ST. CHARLES, Ill., May 31 (UPI) -- A police department in the Chicago suburbs said some of the guns obtained from a buyback program will be sold to a pair of licensed dealers.

St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin said about 20 firearms obtained through a gun buyback program and seized by courts will be sold to the dealers, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.


"There's value in these guns," Lamkin said. "They're not illegal guns. Quite honestly, it's a bottom line for us."

Most other area departments, including the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois State Police, destroy the guns obtained through buybacks.

"There are individuals who will say, why not simply destroy them?" St. Charles Mayor Raymond Rogina said. "But when that happens, there will be someone saying that's taxpayer dollars [at stake] and you're throwing it away."