The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Department has lost over 185 firearms, including 76 duty weapons, according to the Philadelphia Controller’s Office. The original number of service guns the controller found missing after a three-year investigation was 101.
Philadelphia holds the reputation of being the most anti-gun city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. City leaders have attempted to skirt the Commonwealth’s preemption laws by enacting anti-gun ordinances and have sued gun parts makers such as Polymer80 and JSD Supply. So how could a city that sees firearms as the ultimate evil lose so many guns? That is a question many are asking.
Of the missing service weapons, 71 are handguns, and five are shotguns. The Sheriff’s Office maintains that the Department properly disposed of all service weapons except for 20 items.
The Controller’s Office asserts that its follow-up investigation could confirm no evidence supporting that statement, and the Sheriff could provide no documentation as proof. The Controller’s Office still considers the firearms as missing.
“During the Fiscal Year 2024 budget hearing with City Council and in media releases on its website, the Sheriff’s Office stated that all but 20 of the original 101 missing service weapons had been found,” the Controller’s Office said. “To confirm those statements, the Acting Controller conducted a follow-up investigation. However, the Controller’s Office wasn’t provided with necessary documentation to support the claims, leaving the majority of the guns still considered missing.”
The Sheriff’s Department also claims it gave some guns to retired officers and former employees.
Pennsylvania implements universal background checks, and no evidence exists showing any of the guns underwent transfer via a federal firearms licensee (FFL) or that the recipient filled out an ATF Form 4473. This implies that the transferer never ran a check on the transferee through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The Sheriff’s Department stated that they gave one or more of the missing guns to former Sheriff John Green. The Controller’s Office demands that Green give back all the guns he received from the Department. They demand that employees return any guns given to them to the Department or that the employees provide proof of disposal. If the employees can not or refuse to produce the firearms or provide evidence of disposal, they should be placed in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as missing.
The remaining missing guns are from the Protection From Abuse inventory list. The PFA inventory consists of guns authorities have confiscated from individuals with protective orders against them. The Sheriff’s Department did not address these missing firearms or indicate where these missing guns have disappeared.
“The Sheriff’s Office made no mention regarding the status of the missing PFA weapons, at either their budget hearing or in their press releases,” the Controller’s Office said. “No supportive documentation has been provided to date that would change the status of the City Controller’s initial finding that the weapons are missing.”
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal claims that the Controller’s Office report is misleading. She claims the missing duty firearms are due solely to “recordkeeping” errors. She blamed the Controller’s Office for waiting so long to audit the Sheriff’s Department’s guns. They completed the last audit ten years ago. Many in the gun community take issue with the Sheriff’s excuse since FFLs do not get a pass because of the time between audits.
“Simply put, we cannot answer inconsistencies that derive as a result of that recordkeeping in the past,” Bilal said in a press conference Friday morning. “Maybe if (audits had been conducted previously), maybe (the armory) wouldn’t have been in that condition. And there would be no presumption of missing guns.”
The Sheriff’s Department referred AmmoLand News to the press conference when we asked for comments on the missing firearms.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist; he has written about firearms and interviewed people of all walks of life. Mr. Crump lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
“The remaining missing guns are from the Protection From Abuse inventory list ”
right, in otherwords, stolen from law abiding citizens who did nothing wrong other than get in a bad relationship with someone else. There is no due process in these Red Flag rules. Guilty, just because someone said so.
Yes, you bet they were stolen. Stolen by Bullies and Thieves with badges, who took the guns unlawfully and refuse to return the property. Property paid for with the sweat and backs of the citizens.
Stolen by someone with a lot of greed in their heart.
Stolen by the Man!
Yes, then back each other. Pat each other on the back that they did the right thing by stealing the guys guns…”he may have shot someone in self-defense so it is good we stole the guys guns and split them up between us”.
Well, when you think about it, what is anyone that works for the government but a typical PARASITE. They offer no real service or product and they steal from us via property taxes and other fees and taxes on everything they can get their PARASITE blood sucking mouths on. Just think what a country of freedom this could be if NO ONE WOULD WORK for the IRS or the county or state taxing agencies. THINK ABOUT IT. Psychopathic control freak PARASITES are one of our major problems.
The guns the cops stole from citizens are most likely residing in those officers personal collections now.
Is it wrong that I kind of want at least one of those “missing” guns to be found to have been used in a crime. Good luck explaining that away.
well i mean, who do you trust the only ones that are responsible enough to possess and carry firearms or the office of government accountability?
will batfe be called in to conduct a raid and confiscate all their firearms and put everyone who had access to those firearms in prison until they can prove they are innocent for illegal transfers of firearms?
the protection from abuse inventory list should be renamed the “stolen from citizens and then stolen from the police dept list”.
finally, how many times do law enforcement give breaks for “recordkeeping errors” to citizens of ffl’s?
Stop asking questions that make people think. It’s not allowed in our politically correct society these days. Just keep them to yourself. Critical thinking is left behind at the entry of the 10th plank communist manifesto school system at the age of 6.
Another example of the rules only apply to law abiding citizens, not the entities that enforce those rules…..
“law abiding citizens” AKA SLAVES. The only “law” one should have to obey is the “DO NO HARM” one. No victim, no crime. No crime NOT GUILTY your “honor”.
