Among the hundreds of items being auctioned online out of Powell this week is a mishmash of firearms the city has picked up over years of police work, safekeeping and replacing old equipment.
Altogether, the city put 11 firearms, a dart gun and 17 suppressors on the auction block.
“They’re old,” auctioneer Travis Swenson said of some of the guns. “Just — it’s a hodgepodge.”
There are .32- and .38-caliber revolvers, and a little Derringer with a pearl-style grip.
They’re mixed into a much larger fall online auction, which began Sept. 14 and started closing at noon Wednesday.
“Most of that stuff probably gets shipped out of here,” Swenson said.
That's the advantage of putting the sale online. Instead of a handful of people standing around a local auction, he said, bidders can come from across the country — but before any of Powell's guns leave, Police Chief Jim Rhea said his department makes sure there's no reason they still need to be there.
Out With The Old
Rhea said some of the firearms going to auction were held by the department for safekeeping after coming into its possession through police operations and service.
“These were not seized or forfeited,” Rhea said.
Whenever the Powell Police Department takes possession of a firearm, Rhea said, officers run it through the National Crime Information Center. Then they do it again before letting it go.
“Prior to any kind of either a destruction order or an auctioning or liquidating a firearm from our possession, no matter what the circumstances, we do another check to see if there's any outstanding need for that firearm,” Rhea said.
That helps identify whether a firearm has been reported stolen or remains relevant to law enforcement before the city relinquishes it.
“We do it every year,” he said.
The firearms are just one corner of the city's annual disposal of property it no longer needs.
“They auction off vehicles. They auction off equipment that is no longer needed,” Rhea said. “They auction a variety. This is not just firearms.”
Powell’s firearms offerings include a Colt SP1 .223 rifle, Colt Special .32 revolver, Charter Arms .357 revolver and Colt Detective .38, along with other guns and 17 Witt Machine & Tool .223 suppressors.
Money raised from the city’s firearms and suppressors will go back into Powell’s general fund, city administrator Zack Thorington said.
.32-Caliber Dart Gun
Swenson isn't running a City of Powell gun auction. He's running a giant online auction into which Powell's property has been mixed with property from scores of other sellers.
One auction can involve more than 100 consignors, ranging from private individuals to cities, counties, and state agencies. He said private sellers comprise most of them.
Among the more memorable firearms Swenson identified was a .32-caliber tranquilizer gun.
“That's the weirdest one,” Swenson said.
City records confirm the dart gun belongs to Powell. The surplus declaration identifies it as a Harrington .32-gauge dart gun.
For Swenson, though, selling government guns isn't particularly exotic. He's handled property from government agencies around Wyoming previously, and different departments take different approaches to disposing of firearms.
Powell isn’t alone in putting police guns back on the market. Cheyenne has repeatedly sold both evidence-seized and department-owned firearms, most recently accepting a $48,638.70 bid in July for a batch of both.
Sometimes, he said, departments are simply replacing the guns their officers carry and sell the old ones. Other times, a police property room has amassed guns over the years that the agency can dispose of legally.
Once they're in Swenson's hands, the auction opens them to a much larger pool of potential buyers.
All firearm purchases from the current auction require an FFL transfer, regardless of whether the buyer lives in Wyoming, Swenson's published auction rules say.
Collector Appeal
To most people, an old .32 revolver sitting in a police property room might look like an obsolete piece of hardware, but to the right gun collector, almost anything can be interesting.
Adam Clifford owns Powell-based Pathfinder Defense and specializes in federally regulated firearms, including suppressors and machine guns.
He said there isn't anything inherently remarkable about seeing a group of suppressors or older firearms disposed of by a government agency.
Equipment wears out. Technology changes. Departments upgrade.
But once an old government gun reaches the collectors market, seemingly insignificant details can suddenly matter.
“It might be a serial number that's, you know, something that they're looking for. You never know,” Clifford said.
Police provenance adds another wrinkle.
Clifford said he has encountered old AR-15-style rifles stamped for law enforcement use. Even a marking like that can become part of the appeal.
“Just those markings alone might make them more collectible,” he said.
If the entire Powell inventory were dumped onto a table in front of him, Clifford knows what he'd grab first.
“Me personally, I'd go for all the NFA stuff,” he said.
That's his niche. Clifford said he has amassed one of the largest collections of machine guns, silencers and other firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act in Wyoming.
For other buyers, the attraction could be considerably simpler.
They might just see a good deal. Clifford said auctions can give buyers a chance to pick up a firearm for less than they might pay elsewhere.
Sell Them Or Smash Them?
Whether selling old police guns is considered routine or unthinkable can change dramatically depending on where the police station sits.
Joe Latta has spent decades dealing with police property and evidence rooms and now heads the International Association for Property and Evidence.
His concern isn't that Powell's auction is somehow circumventing the legal firearms market. Quite the opposite.
If the guns are being transferred through a federally licensed firearms dealer, Latta said, the dealer has every incentive to follow the law and make sure a prohibited person doesn't walk away with one.
“The only concern I think law enforcement has is just being used in another crime down the line,” he said.
If it eventually turns up at another crime scene, Latta said, the questions can come right back to the department that originally sold it.
“It's a little bit more than a liability; it's an embarrassment,” Latta said. “OK, you sold a gun that was used in a murder.”
He's had the conversation with police departments over the years, and he said geography makes a significant difference.
“If you were in California, I would say don't do it. You lose your job,” Latta said. “If you're in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, it's what they do.”
The gun laws are different in every state as are the philosophies, he said.
“Like I said, here in California, you wouldn't get away with it, even though the law allows it,” Latta said. “If you do it in Wyoming, it's probably OK.”
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
