Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. FRY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 405, I call up the bill (H.R. 2255) to allow Federal law enforcement officers to purchase retired service weapons, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
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Mr. FRY. 2255.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2255, the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act, will allow current or former Federal law enforcement officers in good standing to purchase a retired service weapon at salvage value from the Federal agency that issued the service weapon to the officer.
Under the bill, the administrator of general services would be required to establish a program to provide these purchases.
To be eligible to participate in the program, the officer must be in good standing with the agency and any firearm sold through the program must be sold within 6 months of the date when the firearm was retired.
Current Federal regulations require all Federal law enforcement agencies to destroy their firearms after they are retired from official use.
This regulation costs the American taxpayers millions of dollars every year. For example, in 2022, the Fraternal Order of Police notified Congress that multiple Federal law enforcement agencies were in the process of replacing their service weapons. The replacement of these service weapons accounted for the destruction of approximately 20,000 firearms, costing the taxpayers roughly $8 million.
Not only would this legislation cause agencies and the taxpayers to avoid that cost, but it would also recoup some of the taxpayers' dollars for the initial purchase of the firearm. American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for a service weapon twice, once at the initial purchase when it was acquired by the agency and then again when it is needlessly destroyed at the end of its life.
Law enforcement officers should have the opportunity to purchase the service weapon they used while serving in law enforcement.
By allowing officers to purchase their retired service weapons, this provides a starting point to keeping them safe so that they may protect their communities as well as themselves and their families.
This legislation is supported by 10 law enforcement organizations, the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Fraternal Order of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Narcotics Officers' Associations' Coalition, the National Sheriffs' Association, the Sergeants Benevolent Association NYPD, and the National Treasury Employees Union.
I hope my colleagues across the aisle recognize this bill not as a partisan measure but, much like it was last year, in fact, bipartisan when it was voted on in the House.
This is a commonsense, cost-saving initiative that supports law enforcement and the American taxpayers.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. FRY. Mr. Speaker, just to discuss a few of the extraneous comments that were made by the minority party, the officer that is currently employed by a Federal law enforcement agency must be in good standing. In order for that to happen, obviously, they are not committing crimes.
Some of these things that are kind of coming out that the majority party is talking about or has talked about is the officer must be in good standing. If they have blemishes on their record, they are no longer employed or employable by that Federal agency.
Second of all, grenade launchers are not issued by Federal law enforcement agencies. They might be used by Federal law enforcement, but they are not issued to that officer. Sawed-off shotguns, the same thing, they are not issued to an officer. The officer must be in good standing.
In the event that the officer is retired within that 6-month period, these weapons don't sit around with their name on them in a locker room somewhere waiting for the weapon to also be retired. It is then issued to another officer.
The program only extends if you are retired, and you happen to have the ability when you are retired to purchase that retired service weapon, you have a 6-month period in which to do that. The window is very short.
GSA, under the bill, has every opportunity to come up with the rules and regulations related to this. A lot of this is distraction. This is the same bill that we passed last year. In fact, 13 Democrats supported this bill. The smoke and mirrors that is created by the minority just don't actually exist in reality.
This is a very commonsense bill. Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every single day. They should be able to purchase their service weapon. If the officer is retired and their service weapon is retired roughly commensurate to when they actually physically retire, then they can also purchase that. Anyone who is actually charged and convicted with a crime, that the gentleman talks about, would be precluded from doing this.
GSA has all the rights to come up with the regulations themselves. The statute is very clear. Law enforcement officers are not issued machine guns. They are not issued grenade launchers. They are not issued sawed-off shotguns or missile launchers or helicopters. These are not part and parcel to an officer's weapons in the line of duty. They are issued handguns, maybe a shotgun, and maybe a rifle. That is it.
These things are ultimately distractions. The DOGE stuff I won't respond to at all because it doesn't need to be.
This is a commonsense bill supported by a lot of law enforcement agencies, a lot of law enforcement organizations, and was voted on in a bipartisan fashion last Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. FRY. Will the gentleman yield?
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Mr. FRY. The gentleman said it applied to grenade launchers, sawed- off shotguns, and the like. Those are permitted to be used, but they are not issued to an officer.
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Mr. FRY. They don't take those weapons home with them is the whole point. Under GSA--
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Mr. FRY. To answer the gentleman's first question, if you are in good standing, then that means that you cannot have committed a felony.
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Mr. FRY. The prohibited purchaser statute would preclude them from being able to purchase that to begin with.
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Mr. FRY. GSA comes up with the regulations. That is laid out very clearly in the bill that they would come up with those regulations on an officer.
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Mr. FRY. No. What I am saying is that these things are not actually in reality. People are not issued helicopters, grenades, or whatever else.
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Mr. FRY. Because they are not actually issued it.
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Mr. FRY. You cannot buy these things on the street.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2255, the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act, is a very commonsense piece of legislation supported by Republicans and, at least last Congress, by 13 Democrats, as well. Fourteen Members across the aisle voted in favor of this same exact bill, and I encourage more Members to do so as we honor police this week and into the future.
Law enforcement officers are faced with danger every single day, not only on the job, but when they return to their homes. This commonsense bill honors them a little bit and shows them that we want them to have these weapons in their homes to protect them, their property, and their families, as well.
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