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Turned-in guns had little value Recently you ran an article concerning weapons destroyed by the Medford Police Department � over 400 units, if my memory serves me correctly. Why were the guns destroyed and rendered scrap metal when they could have been sold to a firm that specializes in gun parts? The city paid a salary to a policeman to cut them up with a torch when they could have been sold and the funds turned over to the city to be used for a worthy cause. � Richard L., Medford We�ll give you the philosophical answer first, Richard. Ceasefire Oregon, the Portland nonprofit group that helps organize events like the one in Medford, collects guns and then destroys them specifically so they won�t be in circulation any longer. Selling the parts just isn�t part of the deal. But there are practical reasons not to handle them that way as well, said Medford police Sgt. Roy Skinner. The guns generally weren�t of good quality, and fewer than 10 percent had value, he said. Skinner figures those guns would have been worth about 20 percent of their value wholesale. And he doesn�t think the department could have sold anything in parts. The department would have had to pay someone to develop records on the guns and to work out deals with buyers. In the long run, Skinner said, that would have cost more than paying an officer to cut up the guns with the torch. ("Since You Asked'' is a daily feature in the Mail Tribune that answers questions from readers on virtually any topic of general interest. To submit a question, e-mail us at [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification. If you have specific questions about our Web site or other questions about the Mail Tribune, please send them to [email protected] ) Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA