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Second Amendment advocates are firing away at a decision by Honolulu officials to destroy $575,000 worth of perfectly good handguns in a move one critic called the “height of anti-gun stupidity.”
Some 2,300 Smith & Wesson 9 mm handguns, including at least 200 that are brand-new and in unopened boxes, were issued to the city’s police department. But with the 2,200-member force upgrading to lighter and less expensive Glock 17s, the guns were set to be permanently holstered. While it is customary throughout the country for departments to auction the guns to law-abiding citizens, including the police who once carried them, or donate them to another department, Honolulu opted to destroy them.
Selling the guns, with mandatory background checks to ensure they were only purchased by legal owners, could have netted the city $575,000, according to Hawaii News Now. Several police officers reportedly were interested in buying old service weapons for personal use, and the department has previously sold phased-out weapons to its staff, but this time opted to melt them down two weeks ago.
originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: intrepid
Actually a discussion. Why would a city waste that much money, other than it was "free" money? They could have auctioned them off and at least made some back. But, they decided to waste, I guessing, close to 1 million tax payer dollars. The people of Hawaii can't be too happy about that. I wouldn't be if my state pulled that kind of stunt.
Oh and yes, it is "anti gun stupidity".
Are they so anti gun they don't mind wasting tax dollars? Like I said in the OP, they are a police dept, they could have done very thorough back ground checks, but still decided to waste all that money. Wouldn't even let their own officers buy them.
Despite Yu’s claims, the Hawaii state sheriffs division – which uses the same gun manufacturer – told Hawaii News Now that no offer for donation was made to them.
originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes
a reply to: DAVID64
I want to comment, but can't find the words to express how utterly moronic an action this was!
We need IQ tests for politicians.
Over the last 15 years, the number of guns registered in Hawaii increased dramatically. Data released by the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office shows that 420,409 firearms were registered from 2000 to 2014, in addition to the already existing one million firearms in a state that has an estimated population of 1.4 million.
Hawaii has one of the lowest gun death rates in the nation, which some attribute to its spike in ownership per capita, while others claim it is a result of its strict gun control laws.
originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: pheonix358
Interesting thought, but I don't think it works like that. Someone that wants a new gun wants a new gun. There are enough on the market that it's not hard to find a used one if you want to go that route.
It's like cars, the used market is there for people that want used things, but there are a lot of folks that want a new car.
originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
Its as clear as day that the 2 things that cause a high rate of gun violence are firstly the population density, then how high the gun ownership rate is.