Hawaii County Police Exhibit Common Sense on New Guns

In 2015, the Honolulu Police Department destroyed over a half a million dollars worth of pistols for no apparent reason.  The Hawaii Police Department has sown that it is much smarter, and serves its constituency much better.  As with the Honolulu department, the Hawaii Department is in need of upgrading from its current 5906 Smith & Wesson stainless steel auto pistols.  The Hawaii department has decided to convert to 9 mm Glocks, a popular choice all over the world.  From westhawaiitoday.com:

The guns will first go to the recruits, who will learn on the new Glocks right from the get-go, Shopay said. More experienced officers will get them as the old guns continue to wear down and get phased out.

County Purchasing Agent Jeffrey Dansdill made sure there were several places to buy the guns from, rather than having to go with a sole-source contract. Instead, the gun purchase can go out to bid.

“Are there multiple vendors we can purchase from?” he asked.

He was told there are three West Coast mainland sources for the handguns, all who offer rebates.

Unlike the Honolulu Police Department, the Hawaii County department plans to turn in the old Smith & Wessons to the dealer for a rebate. That should earn about $90,000, Shopay said.

The Honolulu Police Department incurred public criticism last year when it opted to destroy more than 2,300 guns, potentially losing $500,000, according to Hawaii News Now.

By putting the used pistols back into the market place, the demand for new guns will be reduced, thus putting money that would have gone to gun manufacturers into the pockets of Hawaii taxpayers. 


There is no shortage of pistol manufacturers.  If guns are sold to police or gun dealers, they will be directly competing with other pistols, in exactly the same legal channels as newly manufactured guns.  The pistols that are used for parts will make old guns more competitive with new guns, performing the same function. 

In a time when public resources are limited, conserving them is simply common sense.  Wasting them is foolish.

The Hawaii Police Department deserves credit for using public resources wisely.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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