Broker Refuses to Auction Off George Zimmerman’s Gun

Gunbroker.com, the site where George Zimmerman planned to auction off the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin, said in a Thursday statement that it had rejected the listing.

The site said it wants “no part” in the listing or any publicity associated with it. Its sale notices are written and posted by its users, so Gunbroker.com was not associated with the auction and refused to sell the gun on its site, the statement said. Zimmerman’s post was removed from the site earlier on Thursday, before the auction was scheduled to begin.

“Mr. Zimmerman never contacted anyone at GunBroker.com prior to or after the listing was created and no one at GunBroker.com has any relationship with Zimmerman,” the statement said. “Our site rules state that we reserve the right to reject listings at our sole discretion, and have done so with the Zimmerman listing.”

Zimmerman, in texts to the Orlando Sentinel, said he would use Unitedgungroup.com to sell the gun instead, presenting the reasons for not using Gunbroker.com in a different light.

“[Gunbroker.com wasn’t] prepared for the traffic and publicity surrounding the auction of my firearm,” Zimmerman texted. “It has now been placed with another auction house.” The starting bid for his 9mm gun is $5,000 on Unitedgungroup.com.

In 2012, Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, an unarmed Florida teen. He was acquitted of murder charges the next year.