  We investigate equilibrium properties of two very different stochastic
collision models: (i) the Rayleigh particle and (ii) the driven Maxwell gas.
For both models the equilibrium velocity distribution is a L\'evy distribution,
the Maxwell distribution being a special case. We show how these models are
related to fractional kinetic equations. Our work demonstrates that a stable
power-law equilibrium, which is independent of details of the underlying
models, is a natural generalization of Maxwell's velocity distribution.
