Glanz says guns may not have to be returned

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The Tulsa County sheriff says retired deputies may not have to return their handguns after all. <br><br>Sheriff Stanley Glanz sent letters last week to about 15 former deputies who

Thursday, April 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The Tulsa County sheriff says retired deputies may not have to return their handguns after all.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz sent letters last week to about 15 former deputies who had been allowed to keep their guns after retiring from the Sheriff's Office. A policy had allowed deputies who retire with 12 years of service to keep their weapons.

But Glanz's letter told the deputies that county commissioners had "denied your request to retain your firearm" if a deputy had retired before age 62 or before having accumulated 80 retirement points.

Glanz said he sent the letters after an inventory resolution was taken off a commissioners' meeting agenda in December. The sheriff now says he will resubmit an inventory resolution to commissioners.

"If that's approved, I won't have to ask the retirees to turn in their weapons," Glanz said Wednesday.

However, Commissioner John Selph said they had nothing to do with the firearms recall.

"This issue of their firearms has never been questioned by the board," Selph wrote to Glanz. "Your decision to give these deputies the firearms was yours and yours alone."