# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/21 "2012-12-30T17:22:17Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Racist much? :rolleyes: Realist much? :rolleyes: ---
**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, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/22 "2012-12-30T18:42:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Realist much? :rolleyes: Yes all the police are racist. And they are all white you know. And of course during the LA gun buy back in a city of 4 million they are going to remember the “brown faces” that turn in guns without taking names. Right back at you.:rolleyes: ---
**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 31, 2012, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/23 "2012-12-31T09:13:16Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Yes all the police are racist. And they are all white you know. Not all, but many. I would dare say most, in some areas. And many racists aspire to be police because, well, in what other job can you beat up or even “accidentally” kill a black man and get off with a mere slap on the wrist??? And that’s only if you are [caught on video.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant) Not all officers are corrupt, but the system certainly is. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/24 "2012-12-31T20:47:47Z")
Years ago, when the UN tried to get the Bosnians and Serbs to disarm, I remember seeing a report on TV about how the UN inspectors were collecting plently of weapons, but it wasn’t making any difference. Almost everything that was turned in was rusty old WW2-era junk that probably would blow up if you tried to fire it. And was probably turned in specifically for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![orthohedron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba8739/32.png) [@orthohedron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orthohedron)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/25 "2013-01-01T01:36:33Z")
> [@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 ^This, especially point #2. Kill 10 people sell the gun to the PD no questions asked. Really? Buyback programs are an awful idea. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/26 "2013-01-01T12:05:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The StG-44 would have been selective-fire. I hope it was registered, or else she’d lose it anyway! > . What does this sentence mean? Just curious. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/27 "2013-01-01T12:25:04Z")
> [@orthohedron](#): > > ^This, especially point #2. Kill 10 people sell the gun to the PD no questions asked. Really? Buyback programs are an awful idea. Here you only get immunity for possession, not for any crimes you may have committed with it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/28 "2013-01-01T15:20:28Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > What does this sentence mean? Just curious. “select fire” means it has a full-auto or burst mode. it’s therefore an unregistered Title II weapon and could be seized as such. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/29 "2013-01-01T15:25:18Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > What does this sentence mean? Just curious. Selective fire weapons are regarded as machine guns under the law, and all machine guns must be registered. In the 1980s a law was passed which forbids any new machine gun registrations (so if you want to buy one, you can’t buy a brand-new one and then register it; instead you have to find someone who owns one that’s already registered and purchase it from him). At the time the law was passed, it allowed a grace period so that people who already owned machine guns which they had not yet registered (primarily military antiques) could get them all registered. But that grace period is long over. So even though it’s a military antique, the gun in question would technically also be an unregistered machine gun, and thus illegal to own. ---
**Author:** ![orthohedron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba8739/32.png) [@orthohedron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orthohedron)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/30 "2013-01-01T16:04:38Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Here you only get immunity for possession, not for any crimes you may have committed with it. I don’t mean walk up with blood on your hands, but get a non-threatening looking friend to sell your gun to the cops. With no name and no positive ID on who it is, wait a few weeks and the evidence should be destroyed. Now try as hard as they can they will never find the weapon that they melted and turned into a sliding board. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/31 "2013-01-01T17:25:14Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not all, but many. I would dare say most, in some areas. And many racists aspire to be police because, well, in what other job can you beat up or even “accidentally” kill a black man and get off with a mere slap on the wrist??? And that’s only if you are [caught on video.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant) > > Not all officers are corrupt, but the system certainly is. Yes watched the video. It was obviously a tragic accident. And he was prosecuted for manslaughter and convicted as he should have. I’m sure he joined up for the privilege of going to prison and being unemployable for life. What a deal. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-police-weapons-collection-drives-are-valuable-ones-kept-by-police-or-are-they-all-destroyed/645462/32 "2013-01-01T18:46:14Z")
Thank you, jz and artemis. [Previous 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=1)