With no fanfare, the Philadelphia Police Department has halted the controversial practice of re-selling its older guns back into public circulation as it buys new ones, and is now likely to melt down any outdated weapons.

The new policy came to light only after the Republican mayoral candidate, Sam Katz, wrote Mayor Rendell yesterday seeking a halt to the practice.

Such resales by police departments are common across America, but gained bad publicity when Los Angeles day-care center shooter Buford Furrow allegedly used a former police gun to kill a postal worker.

"The relatively small amounts of money received by the city would be better left uncollected if it meant that even one fewer person were injured as a result of handgun violence," Katz wrote in his letter to Rendell.

But city officials said the practice was halted here after a sale in January.

John Gallagher, the spokesman for Police Commissioner John Timoney, said that a few weeks ago Timoney had been made aware of an in-house request to sell some automatic weapons that were being replaced, and the commissioner said he wanted the process stopped.

"We don't think it's a good idea," Gallagher said of the practice of selling hundreds of guns to dealers who can then re-sell them to the general public.

It appears that police gun resales were not common in Philadelphia. The largest recent sale took place in May 1997, when the Police Department sold 195 older guns and took in some $21,000. Smaller gun sales occurred in November 1998 and last January, according to Kevin Feeley, spokesman for Mayor Rendell.

"When it was brought to the mayor's attention he and Commissioner Timoney discussed it and both quickly agreed that the practice should be stopped," Feeley said.

Even though the practice was rare, candidate Katz said in his letter that the halt would be an important symbolic move.

"It is time for the city of Philadelphia to stop selling guns that can easily become the instruments of crime," the GOP mayoral hopeful said. "If we are serious about ending gun violence, we must stop putting used guns back out on the street."

Rendell has been a strong advocate of gun control, and he was one of the first mayors to suggest that cities sue gun manufacturers, although Philadelphia has not yet filed such a suit. The mayor has also worked with the National Rifle Association on a pilot program to enforce existing laws.

Katz's letter capped an active week for the Republican candidate during what is normally a slow season for politics. Since Aug. 13, the financial consultant has proposed that the city create an Office of Child Care and consider selling the Philadelphia Gas Works. He toured the site of sinking homes in Logan with City Councilwoman Marian Tasco.

His leading opponent in November, Democrat and former City Council chief John Street, won an endorsement this week from the AFL-CIO, but he is planning to spend next week mostly on vacation.