Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Sold Crime Scene Guns, Used Funds to Equip Armed Posse

On Monday, Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has raised approximately $240,000 by selling guns seized at crime scenes or otherwise recovered.

Arpaio made it clear the money will go toward better outfitting and equipping members of his volunteer posse.

Standing with members of the posse lined up behind him, Arpaio said his department has “thousands and thousands of guns” that have been seized. All will be sold and none will be destroyed. He stressed that the guns are “sold to a licensed dealer,” who then gives a check to the MCSO. He said the money from the sales will be used to better outfit the existing posse members as well as to purchase accessories and armor for the many hundreds of posse members he hopes to add.

Arpaio issued a call for “veterans and ex-cops” to join his posse, and he focused on how much money the volunteer posse saves Maricopa County taxpayers. “We probably save at least $8 million a year by utilizing our volunteer posse,” he said.

He stressed that volunteers in the armed posse buy their own guns. The money raised from the sale of crime scene guns is used to buy body armor and equipment. He also suggested the money will be used to buy bullets for the posse. Arpaio said buying bullets for them “is the least he can do” after they have made the sacrifice to serve.

Arpaio used the armed posse to offer protection to Maricopa County churches in the wake of the heinous attack on the Charleston, South Carolina church in June 2015. He used the posse in a similar way to protect Maricopa County schools following Adam Lanza’s attack on Sandy Hook Elementary. Breitbart News previously reported that Arpaio also dispatched his posse to malls in the the wake of the November 27 Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting. He spoke openly of his hope the the posse would quickly stop a mass attacker, should one have targeted a mall or other shopping area in Maricopa County.

Arpaio’s pre-emptive actions came days before Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire on fellow employees at a Christmas Party in San Bernardino.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.