How Police Guns End Up in the Hands of Criminals

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.7 • 8.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department in California wanted to purchase new firearms, it sold its used ones to help cover the cost. The old guns went to a distributor, which then turned around and sold them to the public. One of those guns—a Glock pistol—found its way to Indianapolis.

That Glock was involved in the killing of Maria Leslie’s grandson, and the fact that it once belonged to law enforcement makes her loss sting even more.

“My grandson was in his own apartment complex. He lived there,” Leslie said. “He should not have been murdered there, especially with a gun that traces back all the way to the California police department’s coffers.”

This week on Reveal, in a collaboration with The Trace and CBS News, reporter Alain Stephens examines a common practice for police departments—trading in their old weapons rather than destroying them—and how it’s led to tens of thousands of old cop guns ending up in the hands of criminals.

This is an update of an episode first aired in July 2024. Since then, more than a dozen law enforcement agencies have stopped reselling their used firearms or are reviewing their policies.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey it's Al and if you've been listening a while you probably know a lot about me like for example I am a comic book nerd actually I'm just a huge nerd and I am not afraid to let my nerd flag fly. I am quite proud of it. I grew up in Florida and I love talking to you.
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0:27.0	Like, what do you like about the show? The host, that's the answer.
0:31.0	What do you not like so much about the show?
0:33.4	When the host isn't around, that's another answer.
0:36.1	Your answers will help us continue producing the kind of stories you want to hear.
0:41.2	So just head over to reveal news.org
0:43.7	slash survey again that's reveal news dot org slash survey and
0:48.1	remember tell them you like the host because look I love you you love me let's just make it official tell everybody
0:54.5	thank you and remember there is always more to the story from the Center for investigative Reporting in PRX, this is reveal. I'm Al Letton.
1:07.0	It's 2008.
1:10.0	Alon Stevens is living in Dallas and about to start the police academy.
1:14.8	He decides to buy a handgun.
1:17.4	Like many people who are about to undertake in any sort of training, right?
1:21.2	You want to go out and practice.
1:22.8	And so I put the word out that I was looking for a Glock, right?
1:27.7	And so after a couple of months, a friend comes through and says,
1:31.0	I found just the thing.
1:33.0	So Alan makes arrangements to meet with the guy.
1:35.8	I meet the student of parking lot and Texas, just like many other parts of the country,
1:40.0	it is totally legal to just buy guns, no paperwork, cash straight up.
1:45.0	And so I buy this gun for $400 and I'm looking at it and it is nice.
	...

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