Greene County committee approves purchase of new firearms after questions about mixed models and optics

The Greene County special public safety committee approved a budget amendment authorizing the purchase of new firearm inventory for the Greene County Sheriff’s Office after brief questioning from committee members.

Committee discussion focused on the number and mix of pistols in the request and on the inclusion of red-dot sights. A committee member asked whether the purchase covered 88 or 92 firearms; county staff confirmed 92 in the final tally. “This is for 88 guns. What’s that? … Yeah. 92. That is yes,” a committee member said during the discussion.

Some legislators questioned why the department requested several different models rather than a single standard model. “It just seems kind of odd to have different models,” an unidentified committee member said. County staff replied that the sheriff’s department had made the selection and that staff did not have specific model justification on hand.

Members also raised concerns about equipping handguns with optical sights. One said he did not “particularly care for the idea of putting a red dot on there and not having our deputies actually using... iron sights.” County staff and another committee member responded that the chosen pistols are set up to be used both with the red-dot and with elevated sights so deputies can rely on iron sights if optics fail.

The committee discussed disposition of older firearms. Staff said there is a trade-in arrangement with a firearms dealer in Rochester with an approximate trade-in return of $250 per pistol.

The resolution authorizing the purchase passed on a voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally in the minutes.

No further details about vendor selection, per-unit cost, or the sheriff’s internal equipment policy were presented during the committee discussion.