Posted on 08/24/2009 4:55:59 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
The City Council is considering a program to let the Police Department sell confiscated guns to licensed dealers. Sales could net $10,000 a year.
Reporting from Colorado Springs, Colo. - This conservative city is taking an unusual, some might say extreme, step to try to stem its fiscal woes: It's entering the gun business.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Why destroy valuable property, firearms. Sell them to reduce the budget shortfall. Sound very reasonable to me.
This is on Drudge.
bwaaaaahahahahaha - bunch of hypocritical bastards.
I could use a slightly used, in good condition Springfield Amory M1A, if they have any? Be glad to take it off their hands.
Sweet, colorado springs isn’t that far away from me.
Great idea, get them into the hands of law abiding citizens. Come to the police station and buy a gun at fair-market value, check you out for past felonies, and current arrest warrants, and get a good deal on a nice used firearm. Maybe they will stop calling me begging for money.
How does one ensure that any prior illegal activities (like murders) have been expunged from connection to the firearm? For many, if not most, weapons, this would be no problem, I am sure.
But I would hate to purchase a gun previously (and unbeknownst to me) used in a cross-country crime spree.
And please don’t misunderstand. I am concerned about the law enforcement community’s reaction to the previous uses of the gun, as opposed to some nefarious aspect of the firearm itself.
I see a lot of people saying this is a good thing, but this does give the police a further incentive to steal peoples' property and make a profit from selling it.
Firearms do not kill people, other people do.
I understand what you are saying. Have known about homes where murders took place and a lot of people would not consider buying them much less living in them after the events that took place.
Is that logical? No.
But that does not make it easier to overcome the connection to past violence? No.
I thought about that, and it is a valid criticism. It probably depends on state law as to how much of an issue that would be.
Knowing Colorado Springs, it will not be a problem there.
Lots of retired military. That is why it is so different from Denver.
Just keep your reciept showing date of purchase.
With the exception that someone else already noted, ...that this may make the police confiscate more weapons with an eye toward revenue enhancement...I like this idea.
It provides an opportunity for some of the collectibles seized to get back into the mainstream. I know of some original Henry's, brass and iron frames, that might be in this mix.
And please don’t misunderstand. I am concerned about the law enforcement community’s reaction to the previous uses of the gun, as opposed to some nefarious aspect of the firearm itself.
In other words - the firearm is a chunck of metal. It is neither good nor evil.
But the manner in which it was used in the past can be used by some people, particularly in law enforcement, to harass the new legal owner if the sale by the city doesn't erect enough of a firewall between previous use and new management. It is the people in the equation that worry me, not the weapon.
I just got back from spending a week at Colorado Springs for Masters National Track Cycling Championship. What a difference from Moonbatapolis. For years I have been considering moving my business there.
Drug raids come to mind.
"Drugs were seized along with other weapons....etc"
That kind of thing. Not crime guns per se, but weapons found in the house or whatever. Drugs+guns=instant felony.
(That is, except here in Minnesota. Google "Metro Gang Strike Force" for more information.)
Most guns that wind up in police department possession are stolen ones that have been recovered but can't be traced back to a legal owner, or that the owner doesn't want back because he's already collected the insurance money. The St. Paul PD used to include guns in their regular auctions of unclaimed property, and they were 90% duck-hunting shotguns and .22 rifles. Why *not* auction them just like cars and bicycles?
I used to work for a federal government agency that (once upon a time) resold seized firearms.
First, the firearm couldn’t be even considered for sale until it was officially gov’t property - IOW, after the case had been adjudicated and the bad guy in question found guilty.
Second, we sifted through all the crap and destroyed probably 70-80% of it. You’d be amazed, some of the guns that bad guys carry. They’re more dangerous to the shooter than anyone else.
Third, it was typically done in a sealed bid auction. “Lot of 200 miscellaneous revolvers,” or “lot of 500 pieces of assorted SKS parts,” stuff like that. The big guys like Sarco were the ones that really got involved in it. Whenever you see one of those “we found these in a government warehouse” ads, it usually means they bought it at auction.
Of course, Clinton ended all that. The last sale for my old agency made the gov’t over $1 million dollars.
There's a lot of layers between seizure and sale. It's virtually impossible (not to mention horrendously stupid) to seize a gun specifically to sell it.
Come on over. I work for a small software company in Co Spgs started by a conservative from California.
Great business climate, political climate, social climate, and climate climate.
:-)
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