Las Vegas pawn shop auctioning off ex-LAPD Officer Dorner’s gun

A month before he set off on a rampage gunning down law enforcement officers in Southern California, ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner walked into a North Las Vegas pawn shop and sold a .38 revolver for $50.

Now the shop, Bargain Pawn, has put the gun up for sale in an online auction, hoping to donate proceeds to victims’ families.

Three days into the two-week auction, 18 bidders had driven the price up to $585 as of midafternoon Friday.

“Appears to have been refinished and exterior is in very nice shape,” reads the posting, accompanied by a surveillance camera image of Dorner and a copy of the sale ticket with his signature. “Appears to be fully functional.”

George Bramlett, the shop’s owner, said he knew the gun would become a collector’s item after his son, who handled the sale, recognized Dorner on the news. He said he decided to auction it off as a community service to benefit those affected by Dorner’s actions.

“Our cops are really good to us here in North Las Vegas,” he said Friday in a phone interview.

But one group raising funds for a fallen officer said any money raised by the gun sale is not welcome.

Sgt. Brian Smith, president of the Riverside Police Officers Assn., called the sale “tasteless.” The union is raising funds to benefit the children of Officer Michael Crain, who was shot and killed by Dorner in an ambush.

“We’re not interested in the money,” Smith said. He suggested the right thing to do might be to turn the gun in to local police to have it destroyed.

Bramlett said despite some negative reactions he’s gotten to the sale, he believed the gun was worth preserving. He noted that it wasn’t used in any of Dorner’s crimes. He said he would find some way to donate the proceeds, which he estimated could be as much as $25,000.

“It’s a piece of history, even if it’s bad history,” he said.

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Twitter: @vicjkim

victoria.kim@latimes.com