Lancaster council approves resolution to dispose or trade hundreds of seized firearms

Lancaster City Council voted to authorize staff to dispose of or trade confiscated firearms that have accumulated in evidence storage over many years.

Police leadership told the council the inventory includes several categories of recovered weapons. In the meeting record staff cited counts while describing the stock: 203 firearms in one cataloging set, another figure of 121, and a referenced total of 324 that staff said had taken up significant storage space. Separately, staff identified about 75 firearms that would need to be destroyed because their serial numbers were obliterated or the weapons were otherwise unserviceable. For eligible firearms, staff proposed trading them to licensed firearms dealers for store credit to be used for equipment purchases.

Council moved the resolution authorizing the trade and disposition and approved it by roll call (Council Members Harris, Hood, Marsh and Mayor Deini voted yes). Staff noted prior precedent when a smaller batch of weapons was traded and the credit used to procure replacements such as second weapons for officers.

Officials said they would submit the inventory to the state-licensed reviewer for valuation and destruction as required, and that the final net revenue from trades would depend on the particular make and condition of the firearms. Staff did not provide a single consolidated dollar estimate at the meeting and said figures would be determined after review by the licensed dealer or state authority.

The resolution directs staff to proceed with the disposition process in accordance with applicable state rules and to return with further details if needed.