Spokane City Council members are considering a proposal that would put an end to sales of rifles seized by police or abandoned by their owners.
Washington's second-largest city already prohibits handguns seized or abandoned from being sold. But it still allows rifles to be sold by licensed firearms dealers. Some council members want this halted, too, in an effort to increase safety.
Police would be required to destroy rifles and shotguns that have been seized or abandoned rather than selling them to firearms dealers under a proposal being considered by the Spokane City Council.
The Spokane Police Department has sold 311 rifles and destroyed 1,245 handguns or illegal firearms since 2011, police spokeswoman Teresa Fuller said. The city has already prohibited the police department from selling handguns. All other firearms are sold to licensed dealers through a Post Falls auction company. The department currently has 56 guns pending auction.
City Councilor Candace Mumm is sponsoring the new local law. She acknowledged that destroying rifles would result in lost revenue, but reducing the availability of firearms was worth the price, she said.
According to the story, in seven years only three rifles sold to the public were "assault" rifles.
