how is having them come to YOUR house better than taking it to them?
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Found a gun -- what to do?
- Thread Starter djm68
- Start date
how is having them come to YOUR house better than taking it to them?
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It's never a good idea to invite a police officer into your house except in an emergency or a situation where you've been a victim of a crime inside your house and they need to investigate.
Unless it's a purely social visit with a friend, of course.
thats sure as hades MY policy. i will not have government agents operating under the color of the law entering my domicile unless it's GREATLY benefiting me somehow.
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Actually I own an old Tanfoglio revolver and for the money it's been a great value
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Definitely call the police and have them come get it. Chances are its not anyone CCW, as most would be alot more observant of that falling out of its holster. Probably stolen or an unlicensed gun. I'm curious to see what will come of this, more than likely the police will keep it, or maybe you get a free gun once its processed?What kind was it btw?
unlicensed gun ? do you mean it's plates fell off?
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Heck no you don't keep it! You get caught with it and you go to jail......For a long time.
care to site a case or statute?
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Maybe the tags are not current
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I've got nuthin ta hide, but MY HOUSE is the last place I'd want an unknown police officer to find me. No, plop it in the boot, drive to the constabulary, walk in, gun still in boot, ask for an officer to come to your car and collect it.
Have him come to my house? Sorry, bad idea. MY car in the car park at the copshop is close enough. I'd likely even move it from the boot to the floor of the front passenger seat before I went in.
Paranoid? No, just have read too many tales of the cops taking a wild hare and getting pushy.... "so, you don't mind if I come inside, now, do you?" Once inside, I've already forfeited ALL my rights to the security of my home, papers, effects, possessions. And THEY know it.
On "official business", they stay as far away as I can possibly keep them. ALWAYS
by the way, to the OP, it seems you did the right thing..... securing it against misuse, turning it in for examination..... they won't do anything too locate its rightful owner after checking for stolen/crime records.
And whoever wondered about a "licensed" gun in Oregon... since when do they require arms being "licensed"? Sure, buy it from a dealer, there is a record. State police, local LEA. Buy it before those requirements came in, or from a private party, no record. Still perfectly legal. There is NO requirement to "license" arms in Oregon.... yet. There are those who deem this bad policy, though, and are working to change it, a la California. Let us thwart them at every turn......
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- Thread Starter
- #70
I appreciate your thoughtful post. I stand by my decision to "secure" the weapon and make sure the gun does not wind up in the hands of a kid or a criminal.
I felt a little uncomfortable going into the police station with the gun -- once you walk in there are signs "NO WEAPONS". *ugh* But, I am an honest citizen, and to be totally honest, the cop I met with was really friendly, clearly happy that someone was turning in a weapon. He was certainly more polite and friendly than the majority of people I run into at stores/restaurants, etc.
I can hardly believe some folks actually suggest inviting the police into their home to pick-up the gun. As pointed out, once you have allowed an officer into your home, you've automatically waived your rights.
The officer whom I spoke to at the PD said they would run the serial numbers and ballistics to make sure it was not stolen nor used in a crime. After that, I suspect it will be destroyed?
Best,
DJM
I've read through this thread and the consensus seems to be "turn it in to the Po-po". It's done now but I have to wonder what would have happened if it had been a camera of similar value? A toolbox full of wrenches?
We spend lot of energy trying to convince anti-gunners that a gun is "just a tool" yet even we treat them as something different than other tools. Had he found that toolbox he'd likely have tossed it into his trunk and congratulated himself on his good fortune. At the very most he'd have posted a notice on the bulletin board at the park or in a newspaper. But call the police? I doubt it.
We need to be more consistent. If it's a tool when we talk to the gun-grabbers then it's a tool all the time. Otherwise give up and admit it's a deadly machine that needs to be carefully controled and accounted for. After that send the Brady Bunch some money too, they need it.
