I live in Arizona, about six years ago I had a Ruger LCP stolen. I just received a call from New Mexico DPS. He asked me to confirm the serial # I did. So does anyone know how hard is it going to be to get my gun back.
Retrieving a stolen gun
- Thread starter kpap
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Depending on the evidence clerk and agency it can be easy or very difficult.
Also if every agency employee that touched your weapon after recovery felt it was neccessory to scratch their ID # on the weapon you might not want it back.
Also if every agency employee that touched your weapon after recovery felt it was neccessory to scratch their ID # on the weapon you might not want it back.
I had a friend that had three shotguns stolen some years ago. After about 5 years the police caught the robber, and found the guns still in his possession. The police claimed they had to hold the guns as evidence until the case was finalized. Three years later he finally got them back, they weren't marked up, but there was g good case of surface rust all over them. Not well cared for.
If you originally reported it stolen, I'd show up with a copy of the police report, and you oughta be out in an hour . . .
The really long wait times occurred when it was a federal case.
Before I retired, I kept track of stolen firearms reported to my agency, as well as the the ones recovered by outside agencies.
I believe it was an average of around two years before I could return the firearm to the rightful owner.
Before I retired, I kept track of stolen firearms reported to my agency, as well as the the ones recovered by outside agencies.
I believe it was an average of around two years before I could return the firearm to the rightful owner.
charlie sherrill
Member
The wheels of justice turn slowly. If it is just recovered stolen property you will get the gun back quicker than if it was used in a crime and is being held as evidence. I've seen some guns destroyed because they were used in a crime even though they were stolen. Different jurisdictions handle these matters differently. Where I live you're probably gonna get your gun back. Not necessarily so in the "Woke" jurisdictions. Many times a gun theft involves multiple guns. When I was an investigator, if that was the case, I would take pictures of all the guns and serial numbers and hold one gun for evidence, usually the cheapest one, and return the rest to the victim of the theft. To answer the question: Everyone does it differently.
I did file a police report when the gun was stolen, the officer in New Mexico who contacted me was DPS. So I'm thinking it was found in a traffic stop, that is peer speculation. He did tell me the person who had my gun said he bought it from a gun shop. Highly unlikely since it was stolen on a Saturday night and I reported it Sunday morning. Anyways I'll be interested in how it plays out.
When I was the evidence officer, I took care of the nice guns by keeping them clean, oiled, etc. The junk ones I didn't care about. I also had a directive made out by the higher ups, that no one was to scratch their name or a number onto a firearm as long it had a serial number.
I remember one gun, A Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt that was used in a shooting. Some jerk broke into a home and killed the wife of the home owner with a gun. He ran out of the house and the home owner ran after him and killed him with the Ruger.
It was taken for evidence, and after he was cleared, he came to the Station and asked the Chief if he could have his gun back. The Chief asked me what I thought, and i said "he should get it back", so the Chief said ok and I returned the gun to the owner.
Another time the wife of a Dentist shot and killed him with a Winchester Model 70, .30-06 I believe, as he had threatened to kill her and was beating her. She got a hold of the gun and shot him. She was cleared and I wanted to return the gun to her, but she declined, so it was sold off with other guns to a dealer.
I remember one gun, A Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt that was used in a shooting. Some jerk broke into a home and killed the wife of the home owner with a gun. He ran out of the house and the home owner ran after him and killed him with the Ruger.
It was taken for evidence, and after he was cleared, he came to the Station and asked the Chief if he could have his gun back. The Chief asked me what I thought, and i said "he should get it back", so the Chief said ok and I returned the gun to the owner.
Another time the wife of a Dentist shot and killed him with a Winchester Model 70, .30-06 I believe, as he had threatened to kill her and was beating her. She got a hold of the gun and shot him. She was cleared and I wanted to return the gun to her, but she declined, so it was sold off with other guns to a dealer.
That could be true, the pistol could have changed hands many times during the six years it was missing before he bought it from a gun shop. May have even been through several guns shops. Most gun shops that I know of do not check guns that come through their shop for being stolen. A pawn shop is different, they do get checked.
Sebago Son
Member
My youngest son had his Glock 23 stolen from his house. We had a suspicion of who it was. I went around to ALL the local gunshops and left my business card with all the particulars. I also called the sherriff's office several times. The gun was recovered about 3 months later during a domestic from a clothes driier under a pile of laundry. The deputy who returned it to my boys said that it had never been listed on the red sheet as stolen.... I guess the thief had friends in the Sherriff's office.
What avenue does a pawn shop have to check serial numbers that a plain ole gun shop doesn't have?
Agencies list stolen firearms on NCIC, however the firearms have to relisted yearly. Some Agencies do and some do not as the work envolved to relist them.
