eli5 why would you want to get rid of the weapon used in a crime?

Question

For example if you use a gun to kill someone how could the bullet possibly be linked to you thousands of guns use the same caliber or a knife even though you would feel terrible looking at the knife wouldn’t it make more sense to just clean it and continue to keep the knife in your home so it make sense that your dna is on it? in movies people always feel the need to get rid of the weapons but i think it would make more sense to keep it unless there’s something i’m missing

In: 0

Answer 1

I think the simplest answer is that it is harder to link you to a gun found at a crime scene than it is to match a gun in your possession to a crime scene. It’s easier to wipe fingerprints off a gun than it is to wipe the “gun’s fingerprint”.