When shopping for firearms before, you may have heard the term “police trade-in guns”, and may be wondering what means. Most police departments have rules about what firearms an officer can carry in the course of their duties, and the department often buys the firearms, and issues them to the officers, as opposed to the officers buying their own firearms. When the department decides to switch or update the firearms that it is issuing, they need to do something with the old firearms. Often the police supply company that they are working with will take those firearms in as a trade credit against the cost of the new firearms the department is buying. The police supply company then will sell those firearms to FFL’s who then sell them to the public.
So, why might a member of the public want to buy police trade in guns? A primary reason that a member of the public might want to buy a police trade in is that they get a quality, but used, firearm for significantly less than the typical new firearm price. These firearms are generally well suited to be used for personal defense, because that is what law enforcement officers are using them for. Our experience with police trade in firearms is that many of them seem to show more wear from being carried than being shot, and are still in mechanically sound shape. While some finish wear might be a problem for a safe queen collection, if you are looking for a new defensive carry pistol, or a new pistol to take to competitions or training courses, a police trade in can be a great choice. Modern firearms finishes are getting pretty good at standing up to abuse, but if you are going to carry a pistol on a regular basis, it will eventually start to show holster wear on the finish. In that case, buying a pistol that already has some holster wear may make sense. Police pistols also often have some sensible modifications done to them for a defensive pistol, such as adding night sights.
The main downside to buying police trade in guns is that they are used firearms, and that means they will have some wear. An advantage of buying a used police trade in firearm vs. a typical used gun is that many police departments have armorer’s on staff that regularly inspect firearms within the department, and will make repairs as needed. Many departments also limit modifications that individual officers can make to firearms. However, when buying any firearm, new or used, it is a good idea to inspect the finish and function before purchasing.
At New Liberty Firearms LLC, we are working with our suppliers to source high quality police trade in firearms for our customers. We believe that they offer a strong value proposition for our customers. We personally have bought many police trade in firearms over the years that have then been placed into defensive or competition firearm roles. All of the police trade in firearms we purchase are inspected by our Glock Certified Armorer for Glocks, or our AGI Certified Law Enforcement Armorer for other models. This is done to insure that the firearms are in proper working order before selling them to a customer. When we do obtain police trade in pistols, they can be purchased in person, or via our auctions on Gunbroker here.