We spend lot of energy trying to convince anti-gunners that a gun is "just a tool" yet even we treat them as something different than other tools. Had he found that toolbox he'd likely have tossed it into his trunk and congratulated himself on his good fortune. At the very most he'd have posted a notice on the bulletin board at the park or in a newspaper. But call the police? I doubt it.
We need to be more consistent. If it's a tool when we talk to the gun-grabbers then it's a tool all the time. Otherwise give up and admit it's a deadly machine that needs to be carefully controled and accounted for. After that send the Brady Bunch some money too, they need it.
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I've read through this thread and the consensus seems to be "turn it in to the Po-po". It's done now but I have to wonder what would have happened if it had been a camera of similar value? A toolbox full of wrenches?
We spend lot of energy trying to convince anti-gunners that a gun is "just a tool" yet even we treat them as something different than other tools. Had he found that toolbox he'd likely have tossed it into his trunk and congratulated himself on his good fortune. At the very most he'd have posted a notice on the bulletin board at the park or in a newspaper. But call the police? I doubt it.
We need to be more consistent. If it's a tool when we talk to the gun-grabbers then it's a tool all the time. Otherwise give up and admit it's a deadly machine that needs to be carefully controled and accounted for. After that send the Brady Bunch some money too, they need it.
I once lost $1200 worth of mechanical tools out the back of my truck, due to negligence of an employee. They were easily ID-ed by the engravings. Keeping them would be theft..
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I caught that too.
"I once lost $1200 worth of mechanical tools out the back of my truck, due to negligence of an employee. They were easily ID-ed by the engravings. Keeping them would be theft.."
ID'ed and returned is great and I'm happy for you but I still doubt the police were called on to find you. What if the tools weren't engraved? You'd be out $1200 and someone would be ahead the equal amount. Theft? Not if the owner can't be found.
Admittedly a gun could be traced through the serial number. In practice though, a whole lot of guns have broken trails, they were once bought with an exchange of numbers and ID but have since gone "off paper." A cheap pistol could well have been bought in a bar or at a garage sale. Some may quiver and shake at the prospect of buying a gun that might have once been used in a crime but what are the odds of ever getting it checked by the police? About 99% of gun "events" end up with no shots fired and both parties simply walking away. Of the other 1%, where shots are actually fired, most involve police officers with very few actually involving "civilian" gun owners. Sure, we hear about those few a lot but that's the way news is sold.
In general, if you don't want the police to check your gun... don't let them know you have one. Those of you that have CCW... you've invited suspicion onto yourselves just a surely as if you'd committed a crime. I was once arrested for carrying illegally and now every time I get stopped for a traffic infraction I get asked if I'm carrying. My own fault; I shouldn't have let them know that first time but I won't have to live with it much longer, I turn 76 later this month.
ID'ed and returned is great and I'm happy for you but I still doubt the police were called on to find you. What if the tools weren't engraved? You'd be out $1200 and someone would be ahead the equal amount. Theft? Not if the owner can't be found.
Admittedly a gun could be traced through the serial number. In practice though, a whole lot of guns have broken trails, they were once bought with an exchange of numbers and ID but have since gone "off paper." A cheap pistol could well have been bought in a bar or at a garage sale. Some may quiver and shake at the prospect of buying a gun that might have once been used in a crime but what are the odds of ever getting it checked by the police? About 99% of gun "events" end up with no shots fired and both parties simply walking away. Of the other 1%, where shots are actually fired, most involve police officers with very few actually involving "civilian" gun owners. Sure, we hear about those few a lot but that's the way news is sold.
In general, if you don't want the police to check your gun... don't let them know you have one. Those of you that have CCW... you've invited suspicion onto yourselves just a surely as if you'd committed a crime. I was once arrested for carrying illegally and now every time I get stopped for a traffic infraction I get asked if I'm carrying. My own fault; I shouldn't have let them know that first time but I won't have to live with it much longer, I turn 76 later this month.
