I hate a thief - need some advice

[Trekbike]

My daughter's condo was broken into sometime yesterday.   One of the things they took was her pistol.   Normally she has it with her but didn't yesterday.   A police report has already been filed and the S# is recorded as stolen.   This is my first experience to have to deal with the matter so I have several questions I was hoping run past you guys.   

 

1.  I'm assuming the S# goes into a national database that can be accessed by all FFL's rather than just a local/state database, correct?
2. The police told her they put the info out to pawn shops, etc. but I'm assuming people aren't stupid enough to sell it to a shop that can check it for being stolen so I'm guessing it would be sold on a FTF basis.    I'm also guessing it wouldn't go up on a site like Gun Broker since those typically get shipped to an FFL for transfer.   With that said, what local sites should I be watching to see if it pops up?  (TGO is really the only classified site I visit.)   
3. Is watching for it myself a waste of time since someone is more likely to go the route of selling it on the street to whoever in a, "hey buddy you want to buy a gun"?

Thanks in advance for your help.  

 

[GlockSpock]

Gunlistings.org
Armslist.com
Gunownersclub.com


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[GlockSpock]

What, www.gunownersclub.com is censored?

Reasoning?


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[Trekbike]

Thanks for the links CZ9MM.

[bud]

. Edited August 8, 2015 by bud

[Dolomite_supafly]

Spell it out with a space between the letters.

I have spoke to pawn shops and they generally do not check when buying a gun unless there is a reason to be suspicious. Noe they ARE required to check it when it is sold or if the person who pawned it decides to pick it back up. Or at least that is the way it was 4-5 years ago.

What you might want to do is put up a WTB ad. Not the gun specifically but a general request for something the stolen gun will fall into. Like if it were a Ruger LCP put an ad for a small pocket pistol. This might get the thief because he might be looking for a way to get rid of it without posting an ad. And if you think you have found it don't go it alone, explain and ask LE for help.

Also, you can buy a $10 webcam and get free motion detection software for the house. And most insurance companies will give you a significant discount. I know my discount was 10% which aid for the webcam the first month. And depending on the software you can get email alerts and snapshots sent to your phone.

[jimic]

I had a 2 guns on consignment in a Ky gun shop. One sold and I went back to pick up the other, The gun shop want to do a background check on me before giving me my consignment gun back ! Ouch !

Edited June 30, 2015 by jimic

[Will]

Just a few facts from a previous pistol theft recovered.

If Ins. paid for it,you can never get it back. They own it and want it destroyed.

If recovered in Metro min. of six trips to have signed off Court,both attorneys,Back to DA after six months, back to Da&attorney,court after six months,also 

property room and background will be run. If I had not worked downtown it would not have been worthwhile.

If recover many places such as out of state,Memphis,certain counties it will not be returned,but destroyed.

[Erik88]

You can also list it on http://www.hotgunz.com/

[bersaguy]

Sorry to hear about the break in but glad your daughter was not hurt. Hope you locate her firearm quickly.

[TNWNGR]

Regardless of whatever route you choose to take to recover the stolen pistol the chances of doing so are remarkably slim. One other option is to post a no questions asked cash on recovery reward for the gun. You'll need to be a bit creative in listing where the gun was stolen from so that only the actual thief or someone they were with or talked to will know where the crime occurred.

 

More then likely the gun was sold on the street level or traded for drugs. It might be rat holed in someone's home or vehicle or trade hands a number of times. Stolen guns do occasionally turn up being traded or sold to gun stores which gets really interesting for the person in possession at the time. I've also known of guns purchased via internet and shipped to the FFL doing the end transfer turning up as stolen as well.  

 

All in all the whole thing sucks and having had an expensive pistol as well as a very expensive knife collection stolen I can fully understand your anger.

[GlockSpock]

Spell it out with a space between the letters.

I have spoke to pawn shops and they generally do not check when buying a gun unless there is a reason to be suspicious. Noe they ARE required to check it when it is sold or if the person who pawned it decides to pick it back up. Or at least that is the way it was 4-5 years ago.

What you might want to do is put up a WTB ad. Not the gun specifically but a general request for something the stolen gun will fall into. Like if it were a Ruger LCP put an ad for a small pocket pistol. This might get the thief because he might be looking for a way to get rid of it without posting an ad. And if you think you have found it don't go it alone, explain and ask LE for help.

