In Spain they’re auctioned. There were some news about it a few months ago because the last public auction was being held - from now on, you need to have some sort of paperwork pile sorted before you can even ask to walk into the auction house. Most of the guns shown were hunting rifles, which is logical as those are much more common than handguns, in Spain; another big chunk were “grandpa’s gun that we found in the attic and took to the cops as we don’t have a permit or any interest in it.”
“Collectible guns”? From police raids? Something tells me they are going to be the readily available models.
Most of them are. But I’ve seen collectible ones being destroyed. I’ve seen Lugers in news footage, and I’ve seen at least one M96 Mauser. [bsweeteviljesus** tells of M1921s that are not only collectible in their own right (to Class III permit holders and dealers), but also significant because of their serial numbers, which were destroyed. Given that many criminals are not all that particular about the guns they get, it’s not unusual for onld ones to be confiscated.
Beyond that, more recently I’ve seen stacks of AR-15-type rifles, along with Mini-14s and other rifles that would be useful to police departments. Why destroy them and then purchase converted (to semiautomatic) M-16s from the military, when confiscated ones can be had gratis?
It would be silly to spend money on professional evaluation. Just auction them with a strong “as-is” caveat.
If the cops have a gun for any length of time, they invariably wreck it. The firearms unlawfully confiscated during Katrina being the latest in a long, ugly string of examples. I don’t understand how prosecutes get convictions when police take such poor care of evidence.
They should send them to Afghanistan. Along with all the belly-scratching rednecks who think the US needs to send a blitz ‘over there’ to squash them uppity third-world brownmen but who never quite got around to enlisting theirownselves. It’d be a totally poetic fight. Our hicks fighting their hicks, both sides with a hodgepodge arsenal.
Or distribute the servicable ones to American highschools to equip mandatory gun-safety & awareness classes and ship the questionable material to…um…bad guys.
Nah, our hicks talk big; but they’re too old to go over themseves. Or they have an injury. Or they would, but they need to support a family. Or they’ve already done their bit. Or they won’t do it under a Democratic administration.
I don’t recall saying we should ask their opinion on the matter. 
I suspect that the mere *possibility *that a gun sold by the police department in this manner could turn up being used in a crime is enough to dissuade them from going this route.
I wonder how many that are marked “destroyed” somehow turn up in cop’s private collections.
They should definitely be sold. The main problem is that most “gangsta guns” tend to be Raven/Jennings/BryCo etc. which are dangerous for the people on both ends of the gun.
BTW Ex-Tank, although some people don’t like Tauruses, there’s no way they are saturday night specials.
There is a school of thought that this could encourage a “profit motive” in police departments. Some folks feel that if a law enforcement agency stands to gain materially from making arrests, then dubious practices can arise. Some departments may be sensitive to avoid even the appearance of busting folks “to get their toys.”
:smack: This had not even occured to me. Good point.
Didn’t even look at the link when he posted it.
I have one of those (Taurus PT-99) that I purchased in 1990. Blued, rosewood grips. Love it. It’s the gun I carried while working armed security, because in the entire time I’ve owned it, it has never malfunctioned.
I have a Taurus 689 (.357 revolver with 6" barrel) too.
They’re not junk, they’re not “Saturday Night Specials”.
I don’t recall the name of the company but there was just recently an article in the paper about a company that takes the PD’s unclaimed property, sorts it, ships it to their warehouse and auctions it off. Perhaps a reputable company could be contracted to do the same with the guns.
I have a feeling though that the main, and maybe only, reason this doesn’t happen is the PR nightmare that would occur if a previously seized gun was again found to have been used in a crime.
ETA: Found the article. The site is called PropertyRoom.com
Wouldn’t the destruction of confiscated guns decrease the supply of guns and wouldn’t a decreased supply increase the value of guns and wouldn’t an decreased supply and an increased value encourage more illicit gun deals?
Negatory!
It wouldn’t decrease supply at all. There are basically an unlimited number of guns being manufactured every year.
Someone who would buy the police gun will instead buy a new or used gun. And if they buy a used gun the person who sold would buy a new gun if desired.
The total supply of guns wouldn’t be affected at all by police selling unless they somehow encouraged someone who wouldn’t ordinarily want a gun to buy one. And I don’t see a reason why that would be so.
Totally agree. The only problems I had with the gun were the result of some really bad surplus ammo I was putting through it. It’s a sweet shooting, handy firearm, and dollar-wise, probably my “Best-Bang-For-The-Buck” firearm.
But to the uninitiated/unlearned (as in, “most politicians proposing gun laws” :rolleyes: ), dollar value alone might indicate to them that modestly priced firearms are “junk guns.”
If they’re stolen, return them to their owners.