DJM,
First I carry my cell phone in case of an emergency and if I'm with my family outdoors, I might trun it off but it is with me just incase I need help. Some one could get hurt, the car could break down or I might find a loaded gun in a parking lot.
Second no need to be rude for good advices given, clearly a good education and a nice income doesn't afford mannors. It isn't the education or the income that is the measure of a man it is how he inreracts with others. With that being said I would be happy to take your wager, I think you might be surprised at the average income of the members here.
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My tools were engraved with the name of my local business. Some a$$hat stole them on the roadside and never returned them. I was a very small biz and they were not insured. If the opportunity presents itself in the future, the thief is toast
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Enjoy your free gun
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Oldfart said"
In practice though, a whole lot of guns have broken trails, they were once bought with an exchange of numbers and ID but have since gone "off paper." A cheap pistol could well have been bought in a bar or at a garage sale. Some may quiver and shake at the prospect of buying a gun that might have once been used in a crime but what are the odds of ever getting it checked by the police?
the trial can go cold by other means, as well. Suppose I bought a new gun ten years ago, resold it on Gunbroker to a guy in Pennsylvania who bought through FFL, records done all proper and all.... HE kept it two years, resold it through GB to a guy in Arizona....
BATF records will show which dealer got it from the factory, go to that dealer, and learn I bought it. Unless they come to me, they have NO chance of finding out who got it next.... unless they happen to be scanning the records of the dealer who did the transfer. Been years, no way can I remember who the next owner is... or the name of the dealer I shipped it to. Now what? IF, somehow, with a warrant and keen footwork they could find the guy I sold it to, the same thing plays out once more..... and all fully legal, according to the strict letter of the law. Once I ship it off to another FFL, I've no obligation, nor any reason, to keep records or remember. It is THEIR system..... but, I am glad it doesn't work like motor vehicle records..... with the states each having instant access to the full record and trail of every vehicle by either number plate or builders' serial number.
With firearms, there is no searchable database of any significant size.... the gun I bought ten years ago has disappeared into a black hole, they've little way of tracing it, or learning the list of all the weapons I now have, or have sold, in the past ten, twenty years. And, any bought before the background checks, or more than 20 years ago, WILL have a cold trail from the get go, as even the manufacturers had no cause to maintain records of the dealers who got them. They were no different than barbecue grilles or surfboards...... and I await the day they will all return to such a status. No one has a record of the Sawzall or Delta UNisaw I got three years ago..... unless Delta have maintained their warranty registration database past the two years of the warranty period.... even assuming I sent the silly thing in.......
I'n not certain, but I question the validity of the ballistics data or cartridge "fingerprint" databases kept by some states. I have heard that, in Illinois, no one can buy a handgun without the state police actually getting their grubby paws on it and firing a round from it, preserving the cartridge and bullet, and mapping them electronically, to build a database of all handguns presumably owned in the state. They've been doing this for a number of years.... the information I have is that NOT ONE crime has EVER been solved by searching that database..... oh sure, just as anywhere else, at times either a cartridge or bullet is recovered at a crime scene, and once the suspected perp is in custody and his handgun found, they can positively identify that THIS is indeed the weapon that fired this bullet and/or cartridge. Not once have they been able to identify the weapon from the prints of the crime scene evidence..... so, they've wasted millions and angered thousands of innocent citizens by demanding this proceedure be followed.
The only way, suppose I'd got hold of a crime gun, they could try and hang ME for the deed would be if they had reason to suspect ME, then found that weapon, checked it for ballistics/cartridge print, and found a match. LE would have to have probable cause to take my weapon into possession and run those tests. It is not general practice to test every weapon they come across....
so, the odds are VERY slim that, suppose I DID manage to get hold of a crime weapon, they would ever make the connexion based on my possession of it.
