Andy Griffith
Member
A gun with a story id more interesting.
Ever bought a firearm formerly used in the commission of a crime?
- Thread starter BigG-n-Tn
- Start date
How many own one used in a crime but doesn't know? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?
It's akin to living in a house someone died in to me. If I don't know, it doesn't hurt me. Same with a gun. Would I knowingly own one used in a crime? I guess it depends on the crime. One that some banger used in a drive by, if it was worth having maybe. One that was used by a serial killer. Not so much. I guess it depends on the situation.
Oh, I checked out the auction to the Hillside Strangler gear. Thats pretty wild. That should be one of those hidden auctions. I'm sure the purchaser would catch a lot of heartburn over buying it.
It's akin to living in a house someone died in to me. If I don't know, it doesn't hurt me. Same with a gun. Would I knowingly own one used in a crime? I guess it depends on the crime. One that some banger used in a drive by, if it was worth having maybe. One that was used by a serial killer. Not so much. I guess it depends on the situation.
Oh, I checked out the auction to the Hillside Strangler gear. Thats pretty wild. That should be one of those hidden auctions. I'm sure the purchaser would catch a lot of heartburn over buying it.
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CW Spook
US Veteran
Last spring the county SO was flooded and the stash of confiscated guns they use for training was one of the casualties. They were pulled out after 3 days in the water and were already starting to rust. A deputy friend of mine asked me if I thought they could be salvaged as there were a couple of decent ones amongst the junk. I offered to clean them in return for the chance to buy the nice old .38/44 Outdoorsman that was in the pile. 'Thought it was going to be a deal, but the S&W turned out to have the S/N filed off so it couldn't be sold. I did clean it up for the department though.
Wyatt Burp
Member
My Hi-Standard 22 Mag derringer was used in a double murder. Had to be execution style killing IMO. This gun doesn't give me the creeps at all. Just an inanimate object that an evil guy used once. I can't wait to shoot it. It has a little Bianchi clip on holster. Nice little outfit.
I recently purchased a pair of revolvers on an auction site that still had the evidence tags on them when I received them. I kind of wish I'd saved the tags on the off chance I ever had an opportunity to track down information on why the Sheriff ended up with them.
Landpimp
Member
I own over 100 ex evidence guns......I figure they get a new lease of life when I get them, some I know what they did, others not......the agency is suppose to pull off the tags that say "murder" "suicide" or what not
I go thru 1000 and 1000's of evidence guns a year, its fun, sad and sometimes very ammusing
also not all evidence guns where even used in a crime, quite a few get droped off at PD's by widows, family's ect.....they all end up as "evidence" guns....
last year a widow droped off over 50K worth of AWSOME guns to the Kitsap PD
alot of other guns are PD trades for stuff, just got a huge pile of Rem Police Mag riots from the WA DOC, they needed new vests
I go thru 1000 and 1000's of evidence guns a year, its fun, sad and sometimes very ammusing
also not all evidence guns where even used in a crime, quite a few get droped off at PD's by widows, family's ect.....they all end up as "evidence" guns....
last year a widow droped off over 50K worth of AWSOME guns to the Kitsap PD
alot of other guns are PD trades for stuff, just got a huge pile of Rem Police Mag riots from the WA DOC, they needed new vests
Whether it was used in a crime I can't say, but I bought a 1006 off the classifieds here a couple of years ago that was packed full of blood when I stripped it. It was a FTF, so I'm afraid to know.
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
I have this old Hi-standard HDM. It was used in a murder. My old friend and captain, (now deceased) was a deputy in colorado around the early 60s. He got a call of a robbery/murder at a gas station. He was nearby and hot on the scene and arrested the perp. At first they couldnt find the weapon. Finaly he went back, got a ladder and found it on the roof.
After the trial the judge gave him the gun. I traded him out of it close to 40 years ago.
After the trial the judge gave him the gun. I traded him out of it close to 40 years ago.
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
I also own this sawed off remington shotgun. It was stolen along with many more from me in a burglary. This one turned up sawed off barrel, stock, and a doc holiday sling. It was recovered in another incident. At first the detective said he couldnt give it back to me because of the sawed off barrel. I went over and screwed off the sawed off barrel and said, "she`s mine".
Jack Flash
Member
I think blood does more than eat the finish, it corrodes the metal if left on long enough. Thus I would be very cautious and before buying would probably want to thoroughly disassemble one that shows even the slightest evidence of blood damage.
That said, I side with the ones who say it wouldn't bother me if the firearm was a good deal and I wanted it. I don't believe their are "bad vibes" associated with a gun. After all, when they assemble guns at S&W (or Colt, or Glock, ... ) they don't pick out certain ones and perform a voodoo dance around them to imbue them with evil.
They are all tools that can be used for good or ill. When it comes into your possession, from that day until it leaves your possession, you are the one who decides what use it is put to.
That said, I side with the ones who say it wouldn't bother me if the firearm was a good deal and I wanted it. I don't believe their are "bad vibes" associated with a gun. After all, when they assemble guns at S&W (or Colt, or Glock, ... ) they don't pick out certain ones and perform a voodoo dance around them to imbue them with evil.
