I haven't been on the computer much lately and only became aware of this thread today after a friend told me about it.
Now as the FFL dealer who bought 22 out of 32 stolen gun over the past 14 months along with some tools, ammo, holsters, and some scopes I will tell everyone the rest of the story. I had sold less than half the stolen guns and had given one to my son when the theft was discovered. This incident has cost me over $9,000 which given the volume of business I do is catastrophic. I operate a small shop and receive a small disability check due to a serious back injury at work which left me with 5 permantly injured discs in my neck and upper back and 4 more in my lower back.
First I'll attempt to answer some of the questions raised. I often check with the local PD even though there is no requirement to do so in Maine as to whether or not a gun is stolen before purchasing it. However in this case the guns were not known to have been stolen until approximatly 2 months after the last one had been sold by the theif.
Maine has a fairly good restitution system which will reimburse what the buyer paid for the guns.
I have provided the investigating detective as well as the DA with copies of my sales receipts for the stolen guns. That is how they knew who to contact to have them returned. I also provided both with copies of my bill of sale signed by the thief who sold them to me.
As how they were traced to me. Chalk it up to good memory of a local cop. About 4 months before the theft was reported he had stoped the thief for speeding and driving to endanger. He had a semi auto 9 mm in the case he had bought from me only minutes before. He also had the receipt I had given him. The receipt showed that he had traded 2 of the stolen guns with me for the semi auto and some cash. That particular cop was the one who handled the initial theft report and remembered those two guns when he saw them on the list. Dad had an excellent record of when he bought a gun, make, model, cal, and SN. So he brought a copy of the list of stolen guns to me and I went thru my records to see just what I had bought from the thief. I had bought 22 of the 32 stolen guns.
I agree 100 per cent with the concensus that I am responsible for repaying the purchasers, but the sad fact is that at this point in time I am unable to. Right now due primearly to the stolen items I purchased and then due to the poor economy in the northern section of the state I have purchased nearly 3 times as many guns over the past year as I normally would have, this had stretched my funds to the limit, so now I am on the verge of losing my business due to bankruptcy. At this point in time I just do not have the money to refund those who bought stolen guns from me. I'm hoping to be able to hang on until this fall and to have a good fall selling lots of guns at which time I will start repaying some of those who lost out due to buying a stolen gun from me. It may take me a little time but I fully intend to eventually make every one whole. In the mean time I have talked to the DA requesting that anyone who bought a gun from me be paid restitution before I am paid any.
The kid (I say kid but he is either 26 or 27) stole 32 guns, a bunch of ammo, some scopes, grips, & other misc shooting supplies and some air carpentry tools from his father over approximately a 14 month period. And the last 3 weeks before the discovery of the stolen property he was attempting to sell dad's 1968 and 1976 Harley motorcycles. He also stole around $20,000 worth of jewelry of his mothers most of which had been inherated from her mother for the gold and silver value. All to support a drug habit.
Then we can spend our tax dollars on the druggie's medical bills through Obama-care. Ain't it great?
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