Falmouth residents want to ban police from selling old guns
By Mike Sullivan, WBZ-TV
FALMOUTH - A move by the Falmouth Police Department to get a cheaper deal on new guns has residents pushing for a new town bylaw.
In May, the department agreed to buy 38 assault rifles from Powder Horn Outfitters in Hyannis. The purchase would have cost FPD $30,275. To save money, they agreed to trade 21 guns to the shop, netting them an $11,175 credit toward the purchase. Twenty of those guns are AR-15s.
"The Police Department had expected to move forward. I don't think they anticipated interference from the Select Board on the original purchase," explains Doug Brown, a Falmouth Select Board Member. "It really was done in the best case of the town financially. They got the best value, and a competitive deal with the best bid on trade in and value on guns to suit their needs."
A petition formed to block the sale, leading the Falmouth Select Board to create policy forcing those guns to either be destroyed or sold only to law enforcement. Now months later, residents say that isn't enough. They are returning to the Select Board Monday night to ask for a stricter policy called Article 13.
"Article 13 would be changing the bylaws so that when guns are no longer of use to the Falmouth Police Department that they would then be destroyed," said Reverend Deborah Warner before discussing the prior policy.
"They could be sold to law enforcement, but there is no guarantee that the law enforcement couldn't then in turn sell them out of state, and they be used by any civilian," Warner said. "The intention is not to take away assault rifles from individuals who own them, it is however to take them out of circulation once they are no longer of use to this local police department."
A vote by the select board is expected Monday night. Brown expects a vote to pass. If it does pass, the vote will have no effect on the prior purchase and exchange between FPD and Powder Horn Outfitters.
