As columnists like David Sirota explore the issue of why gun-rights advocates are bringing their best steel to town hall meetings on health reform, officials in Colorado Springs want to sell the guns they confiscate from criminal suspects rather than melt them down, despite local police objections to the plan. The International Association of Chiefs of Police aren’t keen on such ideas either, writes The Los Angeles Times.

But Colorado Springs is struggling financially, and doing business with licensed dealers could help its bottom line. As Vice Mayor Larry Small says, “Every penny counts.”

The plan, which is expected to be approved in coming weeks, will probably generate just $10,000 annually—a mere fraction of the city’s $200 million budget. Police, who object to the plan, have already stopped melting down guns, including ones given to them by citizens who say they don’t want to own a gun anymore.

It’s not hard to suppose that Bill Leavel, a longtime professor of political science at the University of Denver and former Colorado Democratic Party chairman, would question the concept. Leavel, who marched against guns following the Columbine killings, died late last month in Wilton Manors, Florida, at the age of 82, The Denver Post reported over the weekend.