George Zimmerman Attempts to Auction Gun Used to Kill Trayvon Martin
George Zimmerman has been trying to auction the gun he used to shoot and kill Trayvon Martin.
On Thursday, May 12, he attempted to put the gun, a Kel-Tec PF-9 mm, up for auction on two different auction websites. Both of the websites removed his listings, The New York Times reports.
Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, on February 26, 2012. A member of the community watch, Zimmerman claimed that he shot Martin in self-defense and was found not guilty.
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Zimmerman provided a description of the gun and his reason for selling it in both of the listings he posted on the auction websites. According to Zimmerman's posts, he is "honored" and "humbled" to be auctioning an "American firearm icon."
"The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012," he wrote.
The posts were later taken down.
Zimmerman started the auction for the firearm on GunBroker on Thursday morning. By afternoon, the website released a statement saying that it had rejected Zimmerman's gun and that it was reserving its right to reject listings at its discretion.
"We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving," GunBroker said.
Zimmerman then moved his listing to a different website. In a text to CNN, he provided a different reason as to why his listing was removed from GunBroker. According to Zimmerman, the website was not prepared for the publicity and the traffic caused by the auction of his gun.
He then tried to auction the gun through an online firearm marketplace called Union Gun Group. It released a statement on Thursday night saying that Zimmerman's listing had been removed.
"As an organization, we stand by the rule of law and, while no laws have been broken, we do not feel like it is in the best interest of the organization to continue to host this sale on our platform," the website said (via CNN).
In his posts about the firearm, Zimmerman claimed that museums such as the Smithsonian Institution are interested in purchasing and displaying the weapon.
The Smithsonian has denied that it has expressed any interest in the gun.
