One came back

[GypsmJim]

In NY handguns are registered. (It used to be) When you buy one from an individual you registered it, they gave you a coupon, you gave it to the previous owner and he went downtown to have it taken off his permit.

I bought one from a coworker and did all the proper paperwork. Evidently, he never bothered to go downtown.

20 years later a police officer appeared at the front office where I worked. He was looking for a stolen handgun. My old buddy had died and his daughter who inherited the guns found one missing from his permit. But a serial number trace found it on my permit.

I did have a bill of sale and a copy of the coupon, so all was well.

The moral of the story is that WE, as gun owners need to be aware of whats what and follow the rules.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

The moral of the story is that WE, as gun owners need to be aware of whats what and follow the rules.

That's true in all cases but, as obviously noted above, some places have rules and some places do not; therein lies the difference.

In the early 1990s I went into my Federal government office and found a gym bag on my chair. Somehow, I knew instinctively what it was so I quickly shut my door to look into the bag. I found this:

So, now we have two felonies, one being the act of bringing a firearm into a Federal facility and the other being in possession of same. What to do?

I knew who left it for me; he's that kind of a friend - he was then and he is now. It was his grandfather's carry gun from a couple of generations back.

VOILA! A quick elevator ride, gun hidden behind my truck seat (garage not being inside a Federal facility, just an office building - I know someone will ask!), all crimes purged, never happened, thank-you-very- much.

No paperwork, obviously - the point being, NY has rules, Texas doesn't have stupid rules. Federal rules were obviated by quick action.

I still have that old Cobra; I never liked the original grips so I replaced them with those Hogues in short order.

I'm never advocating violating anyone's rules but there is a world of difference between rules and no rules.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Hilarity abounds!

Yea, between being in the military, a TS clearance, law enforcement and having had an FFL there is probably not much the Gov doesn't know about me.

Trying to drop off the grid would probably not work, Lol.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! I was never in law enforcement but Federal employment is close enough, plus the military TS clearance, Texas carry license, formerly an FFL, yep, I don't think hiding is an option for me.

 

[cb4017]

Hilarity abounds!



NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! I was never in law enforcement but Federal employment is close enough, plus the military TS clearance, Texas carry license, formerly an FFL, yep, I don't think hiding is an option for me.

Amen Brother.

 

[Doug M.]

CA is a pain in the tush about recovered firearms. My stolen 625 was recovered from a bad guy and it took about 3 years to get it back to me. Part of it was the delay in getting the case resolved, as the offender had a lot of exposure and no one just just said, "ok, let's try it". (Bay Area, where prosecution is now generally a joke.)

THEN, I had to go through this cockamamie CA background check that took for ver as a non-resident just to get it sent to my local PD, which had to do and did do a check before turning over to me. Redundant and stupid; people cast aspersions on CA for good reason. A cop friend had his BUG taken as part of an OIS investigation and it took him over a year to get it back. It is just too stupid for words, especially when the firearm is not and never could be evidence.

 

[m&p2.0fdethumbsafety]

never comply with unconstitutional laws if you can get away with it. s&w sigma philosophy

 

[Beemerguy53]

I didn't think they were suppose to have a gun registry. Makes me curious how they would track it back to the original buyer.

In some states (here in Maryland, for instance) there is a background check and registration procedure that is totally separate from the 4473 and NICS. That creates a state registry of who-owns-what, and ties an individual buyer to an individual handgun. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that database can be accessed by law enforcement authorities in other states.

If I sell one of my handguns to an out-of-state buyer, in a location where the 4473 is the only paperwork the sale generates, the only record of ownership is mine.

Perhaps that's what happened in the OP's case...

 

[Beemerguy53]

never comply with unconstitutional laws if you can get away with it. s&w sigma philosophy

"Unconstitutional" according to whom?

 

[6string]

Remember "Shane"?

Thought you folks would enjoy this.

Early last year I received a letter from a Northern California Sheriff's Office Evidence Division. It asked if a pistol was mine that they had in evidence. ??

Well, I wasn't missing any guns so I gave them a call. The gun was an M&P .45. They told me the gun was recovered in an illegal marijuana grow. Evidently tossed or abandoned during the bust.

I told them it might be one I sold some years back but I wasn't missing any guns. The gal I talked to said the search they did came back with me as the owner and if I wanted it I could have it. I had no idea which gun it might be but Heck Yea!

To get it back I had to jump through some hoops with California DOJ. I finally got a letter from DOJ authorizing the Sheriff's Office to release the gun to me. So, I made an appointment to pick it up and the wife and I drove down to pick it up.

It's a pretty nice M&P Compact .45 auto. I can't remember who I sold it to. Someone has done a decent texture job on the grip and evidently added an Apex sear or otherwise did some trigger work. Nice.

Shoots great. Think I'll keep it this time.

This is a very poignant story. Here's a gun once owned by an upstanding, law-abiding member of our illustrious forum. Later, owned/used by a criminal miscreant. Now back with the original owner who appreciates it for it's intrinsic shooting value.
It reminds me of the line in Jack Shaefer's novel Shane, where Shane reflects on his philosophy to the young Bob Starrett:

“Listen, Bob. A gun is just a tool. No better and no worse than any other tool, a shovel—or an axe or a saddle or a stove or anything. Think of it always that way. A gun is as good—and as bad—as the man who carries it. Remember that.”

Shaefer wrote that in 1949, I remember reading it in school when I was a kid (don't ask me the year, please!), and it's just as true today!

 

[m&p2.0fdethumbsafety]

"Unconstitutional" according to whom?

the clearly worded constitution of the united states which is the supreme law of the land.


"shall not be infringed"