May 23rd 2024.
New data has recently come to light, revealing a shocking number of guns used in violent crimes that originated from police departments. The data, gathered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has shown that since 2006, over 52,000 guns from law enforcement agencies have been used in various violent offenses. While some of these guns were lost or stolen, an alarming number of them were intentionally put back into the market by the same agencies that are meant to protect and serve the public.
Hundreds of law enforcement agencies across state lines were surveyed, and the results showed that many of these guns were resold or traded in, ultimately ending up in the hands of criminals. Some agencies sold guns to dealers at discounted rates for new equipment, while others sold them directly to their own officers. These guns were later used in shootings, domestic violence incidents, and other crimes. One tragic case involved the death of 19-year-old Cameron Brown, who was shot and killed outside his apartment in Indianapolis in 2021. The gun used in his murder was traced back to a sheriff's deputy in California, over 2,000 miles away.
In another instance in the same city, a loaded Iowa State Patrol pistol was seized from a man who was arrested for choking a woman. The gun was later discovered to have been sold by state police in Kentucky to a retiring detective, and ended up in Buffalo, New York, where it was found with heroin and a bulletproof vest in 2019. Data from state and local law enforcement agencies revealed that 145 of them admitted to reselling guns at least once between 2006 and 2024, which accounts for 90% of the 160 agencies that responded.
Scot Thomasson, a former division chief at the ATF, believes that police departments who resell guns are not living up to their promise to protect and serve the public. He stated that taxpayers are essentially buying firearms that are then resold for a fraction of their original cost, ultimately ending up in the hands of criminals. Thomasson, who now works as a consultant for SafeGunLock, called the situation "ridiculous."
The data also highlights several departments in Tennessee, including the Metro Police in Nashville and various sheriff's offices, where guns have been traced to crime scenes. In California, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse of Stanislaus County sees the issue differently, stating that if a legally sold patrol car is used in a crime, it is not the responsibility of the department. Some departments have even resold guns while holding buyback events, which are meant to get guns off the streets. For example, the Philadelphia City Council boasted about collecting 825 guns during their buyback program since 2021, yet records show that the police department has resold at least 886 guns in the past 20 years, including 85 firearms between 2021 and 2022.
In 2021, the Newark Police Department in New Jersey held a buyback event where they offered up to $250 for each firearm turned in, resulting in 146 guns being collected. While the city's public safety director praised the event for taking guns off the streets and reducing gun violence, records show that the same department had previously resold close to 1,000 guns, one of which was eventually seized from a convicted felon in Pittsburgh who had used it to shoot off more than a dozen rounds in a neighborhood. A spokesperson for the department stated that the guns were traded in under previous leadership as a cost-saving measure, and that they currently have no plans to upgrade their service weapons.
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