On February 27, 2025, the Kansas Senate voted 39 to 1 to pass a police and firearms sales reform bill. The bill allows police to sell/transfer (trade) forfeited firearms to a federally licensed firearms dealer. From legiscan.com:
Session of 2025 SENATE BILL No. 137
AN ACT concerning the Kansas standard asset seizure and forfeiture act; relating to the disposition of forfeited property; authorizing the sale or transfer of forfeited firearms to a licensed federal firearms dealer;
The Kansas legislature appears to be correcting a weird quirk in Kansas law, K.S.A 60-4117 (5)(b) allowed for four ways to dispose of forfeited firearms:
- Destroy them
- Used for official purposes in the agency that seized the firearms
- Traded to another law enforcement agency for use within the agency
- Given to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for law enforcement, testing, comparison, or destruction by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation forensic laboratory.
Senate Bill No. 137 adds the option of selling or transferring the forfeited firearms to a properly licensed federal firearms dealer, as shown below, bold added:
b) When firearms are forfeited under this act, the firearms, in the discretion of the seizing agency, shall be destroyed, used within the seizing agency for official purposes, traded to another law enforcement agency for use within such agency, sold or transferred to a properly licensed federal firearms dealer or given to the Kansas bureau of investigation for law enforcement, testing, comparison or destruction by the Kansas bureau of investigation forensic laboratory.
In 2014, Kansas enacted a law requiring police to auction off guns that had been used in crimes. In the first six years of the law, in Wichita, Kansas, the police department received $196,000, as reported in the Wichita Eagle in 2021:
Since 2015, Wichita’s gun sales, totaling 2,082 weapons, have generated $196,000 for a fund that pays for miscellaneous police equipment. However, the middlemen who transact the sales got more than half of the $425,000 in total sale proceeds, according to an analysis of records that The Wichita Eagle obtained through the Kansas Open Records Act.
It is unknown exactly how many firearms are seized under Kansas forfeiture laws. Indications are that more firearms are seized through forfeiture than are seized when used in crimes. The number could be significant.
The United States Department of Justice has published numbers that distinguish administrative and civil forfeitures from criminal forfeitures. Over the years FY19 to FY23, there were 157,788 total forfeitures of firearms to the federal government. Only 31% of the total were Judicial-Criminal forfeitures. 69% were for civil forfeitures. There are differences between the way the federal government confiscates/seizes firearms and the way it is done in Kansas. Kansas passed a forfeiture reform bill, SB 458, in April of 2024, about a year ago. The reforms limit police power to seize property through civil forfeiture. The reform could reduce the number of firearms seized under civil forfeiture in Kansas.
Although the number of firearms seized by Kansas police through civil forfeiture may drop, none of those firearms are currently allowed to be sold/transferred back into the normal stream of firearms commerce. The number of firearms sold by police in Kansas could rise substantially, along with the amount of money provided to the police budget. The police have good reasons to approve of SB 137. The bill increases the amount of money available for police equipment and simplifies the administration of police sales of firearms.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
“It is unknown exactly how many firearms are seized under Kansas forfeiture laws. Indications are that more firearms are seized through forfeiture than are seized when used in crimes. The number could be significant.”
Asset forfeiture is nothing more than legalized theft by government. I know there are a lot of people who think it’s better for government to sell the arms they steal than to destroy them but all that will do is create an incentive to steal more arms now that they can profit off of them.
“Over the years FY19 to FY23, there were 157,788 total forfeitures of firearms to the federal government.”
At the $100/gun rate that Wichita got, that’s $15million in sales … otherwise known as “replacing tax revenue” if sold OR “wasted resources” if not re-sold.
It’s seems that this will enable the police to become Freebooter and Pirates!
This is a good bill. FFL’s should be able to have a chance to buy these guns too, and not just have the police sell them via auction.