Josh Hafner

USA TODAY

Thousands of guns, bundled like sticks, poured from the backs of dump trucks and clanged against the asphalt at Gerdau Steel Mill in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., last Thursday.

Eventually, a small mountain of weapons formed—more than 7,000 in all. And then they were melted.

The resulting metal, nearly 10 tons, would become steel rebar used to upgrade public roads and bridges in California, Arizona and Nebraska, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The guns, confiscated in criminal investigations or court proceedings, were unable to be returned or sold. And so, according to California Penal Code, they had to be destroyed.

“Today, over 7,000 firearms will be translated from their potential of destruction into the certainty of construction,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell said in a statement.

“These weapons which were used to harm, take away life, and effectively destroy happiness, families and communities, will be converted into something positive and beneficial.”

Thursday marked the department’s 23rd “gun melt,” an annual tradition in which a mill renders heaps of guns into molten metal. This year, four other law enforcement agencies in the county joined the department in the destruction.

All of the destroyed guns were deemed unfit for public sale. Some, such as MAC-10 machine pistols, were illegal to in California. Some were made illegal by sawed-off barrels or scratched-off serial numbers. Still others, tainted by crime, were rejected.

"Usually, it's the weapons where they don’t want to be taken back by the victim’s or suspect's family," said Sgt. Bob Boese. “We’ve got to give them back to the rightful owner or they get melted.”

When the department posted about the event on Facebook, some commenters expressed sadness or outrage at the destruction of the devices used by criminals to bring injury and death. (“What a shame,” one commenter wrote.)

Boese stressed that guns were not eligible for public sale.

"They’re crime guns, weapons used in the commission of crimes with obliterated serial numbers,” he said.

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