SURPRISE, it’s not just Philly either.
Yes, this is a great article and I wouldn’t mind if it became “a staple” on the forum with updates on Controller Office Audit Reports and subsequent Criminal Investigation and related Left Wing Response/Cover-ups, etc. New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Houston, Seattle…all Left Wing Police Locations (including the ATF’s missing/stolen guns; DEA, FBI). They want to make unconstitutional laws, to which their police enthusiastically enforce with bragging vigor and they are the supreme violators of their own laws and enforcement areas of their anti-2nd. Amendment/Constitutional agendas. It is nice to see they do not have the Controller’s Office… Read more »
And Philly is already such a safe city with onerous firearm restrictions. AMAZING!
Where’s our wonderful ATF on this. Oh that’s right, they only harass and investigate legal firearms owners and FFLs. The ATF wouldn’t dare harass a deep blue city like democRAT controlled Philly.
Especially when current Sheriff Rochelle Bilal and convicted former Sheriff John Green (felony and conspiracy) happen to be of a certain privaledged minority class. What could go wrong?
WHAT? There is a certain privileged minority class? I had no idea…oh wait, you mean the class that want’s reparation because their great gran daddy was a slave sold to slave traders by black tribal “leaders” from Africa. NOOOOOOOO….can’t be!
Missing guns were probably sold to criminals by someone in the department.
as they have been in the past. Sacramento California for example.
What? No one knows how to do and keep hand receipt records of valuable and transferable items?
The cool guns they steal go as perks to preferred LEO’s.
Did it get destroyed or was there a ‘rock paper scissors ” fight over the really nice guns that no one thought should ever be destroyed?
No paperwork means ” I don’t know” “lost”
“I don’t recall” seems to be really popular right now and promotes a get out of jail pass.
Not only did they lose guns, they also voted in an idiot to be their United States Senator.
That’s because a while ago they lost their minds.
pRESIDENT Buydem has the ILLEGALLY INSTALLED bureaucracy of the atf going around with ZERO TOLERANCE on all FFL dealers. THE SAME ZERO TOLERANCE MUST BE ENFORCED on ALL GOVERNMENTAL DEPARTMENTS!!! When will the arrests begin?
I love your colloquial. pRESIDENT Buydem. SO true. Don’t forget that he was also installed ILLEGALLY.
Instead of ” Fast and furious” I will call this ‘Slow and delirious’ .
From the article.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal claims that the Controller’s Office report is misleading. She claims the missing duty firearms are due solely to “recordkeeping” errors.
Did you say record keeping error’s? and they have not had an audit by the ATF and the ATF hasn’t pulled their licenses to have guns? No 4473’s for transfers?
Proof that law enforcement doesn’t follow the same rules they enforce and cover each others back. The ATF should be doing a mass audit and placing law enforcement officers in jail over this one. Good enough for me, then it’s good enough for thee.
Someone is making money……
Not actually…
Why are these clowns charged with one of the many gun laws, I’m sure once you take possession of a firearm, responsibility of what happens to it and it’s use becomes the problem of the last recorded possessor. ATF, where are you.
Sheriff’s Dept employees took them home and/or sold them.
Exactly.
Yes, and they sell them to the criminals that are not supposed to have them promoting job security. No better than the forest fire fighter that goes around lighting forests on fire during fire season.
What can you expect? Law enforcement has become a growth INDUSTRY!
You are insinuating that boys in blue are crooks…good observation.
Take a look at the sheriff and you’ll have all the answers you need.
ROTFLMFGO! I’m thinking the way we can keep guns out of the hands of criminals in that jurisdiction is to disarm the police and give them nunchaku sticks.
Rules for thee
But never for me!
Do law enforcement agencies have to hold some kind of FFL? If so would they not be required to log firearms in and out like any other FFL?
Interesting, the department hands guns out to employees the same way a restaurant I used to work at would give me little cartons of chocolate milk that had reached the sell by date.
“Presumption of missing guns”? they
re either there or are MISSING!
#TheOnlyOnes
So the Sheriffs department gave the guns to non-employees without a proper transfer via a 4473? This sounds like a straw purchase to me, except that the firearms were not purchased – they were stolen from ordinary citizens and/or from the department. I wonder if the other missing guns found their way to the gangs in Philly and the Windy City, or maybe the cartels in Mexico? More reason than ever for the Mexican Government to sue US firearms manufacturers.
Maybe the asshats in the Mexican gooberment can sue the office involved in this case. Don’t bank on it.
Lets see the numbers 180 some guns might seem like a lot.
But what percent of all the firearms they handle is it.
What % is acceptable when it’s being used against you in a crime. What % of graft, corruption and incompetence is acceptable to you by those in authority and tasked with public safety.
Why are you rationalizing Police/Sherriff Theft of the People’s Property?
The Taxpayer paid for some guns they took/stole. They failed to do NICS Checks to cops they stole/gave them to. They stole guns from the People under Red-Flag and then stole those guns from the Property Section. They covered up their crimes by deliberately destroying records and not following documentation requirements required by law.
Let’s apply O’bidens ATF rules for FFL’s to this. They should be penalized worse than the normal FFL people are. When it is your job to enforce the same rules you are breaking, the penalty should be worse so there might be an incentive for less corruption.