L.A. police find stash of 1,200 guns in dead man's home

[tennesseetiger]

wow...surprised he wasn't being watched considering this was in California.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/21/los-angeles-police-find-stash-1200-guns-in-dead-man-home/

[FUJIMO]

Gotta love how they make sure to add plenty of speculation into the story.

And by "truck" I think they meant to say prius hatchback, lmao.

[gregintenn]

 

Our truck couldn't carry it all," Smith said. "We had to go back and make another trip."

Under what authority do the police haul off the property of a deceased person? :confused:

[Ray Z]

Aaah yes! our news media at work again. You can call it a stash or an arsenal if you want to. I call it one hell of a collection. I saw an $8000 Barrett, at least two Fox sterlingworth side by sides, and the cop was holding , what I think was ,a $1000 Remington police rifle. They showed the ""two tons of ammo". What I saw wasn't enough to feed half of that collection.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Under what authority do the police haul off the property of a deceased person? :confused:

 

It's for the children, don't you know.

 

And I bet even if a relative came forward they would not release them.

[gregintenn]

It's for the children, don't you know.

 

And I bet even if a relative came forward they would not release them.

Seriously. Do the police have the right to pack off someone's possessions without a reason to believe the were illegal?

 

If I wake up dead tomorrow morning, I'd like my stuff to stay in place until my family decides to divvy it up amongst themselves.

[Omega]

Under what authority do the police haul off the property of a deceased person? :confused:

The only reason I can think of is to keep it from getting stolen once everyone finds out the guy is dead.  If someone else lived there then I see no reason to haul it off unless given permission.

[Ugly]

The brainiacs are going to trace all of them to see if there is a possibility one of them was used for wrong.

Waste of time and money of course. I'm sure they believe the quantity is a crime somehow.

[gregintenn]

The brainiacs are going to trace all of them to see if there is a possibility one of them was used for wrong.

Waste of time and money of course. I'm sure they believe the quantity is a crime somehow.

I guess that was my concern. If he'd had nothing but an old single barrel shotgun stashed behind the door, would they have hauled it off?

[Ugly]

I guess that was my concern. If he'd had nothing but an old single barrel shotgun stashed behind the door, would they have hauled it off?

Doubtful. Unless one of them was scared because it's scary looking.

[EssOne]

The last paragraph pretty well sums up their reasoning.

 

""We have a lot of work to do," Smith said. "Running the background, history and legality of these weapons is going to require a tremendous amount of time. It's not a crime to have a large number of weapons so long as they were legal to own and legally obtained. We want to make sure that's the case."

 

In police work, you look for the different or the unusual. Here we have both. The Police have a large enough number of guns that the guy could have been in the back door gun business, or supplying them to the criminal elements of the U.S. or Mexico, or he could have stolen them. LAPD would be irresponsible not to check the legality of each and every gun under these circumstances. Only a stupid rookie asking to get fired would have released them to relatives without checking each and every one of them beforehand.  I've known some stupid cops, but I've never known one that stupid.

 

As for the confiscation of the guns, if LAPD just left them locked up in the house and one of them wound up at the scene of a Border Patrolman's murder, well, you see where I'm coming from. They had to secure the guns from both theft and misuse. Responsibility to the public safety demands same.

 

No big deal here. Routine and unavoidable police work done in good faith as far as I can see.

[VERO1]

There is not a snowballs chance in hell, that any of those guns will ever be returned to his estate.

[FUJIMO]

The last paragraph pretty well sums up their reasoning.

 

""We have a lot of work to do," Smith said. "Running the background, history and legality of these weapons is going to require a tremendous amount of time. It's not a crime to have a large number of weapons so long as they were legal to own and legally obtained. We want to make sure that's the case."

 

In police work, you look for the different or the unusual. Here we have both. The Police have a large enough number of guns that the guy could have been in the back door gun business, or supplying them to the criminal elements of the U.S. or Mexico, or he could have stolen them. LAPD would be irresponsible not to check the legality of each and every gun under these circumstances. Only a stupid rookie asking to get fired would have released them to relatives without checking each and every one of them beforehand.  I've known some stupid cops, but I've never known one that stupid.

 

As for the confiscation of the guns, if LAPD just left them locked up in the house and one of them wound up at the scene of a Border Patrolman's murder, well, you see where I'm coming from. They had to secure the guns from both theft and misuse. Responsibility to the public safety demands same.

 

No big deal here. Routine and unavoidable police work done in good faith as far as I can see.

 

LOL. Maybe you should submit this to add to the story.

[runco]

If 1,200 guns is a problem, hmmmmm now I am worried..............hope they don't find me dead.

[EssOne]

LOL. Maybe you should submit this to add to the story.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[DaveTN]

Seriously. Do the police have the right to pack off someone's possessions without a reason to believe the were illegal?

Yes; it happens all the time.
 

If I wake up dead tomorrow morning, I'd like my stuff to stay in place until my family decides to divvy it up amongst themselves.

