PARIS – Shopping around for the highest bid paid off in the latest firearms auction held by the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

The department raised about $1,850 from the sale of 41 confiscated weapons, and used the money to buy new firearms for county deputies, said OCSO Capt. Jim Davis.

Davis said the gun sales revenue allowed the department to buy one new rifle and four new Remington pump shotguns for county cruisers.

The 41 guns that were sold were taken from their owners over the past four or five years. While other seized weapons are often later returned to their owners, these guns could not be returned because their owners were convicted felons, Davis said.

This fall, all gun dealers in the county with federal firearms licenses were invited to bid on the weapons, Davis said.

Only one bid was returned, for $500, from Canton gun dealer Malcolm Wallace.

It was unacceptable to Oxford County Sheriff Lloyd “Skip” Herrick, who was aware that some of the guns, such as a Remington Woodsmaster and a Smith and Wesson .357 revolver, had considerable value, Davis said.

“Obviously the sheriff isn’t going to give these guns away,” Davis said.

Herrick then approached Tri-State Police and Fire Equipment Inc., which bid $1,250 for 13 of the firearms, Davis said.

The remaining guns were later sold to Wallace for about $600.