Interesting Observation at Gun Shop

[Jeb48]

Wednesday I was killing time between two appointments and went to my local gun shop to walk around. Lots of empty ammo shelves and some empty spots in the gun racks but still was nice to do some window shopping. As I was going down the one side of the store there was a city policeman talking to one of the salesman, and he had a cardboard pistol box that had been smashed with the gun still in side, all looked brand new. He was asking for them to see if they had recently sold it. Apparently it was found in the street in the general area and had been run over. Lots of speculation on how it go there, from left on the roof when getting in the car, to stolen and dumped. Probably should have stuck around and listen but had places to go. Couldn't help wondering what I would have done if I found it. Probably calling the police was the right thing, but temptation.....

[Grunt67]

No temptation there, call the police. Risky.

[RED333]

1 minute ago, Grunt67 said:

No temptation there, call the police. Risky.

Yep, getting caught with a stolen firearm would really mess up your day.

[bobsguns]

22 hours ago, RED333 said:

Yep, getting caught with a stolen firearm would really mess up your day.

Eh, not really. One's background has a lot to do with that, IMO. If a person has a lot of arrests (never mind convictions), then they're probably shady. But the average Joe Bob who trades in a hot gun doesn't get much more than an interview to see where he got it from. The gun is then confiscated & if the guy passes the smell test, he's on his way. 

I once had a dealer who had a NIB Ruger sell at a gun show. When the TICS check was ran, the gun popped up as stolen. We guessed something in the S/N got transposed as the gun was direct from a wholesale distributor. He lost the gun, never got his $$ back.

For those whom may remember her, Bob Pope's long time assistant Tammie bought a .222mag rifle at a show, doing a private sale. She traded it in years later to The Gun Crew & it came up as stolen. She knew the guy well who sold it to her & she was pretty shocked about it. She lost the gun as well. 

[Jeb48]

I think I could have resisted temptation too. 10+ years ago I found a couple of long guns rolled up in a blanket in an old foundation down the road from where we lived. I only unwrapped enough to see what was in the blanket and left them where they were and called the troopers. They showed up and took them away and I never heard a word about them again. I was hoping at least a report back but nothing.

[bobsguns]

8 hours ago, Jeb48 said:

I think I could have resisted temptation too. 10+ years ago I found a couple of long guns rolled up in a blanket in an old foundation down the road from where we lived. I only unwrapped enough to see what was in the blanket and left them where they were and called the troopers. They showed up and took them away and I never heard a word about them again. I was hoping at least a report back but nothing.

A good chance those guns went home with someone in the department, IMO. If a gun is purchased via a private sale, there's no way to connect to the owners. Now what to do with them when they're orphans? 

[Alleycat72]

I have a 1916 Newton rifle. I know where it's been most of its life, but think about guns like it. A gun that age could have been stolen in the 20s and changed hands 20 or30 times. I'd be kind of hard to charge the current owner of a crime just for having it.

[FUJIMO]

As mentioned several times on this forum I've grown up in the same county I was born and raised in. We've had no less than 6 county sheriffs and the current one is the ONLY one that hasn't recovered or seized weapons only for them to disappear and never wind up at a sale or back to the original owner. Where do you think those weapons wind up ? And what happens to the sheriffs son or grandson decades from now when papaws AK turns out as stolen from FL in 1970 ?

I know the picture people paint in their mind is when the weapon pops up stolen you're carted off to jail but the reality is nothing like that at all. More hype and fear people like to froth up.

[bobsguns]

30 minutes ago, FUJIMO said:

Where do you think those weapons wind up ?

They go to the farm out in the country, where dogs sometimes go to?