The mayors of Salt Lake City, Chicago, Phoenix and Denver challenged other cities Thursday to quit reselling the guns that their police departments seize from criminals.
"In the past, we had an annual gun auction," Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini told a press conference at the convention of the U.S. Conference of Mayors."But we decided that last year's gun auction would be the last that would ever be held."
Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson said, "Cities shouldn't be in the business of turning around and reselling guns, but they are."
He said that while Phoenix recently also banned the resale of confiscated guns, it found that 100 other cities from across the nation were reselling guns legally within Arizona - and often at bargain-basement prices.
"They range from AK-47s to `street-sweepers,' " which can quickly fire up to 30 shotgun shells, he said.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said his city decided to melt down all guns it confiscated 15 years ago. "In our city of 3 million people, we seize about 23,000 guns a year and destroy them."
He added on behalf of Corradini, Johnson and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, "We urge that federal, local and state governments, when they seize a gun, to eventually destroy that gun."
The mayors also called on the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to help cities more in their battle against guns.
Daley complained that while local ordinances ban the sale of any gun in Chicago, the ATF has still issued thousands of federal firearms dealership licenses in the city and has not provided a list of them to Chicago police or other interest community groups.
Corradini said, "We support an amendment (proposed by Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., to crime bills in Congress) to force federal licensees to meet all state and local requirements."
Corradini also said that a review of the federal firearms dealers in Salt Lake City shows "70 percent of them do not even have city business licenses . . . and we are about ready to take control of that ourselves."
Corradini complained that only 20 percent of federally licensed firearms dealers actually work out of storefronts - and said priority should be given to putting out of business much of the rest of the 80 percent that work out of cars or apartments who may be supplying guns for criminal use.