Saving big bucks with a bang: will 100 surplus police handguns be traded in by July 1?

A debate about what to do with 33 surplus police shotguns is ongoing in Falmouth.

Now, a decision to either destroy or trade in 100 surplus police handguns will also need to be made before July 1, according to Falmouth Police Chief Jeffrey Lourie.

"There will be a substantial savings if we trade in these handguns," said Lourie. "But if I have to replace all of our sidearms — that's a lot of weapons."

What to do with surplus police guns has been on the public's radar since 2022 when Falmouth police traded in semi-automatic weapons to a Hyannis gun dealer as part of a purchase deal for more semi-automatic weapons.

Most recently, gun safety advocates, including the Falmouth Gun Safety Coalition, have pushed to have the 33 12-gauge police shotguns destroyed, despite having a trade-in value of $4,100.

"I'm hoping the town doesn't say to me 'OK, find that money in your budget,'" Lourie said. "Because that's money we are planning to use in another project. I don't think that's right."

Ultimately, the decision to trade in the guns or destroy them falls on Town Manager Mike Renshaw who is exploring financial options to help offset any trade-in loss.

"As a department head, I need to understand the rules of engagement on future purchases," Lourie said. "When I'm going to the Capital (Falmouth Finance) Committee, I need to be able to ask for extra money the police department will need because of a loss of trade-in value."

Handgun destruction could triple shotgun trade-in value

Lourie doesn't have a precise estimate of how much the trade-in loss will be if the surplus handguns are destroyed, but it could be as much as $15,000, he said. The department has 67 officers, plus command staff and detectives who have more than one sidearm that needs to be replaced, Lourie said.

Lourie has two handguns assigned to him, he said — a smaller subcompact and a full sized handgun that attaches to his duty belt.

According to Falmouth Detective James Porter, the handguns in question were replaced in 2010. Police aren’t required to replace department-issued pistols within a certain number of years, but the industry standard is about 10 years, he said.

“We have replaced the manufacturer recommended replacement parts inside our pistols,” said Porter.  “But they (handguns) are at end-of-life now.”

Currently, Falmouth is the only town on the Cape that's considering the destruction of surplus police weapons, said Safety Coalition President Nan Logan during a Feb. 12 Select Board meeting. In 2015, Honolulu police in Hawaii melted surplus weapons ahead of the purchase of new handguns, said Logan.

Before that action, Honolulu police officers sold retired guns to officers and staff for personal use. In Falmouth, said Lourie, that's been a common practice.

"When we trade our weapons in, officers have the ability to purchase their sidearm. Will that change? That's another question," said Lourie.

Handguns in mass shootings

Between 1996 and 2020, data compiled by The Violence Prevention Project showed that 77% of individuals who engaged in mass shootings used handguns, compared to 25.1% who used assault rifles.

That doesn't mean surplus police weapons are being used in the commission of these crimes, said Giffords Center for Violence Intervention Policy Director Lindsay Nichols.

"That kind of trace data isn’t generally available to the public because Congress has, for years, restricted its disclosure," said Nichols.

The Tiahrt Amendments, named for their sponsor former U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas, which were adopted in 2003, prohibit the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from releasing firearm trace data, said Nichols. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, Tiahrt Amendments require the Federal Bureau of Investigation to destroy all approved gun purchaser records within 24 hours, and prohibit the alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives bureau from requiring gun dealers to submit inventories to law enforcement.

In Lourie's experience, most gun owners are responsible. But "anything is possible," he said.

"But, what's probable? If someone wants to buy a shotgun they're going to purchase one," he said. "Whether it's one of these that we trade in or it's one that's on the market now that's been used in a crime or it's been stolen."

Massachusetts gun laws

Massachusetts has very strong gun laws in terms of who can buy a gun, said Nichols.

"Massachusetts is relatively unusual in that respect," she said. State residents need to obtain a license, and undergo thorough background checks to make sure buyers aren't dangerous, said Nichols.

"If a police agency is going through all the same requirements that any other gun seller would go through to make sure the appropriate individuals can have access to guns, they are going through a lot more than most police agencies go through in most places in the country," she said.

During the Obama administration the background check system was changed so law enforcement agencies could have access to the system if they, themselves, are transferring guns, said Nichols.

"Law enforcement agencies can run background checks," she said. "I don't know whether they are actually doing that. There's no requirements that they do so on a national scale."

What is the phenomenon of police surplus trade-in weapons?

The phenomenon of trade-ins was most pronounced in the 1980s and 1990s when a majority of United States police departments were transitioning from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols, said Paul Barrett, author of "Glock: the rise of America's Gun."

Pistols, said Barrett, were seen as preferable because of larger ammunition capacity and ease of use. At the time, Glock transformed itself from being a small, obscure Austrian-based ammunitions company to a gun market leader by systematically offering police departments financially appealing trade-in deals.

"Police departments had to pay little or nothing to swap old revolvers for new Glock pistols," said Barrett, who is also the deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Glock took the surplus guns and sold them to wholesalers, who refurbished them and resold them on the retail market. Some of those guns turned up at crime scenes.

"That was embarrassing to police departments and was an illustration of the counterintuitive ways that the gun market works in this country," said Barrett

Hot topic gun re-sale

Nichols said she hasn't seen a ton of pushback about police surplus weapons across the nation. There are a substantial number of bills and actions in state legislatures requiring advocating for the destruction of weapons confiscated by police, she said.

"The key question is whether the weapons being sold are ending up in the wrong hands," she said.

Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Falmouth debates fate of surplus police handguns, shotguns