26 years later gun returned

[ReeferMac]

At the end he makes a good point: write your s/n down on a piece of paper in your house. 

 

https://www.kcra.com/article/polk-city-iowa-arkansasgun-stolen-from-returned-26-years-later/38703367

[BHunted]

Easier to just keep your records/receipts and log them. I use an app that logs everything. Its backed up to offsite server and I also paper copies of all weapon transactions in the safe. Decades of transactions..... KYA

So, should be SOP in some form or another.

[bobsguns]

I use a spread sheet for my S/N inventory. I then email it to myself & stick it in the "saved" folder. That way even if my computer is stolen or my house burns to the ground, I still have my S/N list.

Keeping the list accurate & up-to-date is a different story...........................   

[Grunt67]

I had 2 stolen in '86, Model & SN provided to police. Maybe mine will show up then.

I keep a record of all mine, including pictures.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Grunt67

[Defender]

Still waiting on my stolen Colt commander to come home. It surfaced once on stolengunz.com in Nashville, but I was unable to get the Nashville metro detective to do much detecting…

Edited January 14, 2022 by Defender

[Will]

Had one stolen 1995,stopped in to Cheatham Co SD and they updated my contact info. They said they contact all owners but many L E departments contact nobody and destroy all recovered firearms. Purchased a revolver from pawn shop in Franklin and PD said hold sale,it was stolen 35 years ago in Brentwood. They took it to try and contact owner.  ATF says stolen gun list starts about 1895 and never leave unless recovered. Metro detective told me all  recovered guns always show as stolen first then recovered.

 

[bobsguns]

4 minutes ago, Will said:

Had one stolen 1995,stopped in to Cheatham Co SD and they updated my contact info. They said they contact all owners but many L E departments contact nobody and destroy all recovered firearms.

People would be angry to learn how many "destroyed" guns end up at some officers' house as "his". 

At one time, a Metro Nashville PD Major had his own gun case at the old Gun Mart on Charlotte Pike. He sold guns out of that store that he had "liberated" from either the evidence room or the recovery room, I can't recall which. He got shut down & was "allowed to retire" in lieu of charges. Seem like I recall he did no 4473 nor BGC on any of those sold.  

I do know Metro Nashville NEVER releases, sells or gets rid of confiscated guns. They're stored & left to rust solid rather than being sold at auction to FFL holders. TN state law prevents them from destroying them, so Metro allows rust to do their dirty work for them. Sad.

[Murgatroy]

I have a detailed file with pictures and serial numbers saved across three different emails and backed up to a thumb drive.

 

 

[monkeylizard]

AIUI, over the years some of the Metro PD Academy bosses have tried to save some of them. They retain them as "training aids" to teach new recruits how to properly secure obscure firearms. Sometimes that's legitimate like an AK or a top break revolver. They're not the most common thing the average patrol officer will come across, but some will certainly have to handle one at some point in an arrest. Other times I think someone simply recognizes a valuable, significant, or rare firearm and can't stand to let it rot away or be destroyed like maybe a rare Colt or a Garand. I think they have a Thompson there too. If Metro PD won't/can't return them to their rightful owners, at least someone's getting something useful out of them.

Edited January 15, 2022 by monkeylizard

[bobsguns]

20 minutes ago, monkeylizard said:

If Metro PD won't/can't return them to their rightful owners, at least someone's getting something useful out of them.

It's not Metro PD's policy, it's the city's policy.

Heck, they could even sell them out of state but they won't even do that. They could use the funding for new vests for officers or donate it all to a women's shelter. But nooooooooooooooooooooo, the mayor's office & county council can't have that.....................   

[Snaveba]

So you are saying if I have a gun stolen, I report the theft to MPD along with the serial number and file a report, and the gun is later recovered, MPD (or the City) will not return my property?

[Will]

Metro will return it to you, If not claimed  they will send it to be destroyed.  Metro used to sell them on a bid and one of the idiot cheifs refused to sell them.  If you try to claim your stolen gun from Metro I had to got to hearing,then to trial,then to DA office twice,then to the defense attorney to sign off and then Metro Property room and wait on background check. Had I not worked close to downtown it would not have been worth recovering. 

[Snaveba]

I miss read the post and missed the all important word “if” in front of Metro won’t/can’t. Changed the entire jist of the sentence. 

[bobsguns]

6 hours ago, Snaveba said:

So you are saying if I have a gun stolen, I report the theft to MPD along with the serial number and file a report, and the gun is later recovered, MPD (or the City) will not return my property?

Not saying that at all.

The guns they keep are the ones they take off of the thugs when arrested. However, Metro IS pretty strict about proving ownership. I'm not sure holding the S/N is or is not enough proof for them these days. Metro big wigs are notoriously anti-gun. I had a bit of a time getting a sign-off when I got my first suppressor or two. Thankfully that law got changed to remove the sign-off requirement.

[bobsguns]

20 hours ago, Will said:

Metro will return it to you, If not claimed  they will send it to be destroyed.  Metro used to sell them on a bid and one of the idiot cheifs refused to sell them.  If you try to claim your stolen gun from Metro I had to got to hearing,then to trial,then to DA office twice,then to the defense attorney to sign off and then Metro Property room and wait on background check. Had I not worked close to downtown it would not have been worth recovering. 

Mine was almost as bad as yours.

Mine was confiscated as evidence when I shot a burglar. A couple of weeks later the detective released it. When I went to get it, my H&K USPC .45acp magically turned into a POS Ruger/Kel-Tec/Taurus (Can't remember which one).

I pointed this out to the female property clerk, a middle aged battle axe. She literally snatched the paper out of my hands and stomped off. I responded the only way I had available: I threw the pen she gave me at her back & called her multiple vulgar names. (Keep in mind, *I* was NOT the accused, nor was the gun stolen, nor was I charged with anything.) 

She got the detective on the phone, told him all sorts of BS about how *I* was acting, all this out of my sight & hearing. She brought the phone to me for him to speak to me. I quickly explained the truth of the matter, about the gun being wrong & how she acted. His response: "Yeah, she's been know to act like that."   

They finally got it fixed, I got my USPC but then she wouldn't give me the ammo that was in the mags. "You have to come back for the ammo, we don't give you both together", she said.

I wasn't going to get off work early, drive downtown, find a place to park, pay for parking & waste my time for 8rds of Federal HydroShok. 

Every time I used to hear about raises for Metro employees, I'd think about that witch. I hope she has a miserable retirement & her husband leaves her for a younger woman!