MSP announce new firearm disposal method

SOUTHFIELD — The Michigan State Police announced that beginning this month, they will utilize a scrap metal processing facility in Jackson to dispose of firearms in alignment with state laws that require that all guns from buybacks and crime scenes, and outdated law enforcement weapons, be turned in to the Michigan State Police for proper disposal.

According to End Gun Violence Michigan, this amounts to more than 10,000 firearms per year. The State Police will transport all firearms to the facility, where they will be completely destroyed using an industrial pulverizer.

In January, the MSP temporarily paused the disposal of firearms after it was revealed in a New York Times investigation that the state’s former disposal company, GunBusters, a Missouri-based gun disposal company, would take the guns for free but only destroyed parts of the guns and then resold the other parts.

Under the new procedure, the MSP will accrue additional staff costs due to the transport and record-keeping requirements, but they will not be charged for the use of the pulverizer. The pulverized metal will then be melted down and recycled into flat-roll steel coils.

Father Chris Yaw, the rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield, has hosted multiple gun buybacks in partnership with the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and the Southfield Police Department.

“Kudos to State Police Director Col. Grady and the Michigan State Police for taking this step,” Yaw stated in a press release. “As a community member who’s collected hundreds of unwanted guns from the public, the ability to completely destroy guns and not just recycle them, is great news for us, our donors, and our state.”