I'm just a lowly grunt in the State Police Forensic Science Division, but today I had a chance encounter with a State Rep that put a spring in my step for the rest of the day.

I was thirsty so I was standing in the hallway by the pop fridge (that's "soda" for you non-Mid-Westerners and "Coke" for you Southern weirdos) drinking a pop. Well, today there were about 30 guns leaning up against the wall. A couple Stens, an AR, an M1 carbine paratrooper, a bunch of vintage shotguns, and some weird looking things I'd never seen (like a MAC 10 with a PPSH style barrel and wood stock).
So, I'm just sipping away admiring all these guns when I see the Lab Director and one of the firearms guys escorting a guest up the hall towards me. They stopped and the Lab Director introduces him to me as State Rep Phil Potvin. I wasn't familiar with him (didn't know his party affiliation or what district) but he seemed friendly so I joked that I was "just admiring the scenery".

Well, I forget how it came up, but the firearms guy mentions how these were all seized guns that were saved from being destroyed, and I blurted out, "Soul crushing, isn't it? All that history and a potentially massive source of revenue sent to the smelters!" Rep Potvin says, "Why don't they get auctioned off?!?" "You mean like every other state does?", I say. "It sure would make a hell of a lot more sense than literally burning money!"

The firearms guy explained how we USED to, but an MSP employee almost let a full auto into the wild and, apparently, somebody whined to the Colonel who promptly ended the program.

Anyway, Rep Potvin says, "Well, I'm gonna have to talk to her about that. That's a lot of money being thrown away." We all expressed our support and I said, "Hell, I'll volunteer my time to sort them out!" Hopefully he's serious and follows through.

I didn't know much about this fellow before today, but I gotta say he sure seems like good people to me!!!




TL;DR:
MSP used to sell seized guns, but hasn't for a long time.
State Rep says, "That's a waste. We should be selling them. I'm gonna talk to the Colonel about this."