Sheriff Allows Gun Inspection

Until now, the county controller said county gun records were almost non-existent.

Luzerne County sheriff John Gilligan says he's ready to turn a new page.

Sheriff Gilligan said, "I'm not here to break fences, I'm here to mend fences. basically everything that's hitting me is sins from the past and I'm trying to do what i can do with them."

Starting with allowing the Luzerne County controller to inspect county owned guns.

Controller Walter Griffith taking inventory of more than 100 guns at the sheriff's annex in Wilkes-Barre and at the Luzerne County courthouse.

Griffith said, “It's refreshing to see that there's a sheriff in town that's willing to cooperate with the controllers office because the mindset was that I was trying to be punitive and it was not the case."

Griffith has wanted to inventory county owned guns since January.

That's when the I-team exposed a machine gun sale that happened without commissioners approval.

Those involved with the sale skipped the necessary bidding process in 2009.

Former acting sheriff Charles Guarnieri stonewalled inspection requests since the story.

Sheriff Gilligan says Thursday's inspection was a step in the right direction.

Sheriff Gilligan said, "I think things went quite well."

Griffith doesn't believe other guns were sold without a bidding process.

No criminal charges were pressed after the questionable machine gun sale.