# Re police weapons collection drives. Are valuable ones kept by police or are they all destroyed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462 "2012-12-29T05:08:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/1 "2012-12-29T05:08:26Z")
Just curious. You sometimes see police, especially in urban areas, conducting [“no questions asked” weapons collection drives](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/2-rocket-launchers-turned_n_2373069.html), sometimes using buyback money. If, say, a widow in her dotage decided she did not want her dead husbands collection of Weatherby hunting rifles and other extremely valuable guns in the house anymore and delivered them tot he police would these be crushed and destroyed along with the Saturday night specials? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/2 "2012-12-29T05:13:34Z")
:rolleyes: Take a wild guess. There was once a thread in which the survivor of a gun collector’s related the curious inventory of the content’s of the deceased’s home: Neighbors watched the police load 8 trunk fulls of firearms into their cars and drive off. The inventory they gave the survivor listed 12 firearms. And yes, the same happens with anything of value - esp. illegal drugs Welcome to the real world Another reason police are finding reasons to arrest (and/or beat the crap out of) anyone photographing them ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/3 "2012-12-29T05:51:34Z")
If you happen to know a widow with a collection of valuable guns to dispose of, she’d be much better off contacting an antique weapons dealer than the police. But I’m guessing that is not actually what you’re asking about. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/4 "2012-12-29T06:03:47Z")
The rules generally require that all guns turned in be destroyed. But just like everywhere else in life, those rules may not always be followed. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/5 "2012-12-29T07:11:38Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You sometimes see police, especially in urban areas, conducting [“no questions asked” weapons collection drives](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/2-rocket-launchers-turned_n_2373069.html), sometimes using buyback money. The police might not ask questions, but you better believe they will remember your face, especially if your skin is a shade of brown. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/6 "2012-12-29T08:30:26Z")
I just saw an article about this happening in the last few weeks. It was a woman who took in a gun that she’d found among her dead husband’s (or maybe father’s) things; a very rare gun from Germany that was considered to be the forerunner of modern assault rifles. If the police had taken it, they’d have been obligated to destroy it. They convinced her not to give it to them and take it to a dealer. I might be able to find the article again, if I track down what type of gun it was. Or if someone else wants to search, be my guest. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/7 "2012-12-29T08:48:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I just saw an article about this happening in the last few weeks. It was a woman who took in a gun that she’d found among her dead husband’s (or maybe father’s) things; a very rare gun from Germany that was considered to be the forerunner of modern assault rifles. If the police had taken it, they’d have been obligated to destroy it. They convinced her not to give it to them and take it to a dealer. > > I might be able to find the article again, if I track down what type of gun it was. Or if someone else wants to search, be my guest. [http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/valuable-wwii-gun-police-buy-back-022155231--abc-news-topstories.html](http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/valuable-wwii-gun-police-buy-back-022155231--abc-news-topstories.html) > [@](#): > > Just like a scene out of “Antiques Roadshow,” a woman in Hartford, Conn., turned in an old rifle to her local police station’s gun buy-back, only to discover the gun was worth anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, inherited the gun from her father who had brought it home with him from Europe as a memento from World War II. > > The two officers conducting the gun buy-back, who are resident gun experts for the Hartford Police Department, informed the owner she was in possession of a Nazi Assault Rifle, the first of its kind, that dates back to 1944. > > The gun is called a Sturmgewehr 44, literally meaning “storm rifle,” and is the first “modern assault rifle ever made, eventually replaced by the AK 47 in 1947 by Russia, who copied the German design of the Sturmgewehr 44,” Officer Lewis Crabtree, one of the two officers who discovered the gun, told ABC News. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/8 "2012-12-29T14:38:41Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > The police might not ask questions, but you better believe they will remember your face, especially if your skin is a shade of brown. Racist much? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/9 "2012-12-29T15:45:00Z")
The StG-44 would have been selective-fire. I hope it was registered, or else she’d lose it anyway! I’ll tell you, I’d like to stage my own ‘gun buy-back program’. I’d love to pay people $50 - $250 for their AR-15s. I’d probably even make a profit on the ‘worthless’ guns. And since I’m no longer in California, private sales are OK. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/10 "2012-12-29T19:05:09Z")