Also, you can buy a $10 webcam and get free motion detection software for the house. And most insurance companies will give you a significant discount. I know my discount was 10% which aid for the webcam the first month. And depending on the software you can get email alerts and snapshots sent to your phone.

G u n o w n e r s c l u b . c o m


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[bud]

. Edited August 8, 2015 by bud

[bersaguy]

I had my home burglarized back in 1988 and had about 19 guns taken and have yet to have any one of them surface. I  find that rather remarkable but who ever took them I believe still has every one of them or some of them would have shown up by now. I feel it was someone that knew my family very well because they knew all of what we were going through at that time and knew we were not home for long periods of time and they were able to find some of my guns that were hidden in false walls. That leads me to think it was a close friend of the family at one time or another................jmho

[CommsNBombs]

A bit off topic but was it ONLY the pistol that got snatched? No electronics or anything?

If they lifted everything over $50 you can assume that theyll be offloading it to pawn shops anywhere from 2 hours around you.

If it was just the pistol it could be some tweaker looking to score, if thats the case I doubt itll ever surface. Unless it was a really really nice pistol and that could point to someone who knew her.

I wish you luck though

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[Oh Shoot]

....

If Ins. paid for it,you can never get it back. They own it and want it destroyed.

.....

 

Usually for a single gun, unless a really expensive one, folks aren't gonna claim it on insurance what with the usual $500 deductible or more on homeowners/rental/valuable items policies.

 

That said, I've seen people say that they contacted insurance company regarding returned stolen items, and even though the insurance had paid them, the company said go ahead and keep 'em anyway, so I guess as always YMMV.

 

- OS

Edited June 30, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[Trekbike]

A bit off topic but was it ONLY the pistol that got snatched? No electronics or anything?

There was other things taken but the pistol was the only firearm there.

[CommsNBombs]

There was other things taken but the pistol was the only firearm there.

 

If it's just petty thieves, in my experience, they'll probably just offload all that crap in different pawn shops. If they're slightly smarter than your average potatoe they'll do it in a different state, or at least a different county.

[surfabilly]

I have spoke to pawn shops and they generally do not check when buying a gun unless there is a reason to be suspicious. Noe they ARE required to check it when it is sold or if the person who pawned it decides to pick it back up. Or at least that is the way it was 4-5 years ago.

pawn shops around nashville ARE required to compile a daily listing of ALL merchandise taken in and report that to the metro pawn division. the report includes all the information on the person pawning the item (name, dl#, description), and the item itself ( sn, description, etc).

picking up a firearm out of pawn requires a background check through tics just as if you were purchasing. people who pawn firearms get UPSET when they are denied getting them back.

most pawnshops are very careful not to unknowingly accept stolen items. the shop loses the money they loaned when the item is recovered by police.

[runco]

I still have several guns from a break in from the mid 90s out there somewhere.  Also know a couple have been recovered, but the value of those recovered guns and the red tape is not worth my time.  Good luck.

 

Also, once bought a gun at pawn shop in the mid 90s, had it for sale in my gun shop, original owner found it, called the police, I had a receipt, gave them the gun, police gave me the paperwork to go back to the pawn shop.  Found out the pawn shop had bought the gun the same day I bought it, even though they were required to hold the gun X number of days and inform their city police dept. of the s/n, none of which happened.  Got my money back.  Not all pawn shops play by the rules, some/most do.

 

My guess, next gun show in your area it will be sold outside the building or in the parking lot.  Great deal for a unsuspecting buyer. 

[Oh Shoot]

.....

My guess, next gun show in your area it will be sold outside the building or in the parking lot.  Great deal for a unsuspecting buyer. 

 

Yep, the only part that sucks about what can otherwise be a completely legal personal transaction -- and of course no way for the buyer to know, and even the seller likely wouldn't either if it has already changed hands at least once.

 

- OS

[Mike A]

I suspect the police entered the serial number into the NCIC (which is a national data base).  My understanding is that dealers (and I suspect type 2 FFL licensees, i.e. pawn shops) can run a check to see if a gun is stolen without paying a fee.  Seems like at a minimum the financially prudent thing to do.