More than a dozen law enforcement agencies have stopped reselling their used guns or pledged to reconsider the practice after an investigation by The Trace, CBS News, and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. The story reported that more than 52,000 former police guns had resurfaced in robberies, domestic violence incidents, homicides, and other crimes between 2006 and 2022. Many of the guns found their way into civilian hands after agencies traded them to retailers for discounts on new equipment or resold them to their own officers. In January, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives warned law enforcement against reselling guns because of the frequency with which former police weapons are used in violent crimes.
The Trace and CBS News asked 60 law enforcement agencies with a history of reselling guns to ask whether they had changed their policies. Twenty-one departments responded. Four — the Cincinnati, Columbus, and Sacramento police departments, as well as the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office in New Jersey — confirmed they had stopped reselling weapons after last year’s investigation. The investigation prompted the Indianapolis and Minneapolis police departments to discontinue gun resales. Seven more agencies said they’d review their policies in light of the ATF’s recommendation. They are the Wisconsin State Patrol, the New York State Police, the Newark Police Department, the sheriff’s offices in California’s San Diego and Orange counties, the Colorado State Patrol, and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. Police forces resell weapons because gun stores offer trade-in value, allowing departments to offset the cost of equipment upgrades and, authorities have argued, save taxpayer money. Agencies that choose to dispose of the guns not only forfeit the trade-in value but must also pay a company to destroy them. Several agencies cited budgetary concerns as their reason for continuing to resell guns.
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