The anti-gun politics of Honolulu’s city government are proving incredibly expensive for the city’s taxpayers:

Second Amendment advocates are firing away at a decision by Honolulu officials to destroy $575,000 worth of perfectly good handguns in a move one critic called the “height of anti-gun stupidity.”

Some 2,300 Smith & Wesson 9 mm handguns, including at least 200 that are brand-new and in unopened boxes, were issued to the city’s police department. But with the 2,200-member force upgrading to lighter and less expensive Glock 17s, the guns were set to be permanently holstered. While it is customary throughout the country for departments to auction the guns to law-abiding citizens, including the police who once carried them, or donate them to another department, Honolulu opted to destroy them.

“Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the Honolulu Police Department agreed that they would not allow the guns to be sold to the general public and end up on the streets of Honolulu,” Honolulu Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu told FoxNews.com. “The same goes for selling the individual gun parts that could have been used to assemble a gun.”

Selling the guns, with mandatory background checks to ensure they were only purchased by legal owners, could have netted the city $575,000, according to Hawaii News Now. Several police officers reportedly were interested in buying old service weapons for personal use, and the department has previously sold phased-out weapons to its staff, but this time opted to melt them down two weeks ago.

The cit government clearly has a very low opinion of the city’s taxpayers. They also apparently lied when they claimed that other agencies were not interested in the police trade-ins, as other Hawaiian agencies are reporting that Honolulu made to effort to contact them to see of they might be able to use the Smith & Wesson pistols, some of which had never been issued and were in new condition.

If I were a resident of Honolulu, I’d be looking to make the city regret the wasted money, starting with taking $575,000 out of of the city’s payroll for the government officials that were responsible for this decision.

Crime may not pay, but fiscally irresponsible, ideology-blinded politicians certainly should.