(a) The sheriff shall keep and maintain a permanent record of all abandoned or stolen firearms, not subject to disposition by general law. The records shall state the description of the firearm, the date of recovery of the firearm, and the serial or other identifying number, if any, of the firearm. Firearm as used in this subpart shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 13A-8-1.

(b) Unless otherwise provided by law, the sheriff may sell or destroy these firearms if the owner of the firearm does not claim the firearm within six months of the date the sheriff obtained it.

(c) The sheriff may sell the firearms to the highest bidder as long as that person or business may purchase a firearm legally in the State of Alabama. The bidder shall be subject to a background check for any and all records that would prohibit the bidder from purchasing a firearm. If the bidder is legally prohibited from purchasing the firearm, the firearm shall be put up for auction at another time, and the bidder shall be refunded any money he or she placed on the bid. All sales shall be on a cash basis. The proceeds of the sale, after deducting and paying all expenses incurred in the recovery, maintenance, and sale of the firearms shall be paid to the office of the Sheriff of Jackson County to be used for law enforcement purposes.

(d) The sheriff may establish a procedure to destroy firearms and may expend necessary sheriff's office funds for that purpose.

(e) Any firearm held by the sheriff on August 1, 2012, shall be subject to this section, but shall be held for at least six months after August 1, 2012.