Thursday, January 13, 2000
Police can no longer sell old handguns
City Council votes to destroy weapons
BY ROBERT ANGLEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati police department will no longer be able to trade or sell old handguns to wholesale dealers under a policy enacted Wednesday.
Saying the price of a gun being used in a crime was much higher than any economic loss, City Council voted to destroy old guns and possibly sell them as scrap metal.
“We can't control the sale of guns,” said Councilwoman Minette Cooper. “But what we can do is not add to it.”
Ms. Cooper first raised the issue of monitoring city gun sales in September, after Detroit officials put no resale restrictions on more than 5,000 police revolvers. She said she had no idea that guns once seized or used by police could be on the street, and that the city needs a policy to monitor disposals or trade-ins.
“We are talking about the quality of life for the city,” Ms. Cooper said. “And this provides a small safety net.”
The only opposition to her motion came from Councilmen Phil Heimlich and James Tarbell, who cast the dissenting votes in a 6-2 decision.
“It's not fair for you to equate this to human life,” Mr. Tarbell said. “You don't have any evidence.”
He compared her argument to trading in a car, saying it should not be allowed because it might someday be used by a drunk driver. He said the city should not be penalized financially because of a remote possibility that a criminal might someday get hold of a gun.
The Wall Street Journal determined about 0.6 percent of the guns used in crimes and traced by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in 1998 once belonged to police departments. That's 1,100 out of 193,000 firearms nationally.
City Manager John Shirey said the city only sells guns owned by law enforcement officers and “does not resell weapons used in the commission of a crime.”
He said the city has traded weapons with gun manufacturer Smith and Wesson, but did not know where those guns went after being turned in.
Mr. Heimlich said the public should have been given an opportunity to talk about the issue before the council voted. While the specific motion might not have been discussed, other members said the issue has been repeatedly debated.
“Ohio ranks in the top five in the country as a source of guns used by criminals for a criminal purpose,” said Councilman Todd Portune. “This motion is long overdue.”
In October, the city lost a lawsuit against gun manufacturers when a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge ruled companies are not responsible for violence committed with their products.
Cincinnati officials vowed to appeal the decision.
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