I’m not a fan of civil asset forfeiture. The idea is that the cops can seize property associated with criminal actions like drug dealing, then sell that property and keep the money.

In and of itself, that sounds fine, but the application of it is a problem. A lot of people have had their property essentially stolen by law enforcement and they simply can’t get it back, even though they were never charged with any crime.

But a lot of people are guilty of crimes and their assets gets seized as a way to put the squeeze on their illicit businesses. That property is then sold.

In Kansas, though, one type of property that can’t be sold are firearms.

Now, a bill seeks to potentially change that.

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:

1. Destroy them
2. Used for official purposes in the agency that seized the firearms
3. Traded to another law enforcement agency for use within the agency
4. 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.

The bill doesn’t require sales, but it does permit them, which is still a much better option than mandating them be either kept indefinitely, given to another law enforcement agency, or destroying them.

It’s safe to say that the usual suspects aren’t going to be particularly fond of this kind of thing, but they can get over it.

This would allow them to sell the guns to licensed dealers, who will then conduct NICS checks on all purchases. That means it’s not going to just end up in criminal hands. They might eventually, but it’ll be no different than brand new firearms sold in gun stores throughout the nation.

So the usual suspects can get bent.

The bill passed the Senate 39-1. That means at least eight of the nine Democrats in the Senate voted for this bill.

That bodes well for its chances in the House, where Republicans also hold a decisive majority, especially if Kansas Democrats are willing to back a measure like this. It’s nice to see Democrats actually back a pro-gun measure for a change.

It’s almost enough to give me hope.