The Vicksburg Police Department’s training room on Veto Street has been converted into an armory.

Monday morning, police officers began laying out the department’s collection of 1,168 handguns and rifles for viewing by federally licensed gun dealers interested in buying one or more, or all, of the seized or unclaimed weapons the department has accumulated since 1978.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen a week ago authorized City Clerk Walter Osborne to put the weapons out for bid to raise money to purchase new weapons and replace the 19-year-old 9mm Baretta handguns now carried by the officers. The guns will remain on display under guard through Thursday.

Police chief Walter Armstrong said the department has received 30 to 40 calls from licensed collectors, including one collector from Ohio, and a lot of calls from local people hoping to get a bargain.

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Can I just come and buy one gun if I have proper ID?’ ” said police Lt. Davey Barnette, who is overseeing the collection.

The police department’s collection is a mix of weapons that includes a who’s who of such top manufactures as Colt, Smith&Wesson, Browning, Luger, Mauser and Glock and a plethora of lesser known gunsmiths. And inside this assortment of steel and chrome are some real collector’s gems.

The oldest weapon is a mint-condition 1938 German Luger. “The serial numbers verify its age,” Barnette said. “I really don’t know how we got this one. I went on the internet and checked it out, and similar Lugers go for $5,000 to $6,000. We’ve got a lot of guns here that would get a good price on the retail market.”

Other collector pieces include a 1900 model Colt .38-caliber revolver and Dutch-made military Mauser .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

“When the Dutch made these guns, they stamped a serial number on each machined piece,” police detective Davey Thomas said. “All the serial numbers on this one match. A collector’s going to go crazy over this piece.”

Barnette said the bid packages for the guns give dealers the option to bid on individual pieces or the entire collection. At some gun sales he has attended, he said, the guns were in crates or boxes, and the bidder had to dig through the weapons to find what was available.

“We decided to put the guns on display so the dealers can see what they’re buying,” he said. “They will have a list of the weapons in the bid packet. Each weapon has a matching control number and a description for the buyer.”

“We don’t know how many people will actually bid on the guns,” Armstrong said. “What we’re hoping is there will be enough bidders so we will raise enough money to buy new weapons without costing the taxpayers.”