What should America do with its unwanted guns?

At steel mills around the country, the answer is simple: Throw them into a giant caldron, heat them up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and liquefy them into an orange ooze.

For years, firearms at these so-called gun melts have served as an inexpensive supply of scrap metal that can be turned into bars of high-grade steel and later used as components in mining, construction and energy projects.

And as recent shootings have put gun control into the headlines, interest in gun melts is increasing at some mills.