Suburb plans gun sell-back

Transfer of firearms, some seized from criminals, will raise money for St. Charles police

May 31, 2013|By Kate Thayer, Chicago Tribune reporter
  • St. Charles police Chief James Lamkin said the city's plan to sell about 20 weapons will raise money for his department. “They’re not illegal guns," he said. "Quite honestly, it’s a bottom line for us.”

Police who are responsible for enforcing gun laws and removing illegal weapons from the marketplace aren't typically in the business of putting firearms back into circulation.

But while some Chicago-area communities host buybacks where weapons are turned in and destroyed, one suburban police department is poised to sell about 20 firearms to two licensed dealers, including some guns seized from criminals.

"There's value in these guns," said police Chief James Lamkin of west suburban St. Charles. "They're not illegal guns. Quite honestly, it's a bottom line for us."

Though Arizona has just enacted a controversial state law requiring local departments to sell firearms that are surrendered or go unclaimed, the practice appears to be unusual in the Chicago area. The Chicago Police Department and several suburban law-enforcement agencies, as well as Illinois State Police, say they destroy weapons after they're turned in or no longer needed as evidence.

Some police officials say the act of taking even one gun out of circulation — even if largely symbolic — is more valuable than any potential profits.

"It's another gun off the street to us," said Cmdr. Glenn Theriault of the Elgin police, among the departments which destroy firearms seized as evidence that are no longer required by law to be stored.

Even if they were sold to a reputable dealer, "anything can happen," Theriault said. "It can end up in a bad guy's hands, even if it's first in the good guy's hands."

The choice for a public agency to sell or destroy seized weapons underscores the push in many suburbs to find new ways to generate revenue without raising taxes. The issue also places St. Charles in an unusual position among law enforcement agencies at a time when the gun control debate has been re-energized by the Sandy Hook school shooting and, in Illinois, by the current effort to enact a concealed carry law before a court-imposed June deadline.

"There are individuals who will say, why not simply destroy them?" said St. Charles Mayor Raymond Rogina. "But when that happens, there will be someone saying that's taxpayer dollars (at stake) and you're throwing it away."

The city isn't only unloading guns once acquired through crime-fighting. Four of the weapons once issued to officers will go to Streicher's, a Minnesota vendor from whom the city routinely purchases equipment. Those guns will likely be used as parts for other law enforcement agencies, Lamkin said.

That practice isn't as unusual, as departments often trade in firearms for newer models when it's time to upgrade or replace them.

Most of St. Charles' weapons, however, are guns seized by the courts or turned in to police. They will be sold to a St. Charles gun manufacturer-dealer, Alpha Armament Co. While the dealer primarily works with police departments, it would have the right to sell the guns to anyone with a valid firearm owner's identification card, Lamkin said, including any weapon that was once connected to a crime.

An Alpha representative declined to comment; a Streicher's official did not respond to a request for comment.

If the City Council signs off on the sale — the measure is expected to pass when it comes up for a final vote Monday — the Police Department will receive about $6,400 in credit for future equipment purchases.

"If we took all of these guns and melted them into a pile of metal … except for scrap metal, we would have gotten nothing," Lamkin said.

St. Charles officials also point out the guns could very likely end up with other police officers, and trust the dealer to handle sales legally.

"I don't have any problem with St. Charles police putting guns into the hands of a legitimate vendor," Rogina said. "To me, the problem with guns is people breaking the law."

St. Charles doesn't plan to sell weapons on a regular basis, Lamkin said. He noted the city, which has relatively little violent crime, doesn't typically have a large quantity of firearms in storage. He added that the department decided to destroy two weapons, an Uzi 9 mm pistol and an Intratec Tec-9, it determined should not be recirculated.

"To know that they're in the hands of a reputable dealer is better than having them laying around, or just falling out of sight," said St. Charles Ald. Jo Krieger. While she said her "No. 1 choice" would have been to destroy the whole lot, she didn't have enough concern to vote against the sale.

Colleen Daley, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, also said she would "obviously prefer for them to melt them down. I don't think more guns is the answer to anything."

Yet even Daley said she understood the department's position and recognizes the weapons are going to law-abiding dealers.

"We want to make sure we don't put guns in the hands of people who shouldn't get them," she said. "If it's being done with background checks and FOID cards, that's one thing."