Did anyone who carried on the job ever...

PatriotX

PatriotX

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Ever punt a gun across a bathroom?


Hi folks,

Back in the late 90s, I was in Chicago doing a consulting job for a fleet management company that outfitted/repaired Caprices for police and taxi service.

There were always cops and agents in and out, and one day I excused myself to the lavatory to change a bandage.

A gentleman entered the adjacent stall and closed the door. I heard - shuffle-clatter-curse word-skid -followed by a rapid exit of said gentleman from the stall.

I opened my door to see him quickly reholstering a small semi-auto that had skittered under the bank of sinks, presumably foot-assisted by the officer.

The shade of crimson that crept up from his collar to his forehead was probably 50/50 anger and embarrassment, and he quickly depopulated the area.


I always think of him when conceal-carrying, and thankfully haven't played bathroom hockey with mine yet.


Anyone else ?
 
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Never in a restroom stall (that I am aware of), but did have an Officer leave her handgun in a brief case, and left her brief case at an elementary school, of all places (she was our D.A.R.E. Officer....go figure). And, on 2 other separate occasions, had one Officer leave his shotgun on the trunk of his squad car, and another Officer leave his patrol Rifle (AR15) on the trunk of his squad car. Both drove off and lost their respective long guns. Luckily, good, honest Samaritans, found them somewhere laying alongside of a road and returned them to our Agency. Roof, hood, trunk deck, bumper, wherever.... DON'T LEAVE STUFF ON YOUR VEHICLES!!
 
So, while a bit of thread drift, why did G. Gordon Liddy plug that toilet bowl? Never did hear the reason for it...
 
No, but I did leave a really expensive Beretta over under laying on the dike of a duck marsh one morning. Pulled the canoe out and hopped out laid the unloaded action open gun down while I loaded up the truck. Drove off - a few miles down the road looked over and saw the gun sock on the passenger side floor board. Oops, sped back and luckily it was till there. So, maybe a bit of thread drift, but it happens.
 
Was working on a tractor one day at the farm when a pickup drove by on the dirt road. Dove shoot (to which I had not been invited) going on at the farm down the road. Heard something clatter off the open tailgate. Went to investigate, and found a nice REM 1100 12 gauge. I figured the truck would be back by, as it was lunchtime, and the truck was headed toward town. Sure enough, I flagged him down about 30 minutes later. He hadn't even missed his shotgun.
 
One of our diplomatic protection officers once left his Glock in a bathroom in Parliament. Several others have been reported as leaving items, including an M4, on top of a vehicle and then driving off.

Closest I ever got to this was back around 2013. We had moved to issuing "electronic" traffic notices using a scanner/cellphone to write the notice which was then electronically sent to the bureau where they are processed. We had a printer bluetoothed to the phone to print the drivers copy.

One night I was in a very rural location and stopped a driver for a speed so high that it required additional manual paperwork. I placed the printer on the roof of the patrol car so I could read his personal details on the notice in the glow of the take down lights.

After filling in the paperwork I handed it to the driver and got back in the car, forgetting the printer. An hour later I stopped to pick up an off duty officer to drive him home from where he had been temporarily stationed for a few days and he found the printer jammed under the light bar.

Close!
 
I never did that but once got a call to a Sears retail store in the '70s. I was directed to the mens' clothing where I was met by a salesman. He found a .38 in one of the fitting rooms and wanted to turn it over to the PD. I recognized it as FBI standard issue from the holster and quickly called one of my fed contacts. Long story short I got the weapon back to the absent minded agent w/o having to get his supervisor involved. Happy ending?
 
Never kicked one across the floor but about 35 years ago, when I was brand new to CC, I once left my fanny pack with my pistol in it hanging on the hook in the stall at a park rest room in a small town.

I realized it and went back for it within about 30 minutes but it was gone. Went to the town police station to report it lost and it had been turned in by a good citizen. I got a very stern lecture from the officer behind the desk before he gave me my gun back. Very memorable experience and one never to be repeated.
 
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I never launched a complete pistol across the room but I did send the entire loaded top half of my Beretta 96 duty weapon across the dispatchers office.
I had been in the Trooper's reports room doing simple maintenance to my duty weapon. As I was finishing up, the dispatcher yelled for me to come out as she had a question. I reassembled the slide, installed it on the frame, locked the slide to the rear and inserted the loaded magazine as I got up and walked towards the dispatch area. As I walked across the reports room, I thumbed down the slide release, not realizing I had failed to re-engage the disassembly lever, launching the now loaded barrel and slide assembly off the frame and skittering across the tiled floor of the dispatch area. The look on the dispatchers face was priceless then she broke out laughing. Needless to say I was more than a little embarrassed.
 
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There's a popular bagel/coffee shop I frequent. A number of years ago I'm there, go to use the men's bathroom and I see a Glock sitting on top of the tank. I immediately go back out, call over the manager and tell him what I found. He didn't want to go near it, I didn't want to handle it so he marked the bathroom out of order, locked the door and he called the cops.

Two officers showed up, they went in. They took custody of the gun, took a brief statement and went on their way. I took off shortly after.

