For the past two or three decades, the officers of the Henry County Sheriff’s Department have seized weapons as evidence in hundreds of cases, accumulating a sizable gun collection in the process.
Now that those cases have been closed, they’re hoping that offering the guns for sale will free up some extra space and add some extra money to the department’s budget at the same time.
During the next two weekends, the department will host two public auctions to sell off the nearly 600 long guns, handguns, bows and gun accessories that have been taken as evidence in hundreds of court cases over the years.
Starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Henry County Fairgrounds, the weapons will be sold one by one to the highest bidder. A second auction will take place at 10 a.m. Sept. 16.
There are no buyer’s premiums for any of the guns, so bidding can begin at whatever price the first bidder chooses.
Not only is the collection so big it will take two days to sell it all, it will take two Henry County auction houses to handle it.
Doug Taylor Auction Service and Junior Staggs’ Bid Last and Win will be teaming up for both auctions.
Among the brands being offered are Browning, Winchester, Mossberg, KelTec, Taurus, Glock, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Interarms, Rossi, Dan Wesson and more.
“These are all guns that have been seized over a several year period,” said Sheriff Josh Frey.
The law states that seized guns may be put to departmental use, sold or traded.
“So everything we’re selling, we don’t need for departmental use,” Frey said. “We’re talking a lot of shotguns, deer hunting rifles and stuff like that. So we don’t need those.”
Of the two remaining options, trading doesn’t bring the same financial return that selling does, so putting them up for auction seemed the logical choice.
He’s not 100 percent sure, but Frey thinks some of the guns go back to the 1990s. That’s because once a weapon is seized, years can pass before its fate is resolved.
“A lot of times, if we make a case today, it might be two or three years before the case gets adjudicated, and before it gets awarded to us,” he said. “So you might be holding a gun for an extended period of time for evidence.”
“There’s a lot of good guns here,” Frey said. “There’s a lot of collectible guns here. And there’s a lot of junk here. We got a pretty good scatter of everything that you could think.”
The firearms’ ages run the gamut from antique to brand new. For example, one of the rifles for sale is an antique Winchester lever action that fires black powder cartridges. Meanwhile, one of its technological descendents — a nearby Winchester 30-30 lever action rifle with scope — looks like it just came fresh from the box.
There’s some oddities, like BB guns, bows and even some crossbows.
There are also military-style weapons, such as World War II-era M1 rifles, and Russian-designed AK-47s and SKS rifles.
And while the department did have some AR-15s seized as evidence, those are being retained for the department’s use.
Anyone purchasing a weapon, apart from federal firearms dealers, will be subject to a full background check at their expense.
Checks will be provided by JMC Firearms in Paris.
Part of the money raised by the sale of the seized guns will be used, somewhat ironically, to buy more guns.
Frey said proceeds from the sale will help supplement the Sheriff’s Department’s budget.
The department intends to take part of that money to buy replacement sidearms and other weapons for its officers, many of which are more than 10 years old.
A preview of the guns being offered will take place from noon to 5 p.m. today at the fairgrounds.