Posted on 04/10/2024 9:21:28 AM PDT by algore
DALLAS – Thousands of guns sent off by North Texas local law enforcement agencies to be destroyed were first stripped of parts that were then sold online by a private company.
Several police departments told the CBS News Texas I-Team they were unaware of this practice, even though it was stated in the contracts they signed with the company
While the federal government does not regulate or require a license for businesses involved in firearm destruction, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recommends disposing firearms by destroying the entire weapon including all unregulated parts.
An investigation by the CBS News Texas I-Team found in the past five years, 15 North Texas law enforcement agencies have contracted with the Louisiana-based company to dispose of their unwanted guns. Since 2019, these North Texas police and sheriff departments have sent Gulf Coast GunBusters more than 2,600 guns.
Law enforcement agencies often accumulate a stockpile of firearms that need proper disposal.
Gulf Coast GunBusters provides free firearm destruction services for law enforcement. However, before destroying the guns, the company strips the firearm for parts and destroys only the gun receiver.
Subsequently, the remaining parts are sold through an online gun broker, where they are marketed as gun repair kits. These kits can be sold without a background check.
According to federal law, the receiver is considered the actual gun so by destroying this one part that bears a serial number, the firearm is considered destroyed.
In contracts signed by local police chiefs, GunBusters outlines how it will sell salvaged parts and scrap metals. The I-Team found these contracts received little scrutiny when they were signed.
Seven North Texas police agencies told the I-Team that they recently stopped using the service when they learned parts were being resold as gun kits.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Go Green!
Reduce, reuse, recycle!
Waste not want not!
I love it. Don’t “sell back” for a Walmart gift card! RECYCLE!
so why is this news? what is the big deal?
Stopped right there. ATF recommendations would be the same as KGB recommendations.
Brilliant.
5.56mm
Leftist imbeciles want to punish the firearms, but not the criminals who misused them. So by all means tie the guilty weapons to the whipping post for a good flogging, give them some counselling, then sell them intact.
Destroying firearms with residual value is idiotic. Stripping and selling parts helps offset the costs of disposal. Not sure who would find this problematic.
That’s where I grew up and live, now.
Parts...
This is some leftist BS story, like when they claim 5 guns and a thousand rounds is an “arsenal”.
The ATF recommends (or straight out lies about) a lot of things that are not legally required. People simply comply because they are afraid and do not know their rights. This story should have been quashed when the reporter learned there is nothing illegal about selling unregulated gun parts. Well, unless of course there is a leftist agenda at play.
Another example of ATF “recommended” actions are notifying them of an intrastate move if you have SBRs. Nothing legally requires you to tell the ATF you’ve moved to a different address in the same state if you have an SBR. But their Form 4 wording is carefully chosen to imply such an obligation. The ATF doesn’t enforce law, they make crap up and try to trick people into waiving their rights.
Bingo!
The receiver is the gun....according to the ATF.
I have to agree. The receiver is the gun. The rest is just parts.
I love it. Make stupid law that treats one part as “the gun” trying to quash gun ownership; live with the consequences thereof.
Free enterprize, no Spok.
I read about it online somewhere. Seems you can print a lower and then order the upper and trigger "parts" kits. I suppose that will be illegal someday, too.
Yes, they use the legally-ambiguous term, “shall inform.”
I live close enough to Dallas to get local Dallas news networks, and when I saw the promo for this report I laughed out loud.
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