Valuable WWII Gun at Police Buy-Back

The gun is called a Sturmgewehr 44, literally meaning “storm rifle,” and is the first “modern assault rifle ever made, eventually replaced by the AK 47 in 1947 by Russia, who copied the German design of the Sturmgewehr 44,” Officer Lewis Crabtree, one of the two officers who discovered the gun, told ABC News.

“It’s like finding the Babe Ruth of baseball cards,” said Officer John Cavanna. “The rarity, it was made for such a very short period.”

Most people, however, who aren’t avid gun fans would have no idea what role this gun played in history.

“If you were to look at the gun and didn’t know anything about guns, you would think it was garbage,” Crabtree said.

That is essentially what the owner thought the gun was, bringing it to the station knowing full well it would be put into a smelter, melting the gun down into an iron brick.

“People turn in guns for a variety of reasons,” Cavanna told ABC. “They don’t have a good way to secure it, they have kids around their home, or they don’t know how to use it. This is an anonymous way for someone to take an unwanted firearm and get it off the streets. We then give them a $50 or $100 gift card to Wal-Mart.”

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