FLEOA Statement on the Federal Law Enforcement
Handgun Commemoration Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 13, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Larry Cosme, National President of the Federal Law Enforcement
Officers Association (FLEOA), today issued the following statement regarding Senator John
Cornyn and Senator Patrick Leahy’s introduction of the Federal Law Enforcement Handgun
Commemoration Act which is companion bill to H.R. 4798, introduced by Rep Val Demings.
This legislation would allow federal law enforcement officers to purchase retired service weapons
in a similar fashion as their state and local counterparts allow.
"FLEOA fully supports the introduction of this important legislation, the Federal Law
Enforcement Handgun Commemoration Act. We appreciate the hard work of Senator
Cornyn, Senator Leahy, and their staff to introduce this needed legislation," said FLEOA
President Cosme. "For decades, we have seen the government waste money and add to our
greenhouse gas levels by destroying or melting down retired service weapons instead of
providing agencies with the option to sell those service weapons back to the officers that
have carried and trained with them."
"The current process makes absolutely no sense, especially considering that the Department
of Defense runs a similar program to sell firearms to certified civilian clubs that teach
firearms skills. The program created under this legislation would sell the firearms to federal
law enforcement officers who are well trained, have served their nation and choose to
continue to carry," said Cosme.
"Instead of burning taxpayer money, this option would allow agencies to re-coup some of
those funds and permit the agents to keep something they have carried and used keep
themselves and their communities safe for years. We thank Senator Cornyn and Senator
Leahy for their leadership with this issue and look forward to the bill’s passage into law,"Cosme concluded.
FLEOA is the nation’s largest non-partisan, not-for-profit professional association representing
more than 28,000 federal law enforcement officers and agents across 65 federal agencies.