Ever "find" a gun?

A

Ankeny

New member
Eight or nine years ago a co-worker of mine was driving home when he saw a cardboard box in the emergency lane. He turned around and picked the box up. Among other things, the box had a brand new Ruger single action revolver (.357 magnum) in it. He took the gun to the Sheriff’s Office and it was never claimed. He eventually ended up with the gun (I don’t know if he bought it at auction or got to keep it).

This morning I was in a local sporting goods store when last night’s pizza and Bud Light began to seek a new home. I went to the men’s room and walked into a stall and I’ll be darned; on the back of the toilet tank is a Glock 23. When I got finished with the task at hand I expected to see a panic stricken face on the other side of the restroom door. No one around so I figured maybe someone tried to steal the gun and chickened out. I don’t know what to do but I sure can’t just leave the thing on the crapper. I drop the magazine and the thing is loaded. I take the Glock to the gun counter and give it to a salesman. He never saw it before so he calls the manager over. Manager says he is clueless too. Manager calls the police and cop shows up. No guns reported stolen recently. What a puzzler this is. As near as we can figure out, someone sat it on the toilet tank to go potty and walks off without it. The gun ends up at the PD. This evening I learn that nine hours later the owner calls the store from 400 miles away wondering if anyone happened to find his Glock. Just curious, any of you guys ever actually find a gun just lying about?
 
I was with a guy who found a rifle in the woods once. He took it to a local gunshop (small country town) and the guy happened to be friends with tehe person who had lost it. Something about going off to "do his business" while hunting and not being able to remember where he left the gun or find it before dark....
The guy was too embarrassed to tell anyone or have help finding it apoarently. It had only been about a week and the rifle was fine.

Most places have laws that "found property" can be given back to twhoever turns it in after a certain amount of time. Some jurisdictions trat guns differently.

If I found a pistol, I would probably run a check on it to see if it was stolen, by taking it to the Sheriff's Office. Then find out what the laws were concerning found property and act accordingly.

Keeping a "found gun" without somehow registering it as yours iwth an FFL aafter making sure that it was not already stolen would likely be a rsiky proposition. If someone had reported it stolen and it was later found in your posession, you;d have some explaining to do.



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-Essayons
 
I found a gun one time. It was while I was deployed to SWA floating around the Persian Gulf. There I was walking down from my office @ 0200, cutting through the hanger deck. I glance over between the bulkhead and a storage compartment and see a MP5SD.

"Hmmmmm? Wonder whos that is?" I think to myself. I pick it up and take it to my berthing area. Seeing it is not able to fit into my wall-locker it becomes my companion for the night in my rank.

The next morning I bring it up to my office and give a call down to the Recon Plt area and asked to speak to the Plt Sergeant. I ask him to come up to my office.

When he get there I hand him the rifle and say "I think this may belong to someone you know! Found it alllllll by itself in the hanger deck at 0200 this morning."

Needless to say he was very pleased (?) that I called on him. Wonder what he did when he left. :D


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Schmit, GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"
 
My dad found a gun on the side of the road once. He said he saw something sticking up by the side of the road, stopped and it was a Remington .308 with scope in the mud barrel first. He cleans it ran an ad in the paper and finnally owned it , funny thing is it shot fine, scope was junk though.
Later
Daren
 
Darren, sounds like a Golfer took up hunting & we all know what the're like when their shot doesn't go as planned ! :D

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"The Gun from Down Under !"
 
I found one once while scuba diving around some bridge pylons in Lake Lanier Ga. It was a .38 Special w/a 4" barrel. Looked like it had been in there awhile.

Did I keep it? &*$%%^& NO! It don't take a brain surgeon to figure out it was most likely dumped after the commision of a crime.

I turned it in to the Gwinnet Co. Police. They seemed to be quite pleased that somebody found it. The officer who I spoke with told me that three weeks before a diver had found and turned in a small safe that had been stolen from a jewelry store. When the owner of the safe was notified he showedthe officer a secret compartment that had more than a few gold Krugerrands (?) in it.

