The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado is having financial problems so the City Council is considering recommending that the Colorado Springs police sell confiscated firearms. They say it won’t solve their fiscal problems, but every little bit helps. Read about it below.
Colorado Springs Police to sell Confiscated Firearms
Colorado Springs, Colorado is considering going into the gun business. That is to say, they are thinking about selling guns confiscated by the police department. Usually, those weapons are destroyed, but the City Council is considering how much the sale of confiscated weapons can bring to the city.
The police department destroys the hundreds of guns they seize from crime scenes, drug houses or citizens who are not licensed to carry them. Usually, the guns are melted down. However, in anticipation of new laws enabling the police department to sale the guns, the city has already stopped melting them down.
It is expected that the final details of the program will be hashed out and approved within the next few weeks, at which point the Police Department will be able to sale the confiscated firearms to federally licensed gun dealers.
Vice Mayor Larry Small made the proposal. Projections are that the sale of these weapons will garner about $10,000 per year for the city. That’s a mere drop in the bucket compared to the city deficit of $200-million in it’s annual budget this year. Still, Small says, ‘Every penny counts.’
There have been very few concerns expressed by the citizens of Colorado Springs. The people there are accustomed to armed citizens and are comfortable with it. Interestingly, the Police Department has expressed some concerns. Lt. David Whitlock of the Colorado Springs Police Department said that the police are cautious about the sales. He said that some of the issues had to do with not wanting the police to be in the gun-selling business and not wanting to re-introduce weapons into the community. Those concerns were overruled by the City Council and a proposal is being drawn up.
Small points out that other confiscated property is not destroyed. They auction off houses and cars that have been seized, so why not guns.
August 24th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Colorado Springs is one town in America and they have confiscated or collected these many superflous guns from the public? Is every town in america that well armed? This is an insane amount of guns!!! What is wrong with people in this country that these many need these many guns?
August 24th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Kudos to both the Colorado Springs Police Dept. & City Council for this program. I personally believe in an individuals right to keep & bear arms, & hope to see firsthand what they have. For you anti-gun types, go buy a white t-shirt with word “VICTIM” printed on both sides. Without guns, that’s what you are.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Bravo Bill - they could paint a target on it or on their forehead! That’d do it too.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Brian - are you kidding? I have that many guns in my house!
A well armed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
August 25th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
You mean you don’t have the blankety blank and common sense to wonderwhat the heck is that town’s citizens doing with all those guns? it sure looks bizarrely overdone to me.