There is a ton of speculation here, a lot of it very wild.
Let me throw a big MAYBE out there as to what this is all about (since the story doesn't give us much real info). This is based on numerous discussions and prior personal experiences.
When Ethics Commissions (both US and in almost every state) were created, laws and policies were put in place that basically forbid any public employee (and later expanded to include people in the medical profession as well) from accepting/giving gifts worth any significant amount of money (we're talking >$25 or $50 in a year here). Public entities must sell off items they no longer want/need at public auction to ensure that they collect fair value for the item. In fact officers are forbidden to accept free food/drinks, etc. which was very commonplace for very many years until the creation of the ethics laws.
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Now let's take a walk down history lane:
- Not so many years ago it was commonplace for a PD to gift a retiring officer with the gun s/he carried. Also when guns were traded in for newer models, officers were allowed to buy their guns for a nominal amount of money (usually the same as what the dealer doing the swap was giving the PD). These acts were common across the US, not just in MA. I'm sure that in MA no FA-10s were ever done on these gifts.
- In the 1980s when my PD went from revolvers (S&W 64 and 36?) to semi-autos, I was offered my choice of any of the revolvers for $100 each. I wasn't interested in any more revolvers, so I took a pass.
- In the 2000s when my PD went from Sigs to M&Ps, if I was interested, my PD would put me in touch with the dealer who was swapping the guns and I could buy one from that dealer at whatever price the dealer charged me (likely the trade value + some %-age). You can see the big difference that happened here, due to the ethics laws.
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Now a correction:
- FET is only paid by a gun mfr. and gov't purchases are exempt. So if a PD bought guns, used them and later traded up and offered those guns to the public by auction, no FET is ever paid on those guns and that is perfectly legal.
- If a PD ordered a gun and thus didn't pay FET, and immediately transferred ownership to an officer, they would be in a heap of trouble. IRS could go after all parties for tax fraud. My late Chief ordered my duty gun (as a PT POs we had to pay for all of our own gear) for me from our police supply company. However as I knew and the police supply company explained, when the gun came in I had to go to the company to do the transfer (this was late 1970s, no NICS) and do the FA-10, pay FET (which you really never see in the price but it is there) and MA sales tax (probably 3% back then).