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Police-Duty Weapons Sold, Then Recovered From Crime Scenes

Crime and Justice News

According to data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, at least 52,529 police guns have turned up at crime scenes since 2006. ATF data shows that between 2006 and 2021, the number of crime guns traced to law enforcement agencies each year more than doubled, from about 2,200 to more than 4,500. The data comes from  the Trace , which reviewed records from hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the United States in partnership with CBS News and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.


On average, more than 3,200 duty weapons were recovered at crime scenes annually over the 16-year period. Records detailing some of the traces conducted between 2013 and 2017 indicate that the guns previously belonged to more than 800 different agencies, ranging from rural sheriff’s offices to police departments in the country’s largest cities. Scot Thomasson, a former ATF division chief who is now a consultant for SafeGunLock, a District of Columbia-based company, believes police departments that resell weapons are violating their obligation to protect the public. “Taxpayers are buying firearms that are then resold for pennies on the dollar and ultimately ending up in criminals’ hands,” Thomasson said. “It is absolutely ridiculous.”

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A daily report co-sponsored by Arizona State University, Criminal Justice Journalists, and the National Criminal Justice Association

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