Police chief's gun proposal is reasonable

Yuma Daily Sun ^ | 06 May 2004 | Yuma Daily Sun Editorial Staff

[sean327]

Yuma's police chief is looking for some direction from the city council about what to do with guns his department acquires during investigations and law enforcement actions.

Chief Robby Robinson would like a regular policy established in regard to disposal of such weapons and has made some recommendations on what that policy ought to be.

Although city regulations already provide for the sale of unclaimed property from the police department at public auction, the chief wants more specific rules for weapons disposal.

Some of his recommendations are particularly commendable. First is the one to make every effort to return them to their lawful owners, another is to use some of the weapons for law enforcement purposes and a third is to donate those of historic value to museums or special collections — although it might be a better plan to also sell those.

He is also recommending that all cheaper "Saturday Night Specials" be destroyed because he does not view them as either reliable or safe. He also wants only licensed firearms dealers, who are required to later track sales of the weapons, to be able to bid on them.

In some other cities, police agencies, with the encouragement of local leaders, have been overly eager to "get guns off the streets" and to deny citizens their constitutional right to possess firearms. They have taken every opportunity to confiscate and destroy weapons, including valuable collectable pieces.

Guns by themselves do nothing. They are inanimate objects and do neither good nor bad. Police ought to target those who misuse weapons, not the weapons themselves.

For the most part, Robinson's recommendations seem reasonable, especially compared to the overzealous gun destruction programs in other cities. But there needs to be some caution on the number of weapons destroyed. Not all less expensive firearms are necessarily unsafe and these certainly could also be put up for bid.

[sean327]

Finally a Media outlet that gets it.

[Larry Lucido]

Ya'll got a ping list for this?

[Travis McGee]

Bang!

[Travis McGee]

I think there is more sanity in Arizona than many places. This police chief "gets it."

[rarestia]

ping!

[KarlInOhio]

Sell tickets for a Rifle Raffle.

[Atlas Sneezed]

A better, simpler destruction policy that takes the police discretion out of the mix is to destroy any gun that does not fetch a minimum bid of, say, $50. Let the market decide what is valuable and safe.

I have seen auctions of junk guns, 5 in a lot, that go for about $10 per gun. Those should be scrapped as a matter of real public safety.

[chuknospam]

Our local PD puts them up for auction to licensed dealers. All of them, junk guns etc. Last auction got them 31 new Glocks for the department. Better than crushing & melting them down.

[Redbob]

What part of the "Saturday Night special" hoax is considered "getting it?"

Are low-income families undeserving of affordable means of self-defense?

Or better yet, maybe the good chief can point to a particular brand of firearm that he can show is defective in design or manufacture?

[sean327]

The Chief needs to re-think his Satuday Night Special stand, but if you read what the editors said they take your stand.

[On the Road to Serfdom]

Or better yet, let the buyer decide what is reasonable and safe. Setting a minimum price is not letting the market decide.

[Erik Latranyi]

Or better yet, let the buyer decide what is reasonable and safe.

Exactly! Gun dealers will be the best suited to determine which weapons are junk and unsafe and which are simply reliable, low-cost alternatives for citizens on a budget.

Firearms that do not sell after 2-3 auction cycles could then be determined to be "junk" and disposed properly.

[Redcloak]

But if they sell the "Saturday Night Specials", they could wind up in the hands of the n*****s and s***s; maybe even the c****s would get them.

</sarcasm>

[William Tell]

Redbob said: "Are low-income families undeserving of affordable means of self-defense? "

Not only that, but what would be the problem of having criminals armed with unreliable, unsafe guns? If a bank robber has a misfire or his gun jams is that not a good thing?

[Imal]

Guns by themselves do nothing. They are inanimate objects and do neither good nor bad. Police ought to target those who misuse weapons, not the weapons themselves.

The fact that they would print these facts as facts is proof positive that this paper isn't owned by one of the handful of world megamedia conglomerates who package and sell whatever brand of news their sponsors pay for.

I would expect this fine paper to be bought out and "brought in line" soon enough.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Or better yet, let the buyer decide what is reasonable and safe. Setting a minimum price is not letting the market decide.

---

You are absolutely right. My proposal was a practical way to implement the political desire not to have unsafe guns sold by this process.

[Oatka]

Jacob Lopez at jlopez@yumasun.com handles the crime and police articles. Why not drop him a note thanking the Sun. You can quibble about a few things but by and large the editorial was a whiff of sanity.

Most of the suggestions for disposal that are posted sound pretty good, and I would also pass them on, otherwise we are just preaching to the choir.

[stylin19a]

gotta sell 'em to gun dealers so sales can be tracked...</sarcasm off>

[supercat]

I have seen auctions of junk guns, 5 in a lot, that go for about $10 per gun. Those should be scrapped as a matter of real public safety.

So you're saying that a gun for which a dealer would bid $49 (in the hopes of selling for maybe $100) should be scrapped if it happens to be thrown in with four for which the dealer wouldn't offer a nickel?

What if a particular firearm is obviously not in safely-fireable condition (e.g. cracked slide, sawn-off trigger guard, etc.) but is likely to have a few usable components. Should dealers be forbidden from paying for the parts that are useful (with the expectation of scrapping those that aren't)?

BTW, one thing I would like to see as policy: require that all locales which destroy firearms to saw off and retain the portions with serial numbers. I have a strong suspicion many firearms that are supposedly destroyed, aren't.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Hey, you're right, I'm wrong.

My idea was meant as a way to eliminate police "discretion" that could undermine an entirely good principle of selling good guns to the public (at least the ones the cops don't swipe for themselves.)