Jefferson County Sheriff's public gun auction breaks previous record

JEFFERSON COUNTY (PressRelease) - Jefferson County, Arkansas' tenth largest county played hostto the largest public gun auction in the history of gun auctions in JeffersonCounty, Arkansas.

The public gun auction site at the Pine Bluff Convention Centerhosted by the South Central Arkansas Law Enforcement Society (S.C.A.L.E.S.) GunClub in conjunction with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Tri-CountyDrug Task Force reached $125,755.00 in combined sales.{}

The auctioned netted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office$73,210.00 and the Tri-County Drug Task Force $55,545.00. The last public gunauction hosted by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Tri-County DrugTask Force was in 2005 and only netted $15,957.00 with $12,632.00 of theproceeds going back to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office operating budgetand the other $3,325.00 to the Tri-County Drug Task Force.{}

Nationwide, gun sales have been at a record high. Just last year,over 21 million{}applications were processed through the National InstantCriminal Background Check System (NICS), which is the same system used by afederal firearms licensee brought in by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Officeat today's auction to screen prospective bidders. {}

Prospective bidders were encouraged to pre-register to ensure thatthey would be cleared through the NICS by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to purchase a firearm prior to placing abid.{} Pre-registration and public viewing of the guns for auction wasopened on March 20-21, 2014.{}

Approximately 600 people from across the state attended the auctionwith 380 registered bidders. Approximately 204 checks were processed throughthe NICS.{}However, 6 individuals hoping to leave with a firearm weredisappointed after receiving 3-day delayed notices and one (1) individual wasdenied approval to purchase firearms by the ATF.{}

Each gun auctioned went to the highest bidder.{}The highestbid at of $2,375.00 was for a Winchester .38 WCF L.A. Rifle and the lowest bidwas $5.00 for a Marksman 177 Caliber BB Pistol.{}

Major Lafayette Woods, Jr. is Major of Operations for theJefferson County Sheriffs Office. He says, "We promote responsible ownership ofguns and firearms, which is also why he made gunlock safety kits available toevery successful bidder at no charge through Project ChildSafe to help ensuresafe and responsible firearm ownership and storage."