New Spokane law targets some gun sales

SPOKANE — 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.

Fuller said she did not know what types of weapons the police department sold during auctions and how many of them were obtained, but The Associated Press has reported that three of the weapons sold since 2011 were assault rifles.

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. Citing an Associated Press investigation from January that found more than a dozen weapons sold by police in Washington became evidence in new investigations, Mumm said she was concerned that some of the firearms sold to dealers could still be used to commit crimes again.

The new ordinance would require police to destroy all types of guns that are obtained through investigations or forfeited for any other reason. It exempts antique firearms or guns police obtained before 1993.