The next day I stop to grab a cup and the manager told me that a couple of hours after I left a gentleman came in, dressed nicely in a suit and produced credentials from a federal agency and asked about anyone finding a gun. The manager explained yes and that the cops had it. He said he cursed, thanked him and left looking very upset lol.
 
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We had an officer in our unit that was off duty and had taken his family out to eat at a local restrurant. Nature calls and he goes to the restroom and then returns to his family and finishes his meal, pays the bill and left for home.

When he pulls his vehicle into the driveway, he realizes he left his off duty on the shelf above the toilet. He makes certain that his family is secured in the house and returns to the restaurant to rescue his weapon. He finds the correct stall and low and behold there is a gun on the shelf. The problem is that it is not his.

The weapon is a. RG cheap 22 lr revolver along with a note that is written,
" Sorry pal, your gun is better than mine, so we traded. Sorry you didn't get to vote on it". The entire episode was swept under the rug until the FED's called to advise the off duty had been involved in numerous crimes.

He did not sleep well for the next 5 years.
 
Onomea said:
So, while a bit of thread drift, why did G. Gordon Liddy plug that toilet bowl? Never did hear the reason for it...
Click to expand...

Liddy mentioned that in his autobiography "Will". He owned a high-dollar air pistol that he used to shoot out lights in at least one case while burglarizing a psychiatrist's office. While working in the Old Executive Office Building near the US Capitol he found it necessary to discharge the pistol in a toilet to relieve the pressure on the seals and avoid damaging the pistol by leaving it charged for too long.

Liddy also wrote about his time after completing his prison sentence. Said that his wife kept a good collection of firearms, some of which she chose to store on his side of the bed.

Interesting man. Wicked smart, but spooky personal life. The only one of the "plumbers unit" involved in the Daniel Ellsburg and Watergate burglaries who never broke down, never gave up a thing under extreme pressures from the Watergate Commission and prosecutors.
 
In the days before modern retention holsters i am sure many LEO had their revolver pop out of their border patrol holster during a foot chase after unsnapping the retention strap. Had it happen to me twice in five years in uniform - fortunately both times I realized it immediately and was able to snatch it up on the run and still catch the bad guy. It was usually after having your revolver drawn and re-holstering while on the run or unsnapping the strap in anticipation of having to draw it when responding to a serious felony in progress and forgetting to snap it back in the heat of the moment. If you see an old police revolver with scratches or gouges that may have happened!

Modern retention holsters didn't come into widespread use until the late 1970's-early 1980's.
 
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Just remembered a "left in the stall" story that is funny now, but caused a brief but massive kerfuffle in the local U.S. Marshal office.

Me and my Yankee Gov't LEO friends frequented a low key sports bar and grill until the owner's failed business acumen killed it, the kinda place where the bartender starts pouring your beer when they see the truck pull in, every fall the new crop of college student waitresses starts work, and the food is hot, fresh, and tasty.

Somebody left a gun in the stall one night. Small restroom, stall and one urinal. Can't remember if they left it on the hook on the door or the back of the tank. Problem is that the GLOCK was some sort of USM commemorative, stamped with the USM star on the slide. I never saw it, so I can't confirm.

The owner knew everybody at the office, and had most of their cell numbers. Couple guys were out of the office, but everybody else beat it to the bar when it opened at 11. Nobody admitted being at the bar the previous night. So, picture half a dozen openly armed marshals at a bar surrounding the owner looking at a pistol when the nice fella' who actually owns the gun walks in, sees the group, turns around, and walks out.

He didn't get far. He got his gun back with a good chewing out and promised to carry a less conspicuous pistol in the future . . .
 
I worked for the School District my last 17 years before retirement, so we weren't allowed to carry, but I did know a couple guys that did. Stupid, I suppose. But, being in Refrigeration, I would get called out at all hours of the night, all areas of Pittsburgh, and night time is no time to be in some of those neighborhoods! So, I may have broken the law, but never told anyone till now, but no way was some teenager gonna spend 3 years in Juvy then go free because I went down without a fight.
 
Back in the 70's while I was still with the local PD we had a very rotund detective that always ate breakfast at the same pancake house every morning. He had a routine. He would always order the same "Superstack" and after devouring them and the bacon eggs, sausage, and other stuff that came with the order, he would head to the rest room. He was usually in there for 15-20 minutes and you did not want to go in there while he was there and for some time after he left. One morning I came along a couple of hours after he left. I went in the restroom and found an old pre model 10 snubby with very worn grips hanging from the coat hook inside one of the stalls. I knew who it belonged to because nobody had one that looked like his. I gave it to his partner who kept it hid for the rest of the day while the owner finally realized it was gone and started looking for it. It never occurred to him where he had left it. The partner finally gave it back to him and was immediately accused of somehow slipping it from his holster.

While at the SO one of the deputies received an armed robbery call about 20 miles away while sitting on the throne. He hurriedly left leaving his Glock 22 sitting on the tank. I saw him running to his cruiser but did not notice that he didn't have his Glock until I found it in the restroom. I snatched up the Glock and headed toward the call. Luckily he answered his cell phone and I told him what I had. Right before I got there he took the perp down using his riot gun. I got there shortly after and found the deputy standing over the perp, who was spread out on the ground. I slid the Glock back in his holster and helped him handcuff the guy.
 
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