The King County Sheriff’s office said late Friday it can’t account for 113 firearms.



Sgt. John Urquhart, spokesman for the department, said the inventory discrepancy came to light because authorities were updating their records as part of an accreditation process. The probe began in August of 2009 and is continuing, he said.



“This was the first time the Sheriff’s Office completed an independent physical inventory,” Urquhart said. “Previously, inventory records were kept by King County’s Fleet Administration, which keeps records of all assets held by County departments, from computers to desks, chairs and firearms.”



The unaccounted for weapons – dating back to 1958 – were 71 shotguns, 37 pistols and five rifles, the sheriff’s office said. Most of the weapons were likely sold to licenses gun dealers in past decades, Urquhart said.



“Others were destroyed when they became inoperable or defective. However state law only required that records be kept for six years, and therefore records of sales or guns destroyed were purged over time. There is also the possibility that weapons, especially shotguns, were not turned in by deputies after they qualified to carry a personally owned patrol rifle, and are therefore still in their possession,” Urquhart said. “Future weapons inventories will be maintained by both Fleet Administration and the Sheriff’s Office.”