Interesting 'Returned' Gun Story

[RVTECH]

Yesterday while at Sportsman's Warehouse I ran into a guy I know. I hadn't seen him in a while and he told me a pretty interesting story. About three weeks ago he got a call from the Los Angeles PD and they said they had in their possession a S & W pistol he owned - except he sold it like 25 years ago! They didn't give much info other than they would send it to an FFL of his choice if he wanted it back - to which he said yes. Other than a broken grip and a little wear he said it looked ok. Makes you wonder how they got his current information to contact him.

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[mkwerx]

From the "non existant" gun registry on the federal and state levels, of course.

 

[The Heretic]

Depends on who he sold it to.

Maybe depends on how the PD got it too - was it stolen? Used in a crime?

However, the simplest explanation would be that he bought it from an FFL new. BATF can do a "traceback" - the manufacturer will tell them which FFL they sold it to, then BATF can go ask the FFL who they sold it to. I would be surprised that they went to that much trouble - unless it was used in a crime - in which case they would have wanted to know who he sold it to, unless he sold it to an FFL or it wound up in the hands of an FFL before it got to its last private owner.

There are a number of different scenarios that don't involve the gov. having a huge database of gun transactions (I do think they do have a database though, one that they are not supposed to have). It is hard to tell without the details.

 

[mjbskwim]

Simple stuff. All they needed was his name that was connected to the first person who bought the gun then they go to the police data base and get his current address.
Probably didn't have anything to do with guns or registry after the 'first owner part

 

[Capn Jack]

What puzzles me is...Why are they returning it, unless he had declared it stolen?
If it had been used in a crime, wouldn't it have been destroyed?

 

[mjbskwim]

What puzzles me is...Why are they returning it, unless he had declared it stolen?
If it had been used in a crime, wouldn't it have been destroyed?

No matter what,I can't believe LAPD didn't destroy it.
Maybe because he lives out of state?

 

[clearconscience]

This happened to me, only I bought an AR15 from a friend and I moved to Kentucky after having a hard year there I sold it to someone to get money to move back here. About 3 years later, my friend got a call from a LEO in Kentucky asking him how his AR ended up in KY. Asking if it was stolen or he sold it. He gave them my info and said he sold it to me and told them I had moved there and sold it there.

But I never received a call. They must have decided to just auction it off ( that's what they do in KY)

The AR ended up with a felon. Made me mad that it got to a felon. I sold it to a guy off a classified ad in KY, I checked the guys ID and military ID but who knows.

I don't know how they can legally send it back to someone who wasn't the legal owner, unless the guy said it was stolen. Really strange they went to that trouble and actually returned it.

 

[The Heretic]

Maybe they screwed up. Misunderstood.

When I was in the USCG - at a small lifeboat station on the Oregon coast - I sold a hunting rifle to a fellow coastie. A short time later he was killed in an accident.

Sometime after his funeral, about the time I my enlistment was up, there was a scheduled audit of the firearms in the safe (any firearms on the station were kept in the safe), and the chief asked me if I wanted to take my rifle home with me.

I told him it wasn't my rifle anymore - I had sold it to the guy who was killed. They somehow missed keeping track of that. Now they had to somehow get it to the guy's family.

Bureaucracies are always inefficient and generally incompetent. They don't really care about doing things correctly, they just want stuff off their books. It looks bad on their record when they can't close a case out.

 

[The B]

What puzzles me is...Why are they returning it, unless he had declared it stolen?
If it had been used in a crime, wouldn't it have been destroyed?

My mother has had TWO handguns stolen, recovered from criminals, and returned to her. I've heard of other instances too.

I think it's just plain easier than anything else. If a department doesn't have a specific policy on what to do with recovered guns, they treat them like all other recovered property and try to get it out of the evidence locker as quickly and painlessly as possible...... returning it to a rightful owner (if not the rightful owner, which is probably a lot harder to accomplish) is the easiest way to achieve that effect.

 

[mjbskwim]

About 3 years later, my friend got a call from a LEO in Kentucky asking him how his AR ended up in KY. Asking if it was stolen or he sold it. He gave them my info and said he sold it to me and told them I had moved there and sold it there.

I may have flown to where this 'friend' was and kicked him in the jewels for giving them my name
And

My mother has had TWO handguns stolen

i wouldn't have let my mother buy guns any more or made sure she knew how to store them
Just. sayin

 

[clearconscience]

I didn't mind he's a goid friend.
He knew I didn't do anything stupid.
I felt bad for him getting a phone call from a LEO looking for him