KRS 16.220: Public auction of confiscated firearms -- Disposition of proceeds --

Department of Kentucky State Police treatment of transferred firearms.

(1) Subject to the duty to return confiscated firearms to innocent owners pursuant to

KRS 500.090, all firearms confiscated by the Department of Kentucky State Police

and not retained for official use pursuant to KRS 500.090 shall be sold at public

auction to:

(a) Federally licensed firearms dealers holding a license appropriate for the type

of firearm sold; or

(b) For a firearm which was used in a homicide, any person who certifies on a

form provided by the Department of Kentucky State Police prior to placing a

bid that he or she will, upon completion of the auction, leave the firearm with

the Departm ent of Kentucky State Police for destruction. A state or local

government or agency thereof shall not purchase a firearm under this

paragraph.

(2) Any provision of KRS Chapter 45 or 45A relating to disposition of property to the

contrary notwithstanding, the Department of Kentucky State Police shall:

(a) Conduct any auction specified by this section;

(b) Retain for departmental use twenty percent (20%) of the gross proceeds from

any auction specified by this section;

(c) Transfer remaining proceeds of the sale to the account of the Kentucky Office

of Homeland Security for use as provided in subsection (5) of this section;

and

(d) For any sale pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section, destroy the firearm.

(3) Prior to the sale of any firearm, the Depart ment of Kentucky State Police shall

make an attempt to determine if the firearm to be sold has been stolen or otherwise

unlawfully obtained from an innocent owner and return the firearm to its lawful

innocent owner, unless that person is ineligible to purc hase a firearm under federal

law.

(4) The Department of Kentucky State Police shall receive firearms and ammunition

confiscated by or abandoned to every law enforcement agency in Kentucky. The

department shall dispose of the firearms received in the manner specified in

subsections (1) and (2) of this section. However, firearms which are not retained for

official use, returned to an innocent lawful owner, or transferred to another

government agency or public museum shall be sold as provided in subsection (1) of

this section.

(5) The proceeds of firearms sales shall be ut ilized by the Kentucky Office of

Homeland Security to provide grants to city, county, charter county, unified local

government, urban -county government, and consolidated local government police

departments; university safety and security departments organi zed pursuant to KRS

164.950; school districts that employ special law enforcement officers as defined in

KRS 61.900; airport safety and security departments established under KRS

183.880; and sheriff's departments for the purchase of:

(a) Body armor for sw orn peace officers of those departments and service

animals, as defined in KRS 525.010, of those departments;

(b) Firearms or ammunition;

(c) Electronic control devices, electronic control weapons, or electro -muscular

disruption technology; and

(d) Body-worn cameras.

In awarding grants under this section, the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security

shall give first priority to providing and replacing body armor and second priority to

providing firearms and ammunition, with residual funds available for the pur chase

of body -worn cameras, electronic control devices, electronic control weapons, or

electro-muscular disruption technology. Body armor purchased by the department

receiving grant funds shall meet or exceed the standards issued by the National

Institute of Justice for body armor. No police or sheriff's department shall apply for

a grant to replace existing body armor unless that body armor has been in actual use

for a period of five (5) years or longer. Any department applying for grant funds for

body-worn cameras shall develop a policy for their use and shall submit that policy

with its application for the grant funds to the Office of Homeland Security as part of

the application process.

(6) The Department of Kentucky State Police may transfer a machine g un, short -

barreled shotgun, short -barreled rifle, silencer, pistol with a shoulder stock, any

other weapon, or destructive device as defined by the National Firearms Act which

is subject to registration under the National Firearms Act and is not properly

registered in the national firearms transfer records for those types of weapons, to the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms of the United States Department of

Justice, after a reasonable attempt has been made to transfer the firearm to an

eligible stat e or local law enforcement agency or to an eligible museum and no

eligible recipient will take the firearm or weapon. National Firearms Act firearms

and weapons which are properly registered and not returned to an innocent lawful

owner or retained for offi cial use as provided in this section shall be sold in

accordance with subsection (1) of this section.