Gun in shooting came from Memphis P.D.

[longnecker]

AP Exclusive: Guns In Pentagon, Las Vegas Court Shootings Came From Memphis Police, Court

• 
  
  • (AP)
  • (AP) WASHINGTON (AP) - Two guns used in high-profile shootings this year at the Pentagon and a Las Vegas courthouse both came from the same unlikely place: the police and court system of Memphis, Tenn.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that both guns were once seized in criminal cases in Memphis. The officials described how the weapons made their separate ways from an evidence vault to gun dealers and to the shooters.

The use of guns that were once in police custody to attack police officers highlights a little-known divide in gun policy in the U.S.: Many cities and states destroy guns gathered in criminal probes, but others sell or trade the weapons in order to get other guns or buy police equipment.

In fact, on the day of the Pentagon shooting, March 4, the Tennessee governor signed legislation revising state law on confiscated guns. Before, law enforcement agencies in the state had the option of destroying a gun. Under the new version, agencies can only destroy a gun if it's inoperable or unsafe.

Kentucky has a similar law, but it's not clear how many other states have laws specifically designed to promote the police sale or trade of confiscated weapons.

A nationwide review by The Associated Press in December found that over the previous two years, 24 states - mostly in the South and West, where gun-rights advocates are particularly strong - have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions. Gun rights groups are making a greater effort to pass favorable legislation in state capitals.

John Timoney, who led the Philadelphia and Miami police departments and served as New York's No. 2 police official, said he doesn't believe police departments should be putting more guns into the market.

"I just think it's unseemly for police departments to be selling guns that later turn up," he said, recalling that he had once been offered the chance to sell guns to raise money for the police budget.

[BillW]

As the article states, not all that unusual. I did more than a few traces that ended up coming from the WPD or the NCCPD.

[Curly]

but others sell or trade the weapons in order to get other guns or buy police equipment.

What's the point of confiscating guns if you're not going to destroy them?They can't be getting that much for them.

[max1]

For me the bigger issue is why aren't these folks being given enough money to do the dirty damn job we ask them to do?

[Curly]

For me the bigger issue is why aren't these folks being given enough money to do the dirty damn job we ask them to do?

Public safety is the biggest cost in many municipalities and the administrations are always looking for ways to cut costs without cutting into the perks the administrations abuse. It's sickening.

[max1]

Public safety is the biggest cost in many municipalities and the administrations are always looking for ways to cut costs without cutting into the perks the administrations abuse. It's sickening.

get rid of one or two admins...peroid

[Curly]

get rid of one or two admins...peroid

We suggested getting rid of some of the weight at the top (six figure people) but it wasn't feasable yet laying eight of our people off was. More cuts are coming in the city of wilmington. We'll be using horses again.

[Hollow]

Goes will not go away, period. It's a constitutional right, to keep and bear arms.

[Robb]

If they hadn't had used those guns, they would have used different guns.

[BillW]

Years ago the store where i part timed was wholesale and retail, selling guns to lots of agencies across the nation, also taking them in as trades when newer weapons were purchased. Many states have since passed laws prohibiting police agencies from dumping old inventory into the public domain. S&W, the provider foe NCCPD and Sig-Sauer for the State generally work out deals for the old inventory when creating new orders for weapons. I'm not sure who is currently supplying WPD. Officers are generally given the opportunity to purchase their old weapons if they desire. Ive been awqy from it for a while but I do know that Sig-Sauer and Glock would often re-build the traded weapons, bring them back to spec and sell at a lower rate commercially than the current model which may have some current mods that the older model # did not have. S&W is the only manufacturer that I have dealt with that stamped the model # and revision # on the frame., but I am not sure if they still do it.

[Joe Walther]

We suggested getting rid of some of the weight at the top (six figure people) but it wasn't feasable yet laying eight of our people off was. More cuts are coming in the city of wilmington. We'll be using horses again.

Well, look at the bright side. Some of the impending job losses will be offset by the ones created to follow those horses and clean up the droppings! You're such a pessimist, Curly.


Regards,

Joe Walther

[longnecker]

We suggested getting rid of some of the weight at the top (six figure people) but it wasn't feasable yet laying eight of our people off was. More cuts are coming in the city of wilmington. We'll be using horses again.

Great economy move.. But then How many horse would it take to pull a hook and ladder?

[daveindelaware]

As a gun owner, I find it a real shame to hear about guns being destroyed just because they were used in a crime. So what? It wasn't the gun's fault it was used in a crime by a criminal. It's like we're blaming the tool, not the person using the tool in illegal activities. We send the criminal to jail or administer a lethal injection for their crime. The gun should be put back out into the public for sale. It's not like the mentality of "once a criminal always a criminal" can be said of an inanimate object.

I'm all for being able to buy a firearm from the Police, regardless of the firearm being used in a crime or not. If I bought a gun that was used in a triple murder, it's not like I'm going to murder three people with the gun because it "made" me or was used that way before.



I'd rather see the police departments getting some extra money from the public sale of these guns.