State Treasurer Riley Moore today announced his Office’s recent unclaimed property firearms auction raised more than $6,600 total for the Beckley and Mount Hope Police Departments – funds to be put towards improving safety and law enforcement efforts in the local community.
“Since being as elected State Treasurer, my Office has raised more than $479,000 for law enforcement agencies from around the state,” Treasurer Moore said. “We are the only State Treasurer’s Office in the country that raises funds for law enforcement through auctioning off unclaimed firearms and ammunition.”
The Beckley Police Department received $3,595.50 from the State Treasurer’s Office’s auction, which occurred September 21 in Charleston.
“The Beckley Police Department has once again teamed up with the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office to participate in the unclaimed property firearms auction,” Beckley Police Deputy Chief David Allard said. “The proceeds will help provide lifesaving equipment, training and specialized investigative systems for our officers, which in turn helps to keep the citizens of Beckley and our officers safe.”
The Mount Hope Police Department received $3,073.50 from the recent auction.
“We'd like to compliment the State Treasurer's Office for their assistance in auctioning our unclaimed and forfeited firearms," Mount Hope Chief of Police Jack Brown said. "The process was easy to complete, and the amount raised for our agency was much more than we had expected.”
The State Treasurer’s Office’s recent firearms auction raised nearly $90,000 to benefit the 19 participating law enforcement agencies – a new record high number of police departments, sheriff’s offices and police detachments turning over property for the auction. The auction raises funds by selling outdated, unclaimed or old firearms, ammunition and related accessories in police inventory to qualified bidders.
The auctions are not open to the general public; only pre-registered Federal Firearms License Holders can attend and are eligible to bid.
Under West Virginia’s Unclaimed Property Code (Chapter 36, Article 8A), state and local law enforcement agencies are allowed to turn over any unclaimed, seized or outdated firearms in their possession to the State Treasurer’s Office for auction.
These include weapons that are older and no longer used by a department, or that have been seized as evidence and sitting in storage rooms for an extended amount of time following the disposition of a case. They can also include weapons taken from individuals who are not legally allowed to own firearms.
Once law enforcement certifies they cannot find a lawful owner of the firearms, they can be turned over to the Treasurer’s Office for auction.
The proceeds from the auction are then returned to the submitting agency for use.