They are all tools that can be used for good or ill. When it comes into your possession, from that day until it leaves your possession, you are the one who decides what use it is put to.
I met a man in Georgia once who told me of a S&W 686 he had purchased from a widow, as I recall. Her husband had committed suicide with it, and it had remained in a police evidence locker for a time until it was returned to the family. When he cleaned it, according to him, there remained dried brain tissue that had blown back into the barrel and/or cylinders!
I think I would have passed on that weapon (Hoppes No. 9 & gray matter is an odd combination), but I don't believe that objects are infused with mystical evil by virtue of misuse. If that were the case, we should burn a lot of the currency that passes through our billfolds, since research indicates much of it is tainted with traces of illicit drugs, which kill more every year than guns do.
I think I would have passed on that weapon (Hoppes No. 9 & gray matter is an odd combination), but I don't believe that objects are infused with mystical evil by virtue of misuse. If that were the case, we should burn a lot of the currency that passes through our billfolds, since research indicates much of it is tainted with traces of illicit drugs, which kill more every year than guns do.
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
Sure would be interesting if the life of a average dollar bill could be traced, or even a quarter for that matter! When I was a kid our class toured a coca cola factory. The guide gave us all a coke while he talked. Then he gave a prize to the one who had a bottle from the farthest bottel marked on the bottom. Someone had one from some place in africa!
Catshooter
Member
Wouldn't bother me any. Guns don't kill people, people do.
Cat
Cat
sigp220.45
US Veteran
I paid twenty bucks for this Colt Police Positive Target in .22 WRF. It came out of a tribal police evidence locker during a sellout, and was the last one left because "you can't get shells for it anymore". I don't care what it did to get there, its mine now.
As has been pointed out previously, many of the guns in evidence rooms were never the instrument of a crime. Some were found, or turned in by little old widows, or were traded for dope, or taken during search warrants for dope or kiddy porn or whatever and since everyone in the house is a felon they wound up in evidence.
I own a bunch of WWII guns from different countries, and probably none of them were ever used to shoot anyone.
As has been pointed out previously, many of the guns in evidence rooms were never the instrument of a crime. Some were found, or turned in by little old widows, or were traded for dope, or taken during search warrants for dope or kiddy porn or whatever and since everyone in the house is a felon they wound up in evidence.
I own a bunch of WWII guns from different countries, and probably none of them were ever used to shoot anyone.
deralte
US Veteran
Never bought one that was used in a crime, but I did sell one to a gun shop that was later used in a crime. It was a .32 Beretta - man bought it and killed his girlfriend and himself. Checked with the police department a week after the crime and they had no idea where the gun was - I'll bet we know where it went.
Plunky McPlunker
Member
Holy cow!
Awesome question. I had never thought about it.
My vote goes towards not having a gun used in a crime.
Awesome question. I had never thought about it.
My vote goes towards not having a gun used in a crime.
84CJ
US Veteran
Yes. My first shotgun bought by my dad from a judge
Then it became the victim of a crime,stolen and never recovered
A women used it to free herself from her abusive husband. So maybe not really a crime after all.
Then it became the victim of a crime,stolen and never recovered
A women used it to free herself from her abusive husband. So maybe not really a crime after all.
Jack Flash
Member
Ok, for those of you who say "no, I wouldn't buy such a gun", what would you do if....
You bought a nice gun on the used market and have shot it and enjoyed it for years. You paid $250 for it and now it will easily sell for $500. Then through a quirk of fate you discover that it was used in a crime way back when, before it went back into the gun market all legal and above board and you bought it.
Would you immediately turn it over to the police to have it melted down?
Would you sell it for what you paid for it? (Wouldn't want to profit off a crime gun would we?)
Would you sell it for what the market would bear. (You have a conscience, but it doesn't get in the way when money is involved!)
If you would sell it, would you disclose its past to prospective buyers?
Jus' askin'.
You bought a nice gun on the used market and have shot it and enjoyed it for years. You paid $250 for it and now it will easily sell for $500. Then through a quirk of fate you discover that it was used in a crime way back when, before it went back into the gun market all legal and above board and you bought it.
Would you immediately turn it over to the police to have it melted down?
Would you sell it for what you paid for it? (Wouldn't want to profit off a crime gun would we?)
Would you sell it for what the market would bear. (You have a conscience, but it doesn't get in the way when money is involved!)
If you would sell it, would you disclose its past to prospective buyers?
Jus' askin'.
smith revolver cop
Member
No, but I SOLD one that was used in a murder.
Had a 2" 64 that I put on consignment at a local gun store. It was pre-Brady, and there was a waiting period. She picked it up at the end of the waiting period, took it home, and staged her husband's "suicide." I spent about 15 minutes on the stand just testifying that it wasn't already covered with blood when I put it on consignment!
Had a 2" 64 that I put on consignment at a local gun store. It was pre-Brady, and there was a waiting period. She picked it up at the end of the waiting period, took it home, and staged her husband's "suicide." I spent about 15 minutes on the stand just testifying that it wasn't already covered with blood when I put it on consignment!
