From Reason.com:
In the course of their duties, Chicago police come into possession of all sorts of contraband: jewelry, video games, bicycles, cars. They sell the stuff through online auctions that are open to the public. They also confiscate some 10,000 firearms each year, with an estimated value of $2 million. They sell them and put the $2 million through a shredder.
Just kidding. It would be insane to shred large stacks of perfectly good money. What they actually do is destroy the guns. That way, there’s no money to destroy.
As Chapman points out, there’s no reason at all to think that destroying the seized guns would do anything to help prevent crime. But I suppose it makes some people feel good. Thanks to InstaPundit for the pointer.