POWELL, Tenn. — People in East Tennessee had the chance Tuesday to bid on weapons confiscated by law enforcement, possibly getting high-value guns for cheap. The weapons auctioned by Powell Auction, after they were provided by law enforcement agencies in Meigs County and Greene County.
State law prevents law enforcement agencies from destroying confiscated weapons. Instead, they can be traded to authorized firearms deals, used by the agencies or exchanged with other agencies. They can also be sold to the public.
"State law allows us to sell them at public auction. They can be traded for firearms, ammunition, body armor for law enforcement purposes," said Eric Davis, a captain at the Greeneville Police Department.
Many weapons auctioned off Tuesday were used in crimes. Dave Gregory, the coordinator at Powell Auction, said there were around 400 weapons available in the latest round of law enforcement agencies clearing out their confiscated and surrendered weapons.
"These are confiscated guns. Some of them were thrown out of the window of a moving car," he said. "We've sold for Scott County, we've sold for Meigs County. You know, we've sold for several different ones, Oak Ridge."
The weapons were available for around two weeks before the final round of bids on Tuesday. During bidding, all weapons start with a $1 cost and the price goes up per bid.
The bidding process is done online and Powell Auction ships the weapons almost anywhere, as long as the purchase follows state and federal laws. Gregory said as an authorized firearms seller, he needs to keep precise records.
Davis said the guns were no longer needed for investigations and a judge approved the sale. He also said law enforcement agencies can send them a variety of items to sell — not just weapons.
"Say we get a piece of property that's found. Tools that are found and turned into us and nobody claims them, we end up sending those to auction as well," he said.
He also said the auction house will have a list of who bought their guns and how much they sold for once the auction is over.