Gun Buy in Orlando

From the Castle Argghhh!

Not what I'd call a smart article, and again, the guns turned in would have brought a good amount of cash from a pawn shop or were obviously stolen.

Orlando emptied its bureau drawers and closets Friday of more than 300 unwanted guns -- and what was initially thought to be a surface-to-air missle launcher.

Unwanted, you bet. It wasn't a SAM but a MANPADS. A commentor at this site says it's really a expended TOW. [TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) missile] Must have made it an exciting day.

Traded for sneakers or $50 gift certificates, the guns that filled boxes at the Pine Castle Woman's Center on South Orange Avenue would never reach the hands of criminals.

A portable crime scene

And each gun came with a story never to be told.

"No questions asked, right?" asked one man, who questioned the promise of anonymity for everyone turning in a gun.

"Absolutely," said deputies, who described the fellow as looking like an old biker.

Moments later, he returned with a plastic bag and extracted what deputies described as a portable crime scene worth a five-year mandatory minimum sentence in federal prison. The homemade, 40-shot assault pistol turned out to be a cut-down rifle with an illegal short barrel.

"That would scare the pants off you," Rollins said.

Deputies in Pine Castle and Orlando police officers working at a second exchange outside the Citrus Bowl checked each gun against state and federal lists to find out whether it had been reported stolen.

At least four turned in at the Citrus Bowl were hot guns because police say the serial numbers had been filed off in violation of federal law.

Many could not be traced because they were made before 1968, when serial numbers became mandatory for new firearms sold in the U.S.

An unblemished 1903 .32-caliber Colt pistol caught the eye of a knowledgeable deputy who checked the Internet and found it was worth about $1,400.

Great. The criminals dumped their crime weapons, and the stupid through away collectors items that they could have made decent money on.

But no criminals will be getting their hands on, oh, wait. They're the ones turning them in.