What happens to guns seized by Minneapolis police?

Thousands of guns seized by New York City cops are destroyed and recycled as pipes, fences or appliances, among other purposes, reports the New York Times. It turns out that guns taken into police custody right here meet a similar fate, according to Sgt. Bill Palmer of the Minneapolis Police Department — unless, of course, they were used in a crime. “Firearms that are evidence in a case are held until the case is over,” he explained via e-mail.

From Jan. 1 through May 18, MPD collected 333 guns: 256 handguns, 36 shotguns, and 41 rifles. Many of those no longer needed as evidence will end up in the hands of an undisclosed Minnesota company that melts them down at no cost to the city. That metal is then transformed into rebar for building projects.

Last year, 517 guns in Minneapolis met that fate, but nearly 300 landed elsewhere: Some were reunited with their proper owners — that is, on the condition of approval through a background check, according to Palmer — while others went to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to be kept for reference. Still others remain at MPD for use in the department’s crime lab library, at its firing range or out on the street with SWAT teams.