Penn. Coroner Auctioning Firearms From Suicides And Accidental Shooting Deaths
Ken Bacha, a western Pennsylvania coroner, is auctioning off about 100 guns used in suicides and accidental shooting deaths.
According to the Associated Press,, Bacha says the Nov. 8th surplus weapons sale is Westmoreland County government’s first since his father was coroner in the 1980s.
[su_center_ad] According to WTAE, as the auction date gets closer, both the coroner and the auctioneer are seeing an increase in interest.
“Now as we are a week and a half away, we’re getting more phone calls, several today. I talked to the auctioneer earlier today, and he’s getting a lot of hits to his website and a lot of calls to his office as well,” Bacha said.
“I know when my dad had the auction in the 80s, there were guns that were valued at $100 brand new that were selling for $200. Was it just the novelty of it, that this gun took a life? I’m not really sure.”
Bacha said the guns being auctioned were not used in homicides. He added that forensic investigators house those firearms in secure evidence facilities for trials and appeals.
“Most of these firearms that are going to be auctioned are non-homicide firearms, meaning accidental deaths, but most of them are suicides,” Bacha said.
Well that’s a relief. Don’t we all feel better now?
Bacha says guns were used in 34 of the 55 suicides in the county last year.
H/T: The incomparable @CarlaAkins with thanks. [su_csky_ad]
R.J. Carter October 30th, 2014 at 2:18 pm
Those guns should be taken apart and buried in separate corners of the Earth so their parts never come together again! Or Pete and Myka should tag them and slip them in a big purple bag. They’re bad, bad guns that should never be allowed to do what they did again.
Carla Akins October 30th, 2014 at 2:20 pm
I miss Pete and Myka.
R.J. Carter October 30th, 2014 at 2:45 pm
I miss Claudia. I hope she does a Christmas special or something in the future, with the future.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 2:22 pm
What did the “GUNS” do that was bad, versus what did the former owners do with them that was bad??
Carla Akins October 30th, 2014 at 2:27 pm
Not so much the fact that it’s a gun, however it is an extremely successful instrument of death – especially in suicides. Whether it’s a gun or knife or whatever – I don’t think anyone should profit from it after such a tragedy.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 2:31 pm
Can I have them for Free then ??? =)
Carla Akins October 30th, 2014 at 2:42 pm
No. It should be a respect thing for those that lost a loved one to suicide. I can’t imagine a family member wanting it back. But then people surprise me all the time.
R.J. Carter October 30th, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Would it be more respectful if the purchaser didn’t know how the gun had been previously used?
Carla Akins October 30th, 2014 at 3:14 pm
that’s a real stretch.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 3:22 pm
How about I respectfully add them to my collection and get them some rehabilitation ??
Carla Akins October 30th, 2014 at 4:23 pm
You are working really hard at this.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
yes I am… With a name like “Susie”… I have to..
R.J. Carter October 30th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Life sure ain’t easy…
http://youtu.be/WOHPuY88Ry4
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
HAHAHAHA
Anomaly 100 October 30th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Poor Susie.
R.J. Carter October 30th, 2014 at 2:43 pm
Thanks for finding my point under all my layers of sarcasm. 🙂
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Oh good–for a minute there you were making sense.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 2:19 pm
I am wondering if they are going to produce a list of what actually is on the Auction Block ???
By the way, if they would auction off the firearms they receive in gun buy backs, you could preserve some history, as well as recoup all the expense plus enough to probably do it again, without costing the tax payers money.
Anomaly 100 October 30th, 2014 at 3:00 pm
He pried them from their ‘cold dead hands.’
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 3:21 pm
I have now written three very sarcastic responses to this comment. Sadly though, nobody would find the humor or the sarcasim. So I will just leave this one be…
Anomaly 100 October 30th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
I love you.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww……… Lub Dub….
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 3:00 pm
That’s sort of like the dentist handing you a Sugar Daddy on the way out the door after your check up.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 3:19 pm
I LOVEEEEEEEE SUGAR DADDY’S !!!!! Almost got killed over one. Ironically, it happened at halloween many years ago. Very funny story though…
tiredoftea October 30th, 2014 at 2:20 pm
“Since they’ve proven themselves, so to speak, we thought what a waste if we destroyed them. Let them help another potential suicidal person to accomplish their goals.”
Carla Akins October 30th, 2014 at 2:20 pm
The poor should be able to commit suicide as easily as the rich.
tiredoftea October 30th, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Exactly! What kind of country are we if we don’t allow the poor to have access to guns?
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
…pre-revolution France, maybe?
tiredoftea October 30th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
I was thinking pre Magna Carta England, but that works, too. Was there a run on guillotines in France among the poor?
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 4:05 pm
Naw–they couldn’t afford them. They finally just started dragging the filthy rich off into the woods and smothering them with cake.
tiredoftea October 30th, 2014 at 4:05 pm
Presumably while also stomping on their gout stricken toes.
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 4:10 pm
First World problems are hell…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvlbJ0h35A
tiredoftea October 30th, 2014 at 4:14 pm
IKR?!
KB723 October 30th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
Is this the Man who stopped an unmarked unit with a Banana???
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Very classy. Oh–and what is a “surplus” weapon? Can one EVER have too many guns?
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 3:27 pm
NOOOOOO, You cannot!!!
But my wife said the same thing to me. She tried telling me that for every new gun that comes into the house, an older one has to leave.
I said, alright, can we use the same theory on her shoes.
Dr. Said my vision should return to normal in a few weeks!!
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Yeah–funny as a crutch. Domestic violence–always good for a laugh…
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 4:39 pm
HAHAHAHAHA Lighten Up Francis….
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 4:43 pm
I grew up watching my dad beat the crap out of my mom and the rest of us. Knives, fists, boots– blood all over the kitchen and hallway, mom’s eyes swollen shut and bent over with internal injuries. When dad finally had his last heart attack when I was 18 it was a relief. So no, I will not “lighten up” about domestic violence. There’s not a damn thing about it that is funny.
Pistol-Packing AKA "Susie" October 30th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Sorry to hear that. I have a friend who experienced a lot of what you are talking about. Lived with us through junior and senior year of high school to get away from it. Sorry that anybody goes through that.
I am only making a joke… Specifically about telling a woman what to do with her shoes.
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Yeah–the shoe thing is funny as hell too…
R.J. Carter October 30th, 2014 at 5:43 pm
It was when it happened to Bristol Palin.
M D Reese October 30th, 2014 at 7:26 pm
She was actually the perpetrator.
Ronald Woolever October 30th, 2014 at 7:01 pm
Anyone remember when police forces were buying back guns? Now their profiting from them. There is something profoundly wrong with this country.