If you die and your family is there; it won’t be an issue. If the Police are securing your house; they will take them. If you have large amounts of cash or a bunch of expensive jewelry they will take that also. It is tagged as “personal Property”.

If a family member that is not barred from ownership comes forward, or someone that doesn’t need a “transfer” like a wife; the guns will probably be turned over to them. It is California though; they have a lot of limitations on what they can own.

[A.J. Holst]

If 1,200 guns is a problem, hmmmmm now I am worried..............hope they don't find me dead.

Care to share your home address and work schedule. ..lol

[gregintenn]

Yes; it happens all the time.
 
If you die and your family is there; it won’t be an issue. If the Police are securing your house; they will take them. If you have large amounts of cash or a bunch of expensive jewelry they will take that also. It is tagged as “personal Property”.

If a family member that is not barred from ownership comes forward, or someone that doesn’t need a “transfer” like a wife; the guns will probably be turned over to them. It is California though; they have a lot of limitations on what they can own.

I had no idea. Wow.

[10-Ring]

So 1200 is an arsenal in California? Bunch of sissies, that's what we call taking a few guns out for a weekend of shooting around here.

[Ugly]

So 1200 is an arsenal in California? Bunch of sissies, that's what we call taking a few guns out for a weekend of shooting around here.

I know, I use modified circus wagons to haul my 1800 for a typical weekend at the range. And I'm a beginner!

[Tncobra]

"It's not a crime to have a large number of weapons so long as they were legal to own and legally obtained. We want to make sure that's the case."


So, they will dig him up and charge him?

[tennesseetiger]

"It's not a crime to have a large number of weapons so long as they were legal to own and legally obtained. We want to make sure that's the case."


So, they will dig him up and charge him?

I am so glad I'm not the only person who thought that!  :rofl:  I literally said to myself "what the hell? Are they going to pull him out of his box and charge him with a crime??"

[OldHat63]

Been trying to stay away from this one, but.... I just can't do it.  :surrender:

 

Here's my problem with the whole thing:

 

 

There were no signs of foul play in the man's death, nor was there any indication that he had been involved in criminal activity.

 

Okay, so... no reasonable suspicion, no probable cause.... and I'm guessing no search warrant?

 

As far as I know, there's no limit set on how many guns a person can own, even in California. If you're legal to own one, you could own a million of 'em. No?

 

So, it seems to me that the residence should have simply been secured, and some attempt made to contact family members. If that was unsuccessful, then a court should have been consulted to decide what to do and an order issued.

 

Other than that, the police had no business going into the house. ( The body wasn't even found there. )

 

As for the guns... would they be treating it the same if he'd had 1200 pairs of shoes? I bet not.

 

It'll be interesting to hear if the guy does have any family members who can take possession of the guns, and if so, what sort of legal actions they may have to take to get them back, or actions regarding them being taken in the first place.

 

Then again, given how the news media is about ( not ) telling the whole story, there may be more to this that would change my mind.

 

Who knows? :shrug:

 

Oh, and one last thing... Would anybody here be okay with the police setting up shop at your local shooting range, and checking the serial number of every gun that comes in there to make sure it wasn't stolen or been involved in a crime? Oh, and also verifying how/where you got them?

 

Just curious.

Edited July 22, 2015 by OldHat63

[DaveTN]

So, it seems to me that the residence should have simply been secured, and some attempt made to contact family members. If that was unsuccessful, then a court should have been consulted to decide what to do and an order issued.
 
Other than that, the police had no business going into the house. ( The body wasn't even found there. )

The result would have been the same from a court. No one is going to leave 1200 firearms in a house where the neighbors know the owner is dead. The same people complaining about the Police would be complaining and blaming the Police if they were stolen.

You don’t need a warrant to enter a dead person’s home on an investigation. A dead body was found in a car, cause of death is not known, they are going to go check his home.

No one as of yet is claiming the guns are illegal or illegally obtained. As of yet it doesn’t sound like they have refused to turn them over to a family member.
 

As for the guns... would they be treating it the same if he'd had 1200 pairs of shoes? I bet not.

No, probably not.
 

Oh, and one last thing... Would anybody here be okay with the police setting up shop at your local shooting range, and checking the serial number of every gun that comes in there to make sure it wasn't stolen or been involved in a crime? Oh, and also verifying how/where you got them?

No.
 

Just curious.

What would you do if you were the Senior Officer on the scene, you have a responsibility to secure the man’s property, you have a responsibility to keep the community safe, and you took both those responsibilities seriously?

[EssOne]

........................................As for the guns... would they be treating it the same if he'd had 1200 pairs of shoes? I bet not........................  Only if you can figure out a way to pull an armed robbery with a pair of shoes.

 

 

.........................................................Oh, and one last thing... Would anybody here be okay with the police setting up shop at your local shooting range, and checking the serial number of every gun that comes in there to make sure it wasn't stolen or been involved in a crime? Oh, and also verifying how/where you got them?...............................................This question has absolutely nothing to do with the subject under discussion.