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.
“Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the Honolulu Police Department agreed that
they would not allow the guns to be sold to the general public and end
up on the streets of Honolulu,” Honolulu Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu
told FoxNews.com. “The same goes for selling the individual gun parts
that could have been used to assemble a gun.”
“These guns in the hands of lawful civilians could provide an
important means of self-defense, especially for low income people who
can’t afford them.”
- Alan Gottlieb, Second Amendment Foundation.
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.
Yu said no other police departments were interested in the guns.
“Law enforcement in American Samoa initially expressed interest in
acquiring some of the guns, but there was a change in administration and
the new administration is no longer interested,” she said. “The local
sheriff’s department recently replaced their guns, and other county
police departments (Kauai, Maui and Hawaii) are looking to replace their
Smith & Wessons in the future.”
A representative for Smith & Wesson declined to comment, stating
that the company does not provide any information regarding their
customers in law enforcement.
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.
Hawaii’s Department of Public of Safety recently replaced its Smith
& Wesson firearms with different SIG Sauer models and received a
credit of more than $150,000 for trading in its old guns. But Yu no
trade-in discount was available and insisted “the only remaining option
was to destroy the guns so they don’t end up on the street.”
Destroying working firearms, as well as valuable taxpayer property,
was “the height of anti-gun stupidity and will not stop one criminal
from getting a weapon,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second
Amendment Foundation.
“These guns in the hands of lawful civilians could provide an
important means of self-defense, especially for low income people who
can’t afford them,” Gottlieb said. “Or the sale of them could help pay
for much needed law enforcement equipment to help keep the public safe.”
Any city the size of Honolulu could use $575,000, said Amy Hunter,
spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association’s Institute for
Legislative Action.
“There is no reason why these firearms couldn’t be used by law
enforcement or sold to law-abiding citizens, the proceeds of which could
go to much-needed infrastructure, programs, training, etc,” she said.
The Hawaii Rifle Association’s President Harvey Gerwig, together with
safety training non-profit Lessons in Firearms Education President Bill
Richter wrote directly to Caldwell over the issue, emphasizing that “in
these times of lean budgets and continual cost cutting to needed city
services, to throw away a half a million dollars seems senseless.”
“The reason your office and HPD gave for not selling to the public
seemed to be a slight on those legal gun owners who would have purchased
them and who supported you during your election,” the letter continued.
“You should be ashamed for suggesting that the good citizens of Hawaii
cannot be trusted with buying HPD’s surplus guns for fear of them
falling into criminal hands when record numbers of firearms have been
bought by those same citizens for the last ten years without any such
problems.”
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.
Caldwell’s office declined to elaborate on Yu's comments. The Hawaii
Police Officers Union, did not respond to requests for comment.
But while the destruction of the guns generated criticism from the gun rights community, others have welcomed it.
“It beats putting those (guns) back on the streets,” said Ladd
Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “There are so
many loopholes in federal law that dangerous people often get guns
legally in this country.
“There's a reason that Hawaii has the lowest gun death rate in the
country,” he added. “They'd rather see guns destroyed than families.”