In practice though, a whole lot of guns have broken trails, they were once bought with an exchange of numbers and ID but have since gone "off paper." A cheap pistol could well have been bought in a bar or at a garage sale. Some may quiver and shake at the prospect of buying a gun that might have once been used in a crime but what are the odds of ever getting it checked by the police?
the trial can go cold by other means, as well. Suppose I bought a new gun ten years ago, resold it on Gunbroker to a guy in Pennsylvania who bought through FFL, records done all proper and all.... HE kept it two years, resold it through GB to a guy in Arizona....
BATF records will show which dealer got it from the factory, go to that dealer, and learn I bought it. Unless they come to me, they have NO chance of finding out who got it next.... unless they happen to be scanning the records of the dealer who did the transfer. Been years, no way can I remember who the next owner is... or the name of the dealer I shipped it to. Now what? IF, somehow, with a warrant and keen footwork they could find the guy I sold it to, the same thing plays out once more..... and all fully legal, according to the strict letter of the law. Once I ship it off to another FFL, I've no obligation, nor any reason, to keep records or remember. It is THEIR system..... but, I am glad it doesn't work like motor vehicle records..... with the states each having instant access to the full record and trail of every vehicle by either number plate or builders' serial number.
With firearms, there is no searchable database of any significant size.... the gun I bought ten years ago has disappeared into a black hole, they've little way of tracing it, or learning the list of all the weapons I now have, or have sold, in the past ten, twenty years. And, any bought before the background checks, or more than 20 years ago, WILL have a cold trail from the get go, as even the manufacturers had no cause to maintain records of the dealers who got them. They were no different than barbecue grilles or surfboards...... and I await the day they will all return to such a status. No one has a record of the Sawzall or Delta UNisaw I got three years ago..... unless Delta have maintained their warranty registration database past the two years of the warranty period.... even assuming I sent the silly thing in.......
I'n not certain, but I question the validity of the ballistics data or cartridge "fingerprint" databases kept by some states. I have heard that, in Illinois, no one can buy a handgun without the state police actually getting their grubby paws on it and firing a round from it, preserving the cartridge and bullet, and mapping them electronically, to build a database of all handguns presumably owned in the state. They've been doing this for a number of years.... the information I have is that NOT ONE crime has EVER been solved by searching that database..... oh sure, just as anywhere else, at times either a cartridge or bullet is recovered at a crime scene, and once the suspected perp is in custody and his handgun found, they can positively identify that THIS is indeed the weapon that fired this bullet and/or cartridge. Not once have they been able to identify the weapon from the prints of the crime scene evidence..... so, they've wasted millions and angered thousands of innocent citizens by demanding this proceedure be followed.
The only way, suppose I'd got hold of a crime gun, they could try and hang ME for the deed would be if they had reason to suspect ME, then found that weapon, checked it for ballistics/cartridge print, and found a match. LE would have to have probable cause to take my weapon into possession and run those tests. It is not general practice to test every weapon they come across....
so, the odds are VERY slim that, suppose I DID manage to get hold of a crime weapon, they would ever make the connexion based on my possession of it.
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- Thread Starter
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Will,
I appreciate your thoughts. If you read this thread you will see that I did, indeed, thank folks for their good advice and indicated that I would take the gun to the police. That was on the first page of this thread. Advice was offered, advice was taken, thanks was given. Review the thread and you will see my thanks posted to nearly all meaningful and serious replies.
I fully agree that the measure of a man is how he interacts with those around him, both in person and yes even on Internet forums. I'd invite you to opine on the various folks who replied to this thread: several encouraged keeping the gun (a crime), others suggested leaving it, perhaps to be found by some one lacking in firearms knowledge, maybe a child. Others engaged in unfounded accusations, assumptions and fear mongering, one person going so far as to compare finding a gun with corpse. Lastly, and to the member who I addressed my "ill-mannered" reply -- I was called a liar.
I'd say, given the overall tone of this thread, my responses have been quite measured, patient, and polite.
Best,
DJM
Nah - it got it's third DUI...
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