Department leaders will decide whether to use the money for firearms or nonlethal weapons such as

Department leaders will decide whether to use the money for firearms or nonlethal weapons such as pepper guns.

FOREST PARK, Ohio (AP) — A collection of rifles, shotguns and handguns has done nothing but collect dust at the city’s police department.

Now it’s going to help get new equipment for officers.

Several police departments facing tight budgets are unloading souvenir firearms to raise money and buy new equipment.

In Sandusky, police are trading in a machine gun made popular by Prohibition-era gangsters along with other confiscated firearms for new weapons and gear worth over $60,000.

“We decided it was time to turn these things over while they still have value,” said acting Police Chief Charlie Sams.

Forest Park police in suburban Cincinnati have about 300 firearms collected over decades through court-ordered seizures, donations and family heirlooms that owners no longer wanted.

The collection includes MP-40 submachine guns used by German soldiers during World War II.

Police are seeking a contract with an Indiana-based police supply company to dispose of or sell the weapons, except the submachine guns because federal firearms make it difficult to get rid of automatic weapons.

The other guns are expected to bring in about $9,000, said police Capt. Gary Terrell.

“It was a source of revenue that we can use here at the police department for additional equipment that can help us do a better job for the citizens,” he said.

Department leaders will decide whether to use the money for firearms or non-lethal weapons such as pepper guns.

The submachine guns will remain in storage, but they might be donated to a museum, Terrell said.

Police in Sandusky in northern Ohio have had the 1921 Tommy Gun since the 1940s. Some think it was seized during a raid.

City leaders thought about donating it to a local museum until they found it was worth $22,500.