So it is possible that a stolen firearm is not listed after a year
So it is possible that a stolen firearm is not listed after a year
Gaffer
Member
I have horror stories about guns that were held by the police. Most are not worth much when you get them back as they are not cared for at all. The one that really frosts me is a Anschutz 1413 target rifle and 20x Unertl target scope that was stolen in break in at my son's home. Both the police and ATF seemed to think that it would be made whole by the insurance company,even though the scopes are no longer made. They even told me that they new where the rifle was but were not going to try and recover as it would spoil other police activity at the same location. Very poor law enforcement if you ask me.
Cooter Brown
Member
In my case that was certainly true. A Glock was stolen out of my vehicle when I was doing some onsite work (along with a lot of tools and a couple of hundred CDs).
A drug dealer gets hold of it and pistol whips one of his street reps (a classic motivational technique of sales management from the Zig Zeigler book). Sales rep doesn't like it and goes to cops. Later, Boss Man is at the grocery store when an old lady backs into his car. Must have been a nice car--he calls the cops. Shortly thereafter he's getting a nice airconditioned ride downtown. Multiple warrants.
My county notified me, but Atlanta PD had recovered the gun. I call APD property office, who says they have the gun, but something didn't seem right. Over several phone calls they didn't reference a case or any charges, could tell me nothing about the gun other than I'd get it back when I got it back. This went on for several months, before the nice lady in the property office finally told me not to call back and hung up on me. This went on for about 9 months. So I call a buddy of mine who was a detective with Fulton Co. Sheriff's office.
Turns out it was strike three for Boss Man and the Feds had taken the gun from APD almost immediately. My buddy got me the name and number of the ATF agent who had the gun in a safe in his office. I called him. He'd assumed APD had told me what had happened with the gun.
To sum up a too-long story, Boss Man pleads insanity, space aliens, the Twinkie defense, you name it, and the case drags on almost 6 years. The ATF agent called(!) me with updates every three months or so. When the thing finally got resolved, he personally drove to my home to deliver the gun. He said he felt badly that I'd had to wait so long.
I still have the box he'd zip tied the gun into after he cleaned and oiled it, with the chain of custody checked off in Sharpie on the cardboard.
I'm pretty sure if I hadn't had a buddy with the Sheriff's office I never would have been able to track down the gun.
My uncle was a LEO at the then small town PD of Richland WA. Somehow back in the 80s, his Makarov was stolen (I think it was a replacement for his AMT Back-up my brother stole) Anyway, 2 decades later, a railroad cop back in Iowa or Illinois contacted him. They found a "vagrant" firing it in a railyard. Pretty sure he was drunk and/or high. They just mailed it to the PD in Richland, and a patrolman drove it over to my uncle's house.
I REALLY miss my uncle. There were hundreds of LEOs at his funeral.
I REALLY miss my uncle. There were hundreds of LEOs at his funeral.
Most department have "pawn cops" that review pawn transactions and run serial numbers on guns and items that are suspect. Maybe different in other states, but a pawn shop holds items for a certain length of time before they can sell it. Gives police a chance to check/recover stolen items. A gun shop can buy a firearm, log it, and immediately sell it.
No pawn cops in these parts. Plus, you situation still doesn't give the pawn shop any ability to run numbers, just the police. Also, if a pawn shop buys the item outright instead of loaning money on it in a pawn transaction, I assume they can sell it any time they want. I was once trying to retrieve a stolen video cassette recorder (helps you to date this story) from a local pawn shop, and was refused. When I mentioned that I was going to use the witness's statement to obtain a search warrant, post an officer at the front and back doors so no one could carry anything out until I obtained said warrant, and find the named VCR last during my search, it was quickly handed over . . .
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State law in Florida is that ANY item a pawn shop receives has to be held for 30 days. IIRC many states have similar laws.
I am certainly no expert on this matter, just my opinion as I was a police officer for 38 years and I've frequented a few pawn shops (especially since I have retired). I'm sure state laws differ, but holding the item for a certain length of time, seems to be the norm. And, no, the pawn shop cannot "run numbers", it has to be done through the police. If a department isn't large enough to employ "pawn cops" or a detective, I assume if state laws require it, the pawn shop would have to turn over it's transactions to the Chief or Sheriff of that city/county.
I'm no authority on current pawn laws. I did go read the current Missouri statute about selling to a pawnbroker in Missouri and look at some city ordinances, and it appears under state law that the pawnbroker only needs to keep property for 30 days if the seller fails to provide valid ID. Otherwise, it can go out the door that afternoon, unless the municipality has a more restrictive law. My town doesn't address it. I'm aware of another similar size town a little ways west that requires five days. Like most laws and situations, it's hard to compare one location's experience to another . . .
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