Carpentersville board votes to sell surplus police guns
Carpentersville trustees Tuesday night thwarted Village President Bill Sarto's attempt to block a previous board decision to sell dozens of surplus guns belonging to the village's police department.
After hearing an impassioned veto message from Sarto to reconsider the sale, and with no discussion, trustees voted 5-1 to sell the guns, rather than destroy them.
Village officials estimated the guns would net the village about $3,000 in revenue.
In outlining his reasons for the veto, Sarto said using the guns as a source of revenue contradicts the village's mission.
"It is my belief that we should not take the chance that any of these weapons will end up in the wrong hands," Sarto said. "It is our responsibility to provide a safe and secure community. It is our responsibility to make sure that we do all that we can to protect the lives of our residents and our police officers. In fact, to do less is to violate our own mission statement."
The village board at its previous meeting approved a resolution by a 4-3 vote authorizing the sale of 30 guns that the police department had either acquired through buyback programs or were former department-issued weapons.
Trustee Keith Hinz, who initially voted against the gun sale, said he now supported the sale because it could benefit another police department or municipality.
The cache includes more than 20 Smith and Wesson handguns, as well as a .22-caliber rifle and two .12-gauge shotguns.
Though trustees did not discuss the vote Tuesday night, those in favor had said the village needs to make use of all forms of revenue.
Sarto, however, argued the amount of money is not worth the risk of putting the weapons back on the street.
"Any monetary gain from these guns should not even be part of the discussion," Sarto said in his statement. "What we do with these guns should not be tied at all to money. After all, what is the price of a life? What is the price of the life of one of your loved ones worth? That is what should be considered."