Quoted from [Gun Facts](http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/6.1/gun_facts_6_1_screen.pdf) (PDF - page 50). Links are provided to document the statements. According to a variety of sources, the actual effect is that gun buy-back programs: • Disarm future crime victims, creating new social costs • Give criminals an easy way to dispose of evidence • Are turned in by those least likely to commit crimes (the elderly, women, etc.) • Cheap guns are bought and sold back to the government for a profit • Cause guns to be stolen and sold to the police, creating more crime • Seldom return stolen guns to their rightful owners ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/11 "2012-12-29T19:19:27Z")
I have been told that, at least in some areas of Virginia, police are allowed to keep impounded vehicles that are not claimed. A cop once told me that they had impounded a rather nice sports car and that he was hoping that it would not be claimed within the required time period, with the understanding that if it was not claimed, the car would be turned into an additional patrol/squad car for the department. The department didn’t have that many cars to begin with. That makes me wonder if the police scour the collected weapons for guns that would be suitable for issue to police officers. I know that they probably like to standardize to reduce ammo and maintenance costs, but would a department that uses 1911’s as their standard issue want to evaluate all incoming 1911’s and determine if their quality and condition are good enough to keep and add to their arsenal? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/12 "2012-12-29T19:43:32Z")
They almost certainly won’t. Liability issues. Who will they sue if the thing breaks/doesn’t work? No organisation likes running a ‘mixed fleet’. ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/13 "2012-12-29T19:57:39Z")
My fiance has an unfirable “flood gun” rifle that he recovered while doing post-Katrina demolition work. It is completely rusted out and worthless. I was trying to get him to take it to the gun buyback so we could get 100 bucks for it, but he thinks it “looks nice on the wall” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/14 "2012-12-29T20:25:21Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > • Cheap guns are bought and sold back to the government for a profit I knew somebody who’d do that–he’d collect up every POS rustbucket gun he could find, sell them all to the police for a tidy profit, and generally use the funds to buy a really nice gun. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/15 "2012-12-29T23:40:15Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Racist much? :rolleyes: Me? No. The Police? Absolutely, just ask Rodney King. ETA: Sorry if it seemed like I was putting anyone down (aside from the police); after re-reading my last post, it does seem like it can be read with that connotation. ---
**Author:** ![ed\_anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbce88/32.png) [@ed\_anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed_anger)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/16 "2012-12-29T23:43:45Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Quoted from [Gun Facts](http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/6.1/gun_facts_6_1_screen.pdf) (PDF - page 50). Links are provided to document the statements. > > According to a variety of sources, the actual effect is that gun buy-back programs: > • Disarm future crime victims, creating new social costs > • Give criminals an easy way to dispose of evidence > • Are turned in by those least likely to commit crimes (the elderly, women, etc.) > • Cheap guns are bought and sold back to the government for a profit > • Cause guns to be stolen and sold to the police, creating more crime > • Seldom return stolen guns to their rightful owners not a biased document at all. fyi it’s very easy to find credible research that point out how effective gun buyouts have been in some countries. this is usually combined with stricter gun control laws coming into effect. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/17 "2012-12-30T14:44:52Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Valuable WWII Gun at Police Buy-Back](http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/valuable-wwii-gun-police-buy-back-022155231--abc-news-topstories.html) I saw that article. Good thing for her the police knew what they were doing there. Unlike the recent LAPD buy back where they were crowing on TV about taking back 2"RPGs" off the street. In fact the were an AT-4 and a LAW tube. Both are one shot rocket launchers. So basically they spent taxpayer money on empty fiberglass tubes with knobs on. Once they are fired they can not be used again. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/18 "2012-12-30T14:53:01Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I saw that article. Good thing for her the police knew what they were doing there. Unlike the recent LAPD buy back where they were crowing on TV about taking back 2"RPGs" off the street. In fact the were an AT-4 and a LAW tube. Both are one shot rocket launchers. So basically they spent taxpayer money on empty fiberglass tubes with knobs on. Once they are fired they can not be used again. Please tell me they weren’t dumb enough to go for that? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/19 "2012-12-30T15:07:50Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Please tell me they weren’t dumb enough to go for that? Yep. [http://ktla.com/2012/12/28/l-a-s-gun-buyback-nets-2037-firearms/](http://ktla.com/2012/12/28/l-a-s-gun-buyback-nets-2037-firearms/) All the veterans sites are laughing about it. CAndy Crawley was clucking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/20 "2012-12-30T15:26:37Z")
Wow, if they get a few more they can make a nice coffee table for the lobby. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462.md?page=2)