An amendment to the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act may soon empower the Civilian Marksmanship Program to publicly sell the Army’s massive 1911 stockpile.

Rep. Mike Rogers’ (R-Alabama) amendment was passed by the House Armed Service Committee, meaning the World War II-era handguns could potentially be handed off to the CMP to be parceled out to anyone willing to pay for a piece of history.

“As a gun owner and strong believer in the Second Amendment, my proposal is a commonsense approach to eliminating an unnecessary cost to the Federal government while allowing the very capable CMP to handle the sale of these vintage firearms that otherwise would just sit in storage,” said Rogers.

The CMP’s firearms reserve is dwindling, but it gets an injection of roughly 100,000 highly-collectable military surplus handguns, the organization can continue promoting firearms safety training and rifle practice for years to come.

“Not only is this an organization that is committed to training civilians in the proper, responsible, and safe use of firearms, but at a cost of roughly $2.00 per pistol per year to store these weapons, we were spending $200,00 a year in perpetuity,” said Rep. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma, who voted for the successful amendment. “This sensible change will save the taxpayers millions over the years to come, as well as aid a great organization that serves the public.”

The NDA Act will likely come to the House floor this May.

(This article was a submission from freelance writer Brent Rogers)