LOS ANGELES, July 25 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shared video of 7,044 confiscated guns being melted down to make steel reinforcing bar.

The annual event, overseen by Sheriff Jim McDonnell, saw 7,044 confiscated guns -- totaling 19,840 pounds -- being melted down to make rebar for construction use including freeway and bridge upgrades in California, Nevada and Arizona.


The guns melted Thursday were destroyed in compliance with California Penal Code 18005(c), which calls for the destruction of weapons that can't legally be returned to their owners or sold to the public.

"For the second year in a row, I have the privilege of overseeing our annual gun destruction event," McDonnell said. "Today, over 7,000 firearms will be translated from their potential of destruction into the certainty of construction. 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."

The destroyed weapons were confiscated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Superior Court, the El Monte Police Department, the Beverly Hills Police Department and the Compton Police Department.