Liability of Stolen guns

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ClayCow

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Well. I was perusing through other forums today and someone wrote "if someone steals your gun and uses it in a crime, say murder, you can be held liable". Then among many other comments someone wrote " As a gun owner you are responsible for securing your guns"

Yes i agree we need to secure our guns. But i would think having it in my house a reasonable.means of being secured. Back to my original question, i assume the liability is dependent upon state laws? For some states potentially yes others hell no?

Just had a pucker butt moment and looking for random people on the internet to clarify these assumptions.
 
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arjay said:
if you handed it to a known felon..yeah,otherwise?...[emoji57]
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Are you sure this is true for all states? I know for a fact that in oregon if you sell through private party and that gun is used in a crime and you did not document that purchase, you could be held liable.
 
I'm just thinking out loud here, but I would suspect that if you were negligent in storing your firearm and left it blatantly unsecured, it's possible that you could face some adversity if the stolen firearm was used in a crime. I haven't done any research, but I think it's pretty likely that the anti-gun states, and possibly some others, view the owner of an unsecured firearm used in a crime fairly dimly . . .
 
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Negligent in storing my firearm? SO inside my locked house is not enough to deem me devoid of responsibility in the use of a stolen gun, as long as it was reported stolen? how securely do i need it stored? should i have an alligator pit surrounding my locked and barred windowed house, keeping my gun safe in a larger safe inside of an internal, locked room? what if that still don't stop the thief?

and by the way, i have actually bee told by a hoplophobe that that would NOT be enough, even if i had reported it stolen.
 
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Thats the thing, what is negligently storing a firearm? I would think storing it in my house be sufficient. What counts as a firearm secured?

I could understand negligence in having a gun out in the sidewalk but storing it in ones home is different. Just seeing if any legal beagles could chime in.
 
I think this is one of those "for the children" things. If Joe Thug breaks into my house and steals the gun from the bedtable, and kills someone, that's on him.

But if little Bobby Thug-in-training does the same thing, in Florida anyway, I'm in trouble for not keeping it locked away from a child.
 
Alpo said:
I think this is one of those "for the children" things. If Joe Thug breaks into my house and steals the gun from the bedtable, and kills someone, that's on him.

But if little Bobby Thug-in-training does the same thing, in Florida anyway, I'm in trouble for not keeping it locked away from a child.
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I agree and think so too. But just wanting to see what people had to say, that guy on the forum was pretty steadfast in his statement
 
pawngal said:
This is can of worms, 1st and most important is to REPORT the gun/guns that are stolen ASAP. This will help, if not reported you are SOL.
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Well its statements like this that throw people off. Are you really SOL because you didnt report it stolen? Id say youd have to answer some questions but the mere fact you didnt report it stolen, i wouls think not sscrew you over entirely
 
speedyquad said:
Negligent in storing my firearm? SO inside my locked house is not enough to deem me devoid of responsibility in the use of a stolen gun, as long as it was reported stolen? how securely do i need it stored? should i have an alligator pit surrounding my locked and barred windowed house, keeping my gun safe in a larger safe inside of an internal, locked room? what if that still don't stop the thief?

and by the way, i have actually bee told by a hoplophobe that that would NOT be enough, even if i had reported it stolen.
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AGAIN you must include STATE LAWS.

SOME people are subject to laws requiring storage and you can be held liable.

Also, you CAN be sued for a lot of reasons in civil court.

You might not be held in criminal case but you can be sued.
 
Practical said:
AGAIN you must include STATE LAWS.

SOME people are subject to laws requiring storage and you can be held liable.

Also, you CAN be sued for a lot of reasons in civil court.

You might not be held in criminal case but you can be sued.
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Good points. Should also always keep in mind one can be sued for virtually anything.
 
Laws vary state to state RE firearms storage. In any state, you face the chance of being sued. Some states can add a criminal charge for an improperly secured weapon. Know your states laws RE firearms storage. In most states, "storage" means when not in your immediate control.

Larry
 
I think the key here is stolen. If they are stolen, you will report them, or you stole them...just kidding, but that is what stolen is. Report it, and at least in Indiana, you won't be held liable. My LGS was broken into several years ago. He has slowly recovered some of those weapons thru local arrests. They do come back to the owner if reported, documented, and proven to be "stolen!". After trial, if there is one...lol.
 
You don't need a gun because the police will protect you, but if the police fail to protect property that is secured behind a locked door, you are responsible for the damage caused by the thief with your gun that the police failed to protect, but the police have no legal requirement to protect you or yours which seems to prove that 1) the police can not protect you, 2) you better get a gun for your own protection, and 3) keep the gun on your person. Do I understand this logic?
 
dougb1946 said:
You don't need a gun because the police will protect you, but if the police fail to protect property that is secured behind a locked door, you are responsible for the damage caused by the thief with your gun that the police failed to protect, but the police have no legal requirement to protect you or yours which seems to prove that 1) the police can not protect you, 2) you better get a gun for your own protection, and 3) keep the gun on your person. Do I understand this logic?
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Hey doug. Uh. I feel like yes that is essentially true but the leap you made was a big jump to prove your agenda.
 
ClayCow said:
Well its statements like this that throw people off. Are you really SOL because you didnt report it stolen? Id say youd have to answer some questions but the mere fact you didnt report it stolen, i wouls think not sscrew you over entirely
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Reporting may or may not be required depending on state or locality. Stolen firearms are in the hands of criminals why would you not want it reported? I know, the paper trail that IDs you as a gun owner.

An FFL is reguired by BATF regulation to report any firearm theft, why shouldn't the public be held accountable too?
 
pawngal said:
Reporting may or may not be required depending on state or locality. Stolen firearms are in the hands of criminals why would you not want it reported? I know, the paper trail that IDs you as a gun owner.

An FFL is reguired by BATF regulation to report any firearm theft, why shouldn't the public be held accountable too?
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I never said you wouldnt want it reported. Youve basically sidestepped my response and somehow turned it against me. You would be a great politician : )

But you said we would be SOL if we didnt report it stolen, i was asking, are we really?

Also not that i support this, but what if you report it stolen, what difference does it make? The thief already has it, just because you report it stolen wont make the gun null and void. What do you mean by accountable? That one should go to jail if one fails to report a stolen gun? Should one go to jail if one fails to report a stolen knife or bat?

And no i dont care about BATF I dont care that they know i own guns most of my guns are bought brand new. Anyways you should relook at what you wrote and my response because what youre asking is in definitely not jiving with my response.
 
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