when their storage areas start overflowing with guns they can’t legally destroy but also aren’t allowed to dispose of by other means because of their political leaders?

  6. I guess this will be another form of profiteering…Sure! Paramilitarized Police departments will now have an excellent reason to enforce unconstitutional state Gun control: search and seizure laws…That will definitely bring meaning to “THEY CAN PRY IT FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS…OOPS!!!”

  7. Silly rabbits liberal city police departments don’t destroy guns. They just say they do for security theater. In reality, they likely sell them on the black market to arm gang bangers or use them as drop guns. Perish the thought that these guns go back into the hands of law abiding citizens. 😀

  10. Have a 1st Gen… after polishing hammer and rear frame pin and permatexing into submission…. pretty reliable lead hose. Probably have over 10 k round count through it. Not the most accurate of my 22’s, but a shitload of fun.Would probably pick something else to replace it with…too much work to get it to be 95 percent reliable

  11. Sounds like a new angle for police department asset forfeiture shenanigans. As soon as cops can earn budget doing something they instantly become more inclined to peg you for it.

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