Michael Mealer, commander of evidence recoverey for the Chicago police department holding a firearm at their seized gun vault on the west side of Chicago which stores 80,000 firearms on September 30, 2013. ( Lenny Gilmore/ RedEye ) (lenny gilmore / / September 29, 2013)
Chicago Tribune
For evidence of the scope of Chicago’s illegal gun problem, look no further than a nondescript warehouse on the city’s far West Side, not far from some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods. There, the Chicago Police Department has packed 80,000 illegal firearms into row after row of shelves, meticulously labeled and guarded by police officers who wait for the green light to destroy them.
The gun manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank. They know that a certain percentage of their legal product ends up in places like this. In cities all over America guns used in crime end up in police evidence lockers. And the gun makers are simultaneously churning out more product to replace them.
This obscene travesty of proper commerce is the fault of the gun-rights movement and all its adherents and proponents. They are the ones responsible for the lax gun laws that ensure a healthy and continual gun flow from the lawful to the criminal.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
All those guns should be sold to legal buyers.
ReplyDeleteThey should be melted down and made into jewelry as one Connecticut woman is now doing. Turn swords into plowshares.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. Plenty more swords will be made.
DeleteJoan,
DeleteYou're welcome to do that with any swords you own or buy in the future. However, until the lamb lives with the wolf and the lion eats hay like the ox, I'll still have use for my sword as well as my plowshare.
And while we're on the subject of jewelry, let's remember that in many cultures, these works of art are also symbols of ownership and therefore of oppression.
DeleteT., that't only true in your fevered imagination. You've been listening to the wrong people. Your life is not in danger.
DeleteMike,
DeleteGive that old saw a rest. Just because I say that I have use for a gun both as a potential defensive tool and as a means of hunting and predator control doesn't mean that I am a paranoid who sits around thinking I'm in constant danger.
You're the one who sounds foolish for trying to frame things that way.
I'm curious to know if Japete's husband has melted down his hunting rifles yet.
DeleteConsidering the recent Illinois Supreme Court decision, the right thing to do would be to return the guns to their rightful owners, if their only crime was possession outside the home. And of course, have their convictions under those laws expunged.
ReplyDeleteLooks like they are not storing them very securely. Shouldn't all of those guns be in a gun safe? I think Chicago should be sued for failure to secure those weapons. Don't they have a safe storage law in IL?
ReplyDeleteAnd if that place is guarded by Chicago cops and run by Chicago politicians, shouldn't we administer background checks and psychological evaluations and drug tests and home and bank account inspections on the people to make sure they aren't crooked?
DeleteGood question, Anonymous. They should at least be in a room with a Vault door, should they not? Otherwise, anyone who breaks into that warehouse can just pick up what he wants and run away.
DeleteIf MikeB has problems with a wooden box for storage, he definitely won't like a plastic bag.
DeleteLooking at this only proves there are to many guns in public and a high irresponsible use of guns among gun owners. If alcohol is confiscated due to an illegal use, should it be returned to the law breaker?
ReplyDeleteYour error there is in assuming that everyone who would receive the property in question is a criminal. Why not sell legal goods to law-abiding citizens?
DeleteAnon, If the law is found to be unconstitutional, then it really wasn't illegal use. In Illinois v. Aguilar, the conviction was reversed. So if property was taken as a result of the arrest, it should be returned, or he should be compensated.
DeleteIf the gun was involved in another crime, the it wouldn't be returned.
If, if , if , if , is worth shit
DeleteEven if most of those are junk guns, if they average $100 at an auction to FFLs that would yield $8 million, plus the cost savings of not going through the trouble to melt them down. Mike says the manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank, so why feed the industry you hate so much?
ReplyDeleteThink about the carbon too...
DeleteI'm stealing the carbon idea if that's ok with you.
DeleteTS, I feel nearly persuaded by your argument. Before agreeing to it though, the other ways in which guns flow right back into the criminal world would have to be stopped.
DeleteBut of course, Tennessean. Though it may fall on deaf ears. Even the greenies thought spending $3 billion melting down working cars was good for the environment.
DeleteOh, I figure it'll fall on deaf ears--I'm thinking more of using it for fun when a green, progressive is calling for destroying guns--call em a planet rapist.
DeleteNot gonna persuade them, but it should lead to a funny moment of slack jawed incredulity.
It's both amusing and sad to watch a person's brain do a hard reboot.
DeleteMikeb, surely you know by now that until you're willing to be reasonable, you'll get no deals from us.
I wonder if I could make an offer on the entire lot. I could make one hell of a gun store down here in Texas with that inventory. Largest gun store in Texas. Hmm,,, gotta make some calls! Thanks Mike! This is a heck of a tip!
ReplyDeleteThen I would have to find ammo to go with that inventory. First things first tho.
We prefer destroying firearms, or should I say, recycling them. Hopefully as fast as the monsters can manufacture them. No point throwing good money after bad, not to mention the utter waste of valuable metals. I don't see why it's that important to be able to kill people.
Delete" I don't see why it's that important to be able to kill people."
DeleteIf there was a nonlethal method that could stop an attack as reliably as a firearm, I'd certainly be open to looking at it. However it would have to be reliable enough that the police were willing to switch over to it to replace their handguns. Currently, they keep the gun as a backup when the situation calls for a Taser.
These are very interesting comments. Apparently this is a type of pornography to the true gun lovers. Personally, I prefer bicycle pornography. Remember, time spent at the range is time you could have been riding your bike.
ReplyDeleteIt made me remember when the San Diego Municipal Court allowed a deputy to show us ten-year-olds on a field trip the evidence room at the downtown courthouse. I saw some REAL PURPLE HAZE! By the time I was old enough, it was purple microdot/barrel.
Too bad kids today can't get LSD.
Word to the wise, Junior: Remember, time spent riding your bike is time spent potentially getting testicular torsion.
DeleteThanks Flying Junior for the trip down memory lane.
DeleteJunior, the inventor of LSD rode his bicycle home from his lab in Switzerland after accidentally dosing himself. It was an interesting ride, according to his account.
DeleteBut some of us are able to do more than one thing with our free time. I ride for exercise, and I go to the range for practice. I consider both to be a gain.