The moral of this story? Always look for a secret compartment.

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Dan

Check me out at:
www.mindspring.com/~susdan/interest.htm
www.mindspring.com/~susdan/GlocksnGoodies.htm
 
Krugerrand? What's a Krugerrand?

I was talking about rifles with a friend at college here. He's in ROTC so he gets to play with neato 3-shot burst M-16s (but he also has to turn 'em in at the end of the day.)
Anyway, he was on some kind of night navigation course in Wisconsin last year and knew he was near a marker but couldn't see it, so he turned on his light and was looking about 20 feet ahead for the marker. Of course, doing that he tripped. So he shines the light down, and there at his feet in the mud is somebody's loaded M16. He had to finish the course humping two rifles and he turned in the other one to his superior. All he would tell me about what happened to the other rotsee who left the rifle behind was that it was ugly--probably an understatement.
:)
 
When I was 17, I spent the summer working for a guy that bought old houses and renovated them. While he was tearing out an old plaser wall he found an old cap & ball revolver wrapped in oil rags that had been plastered into the wall! Looked to be in great condition. Can't remember the maker, to many years ago. LOL



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John - NRA - Lifer
 
Keeping a found gun would not be bright. If it is found on you and happens to match the bullets that killed someone, you could have a lot of problems.

In some areas, especially with a handgun, it might not be wise to even pick it up and take it to the police; you could be charged with illegal possession. Best to call the police, tell them you saw the gun and offer to take them to the scene.

Jim
 
My grandfather, who for many years worked as an engineer for a shipyard, found an old Colt revolver in the waterway, just beneath the "ways" that the ships slide on. He happened to be looking in the right spot and saw a glint of silver. Turned out to be a nickle plated .38 Colt Lightning. The shipyard was adjacent to a roadway bridge, so it was pretty obvious that someone had tossed it over, hoping to ditch the evidence. He was friends with a police officer, so he turned in the old Colt and the police kept it for a year, took ballistic data from it and eventually returned the old revolver to my grandfather.
I still have it, though I don't shoot it (Lightnings are horrendously complex and delicate). This all took place in New Orleans, I'm sure that these days the police in that jurisdiction keep all weapons that are turned in. Then they try to trade them for new Glocks, with the provision that the traded firearms be sold elsewhere. I hear the Mayor is still scraping the egg off his face. Love it!
 
I found one when I was living in Miami,Fl
was messing around the woods near our house and came up on a Colt Woodsman with a cylinder attached to the barrel ( didn't know at the time what it was on the barrel) went home and called my father at the office ( He worked at the Justice Dept)Came home with 4 other men,Talk about mean looking! Anyway, never did find out what the story was behind that gun, but they had those woods roped off for 3 or 4 days and I was mad as hell, couldn't get to my tree house!!!!
At least I got the new 5 speed bike I wanted :D
 
RacerX,

I have one of those "New Orleans Specials".

the city sold over 10,000 guns to an Indiana
dealer, and I bought one !

it has the faint smell of hypocrisy on it.

:)
 
Found 2 guns - while I was a LEO...
1st one - Rossi 38 spl revolver... Turned up stolen - returned to owner.
2nd one 9mm UZI SMG. I found it on the highway, about 10 feet from an abandoned car. Was clear - and was going to be given to me when it came across as stolen... owner was a snow bird type and the gun was in his winter cabin. he did not know it was stolen for some time.

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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
 
On a crapper break while in the Marine Corp Reserves on a weekend drill, I entered a stall right after my platoon leader, a Captain and Houston Police Officer, and found his 1911 lying on the back of the crapper. I was sure it was his LEO duty weapon. I Started my business, figuring he would soon realize it was missing and return in a panic for it. No show. Finished my business, tucked the pistol in my belt under my jacket. Found the Captain about an hour later and asked if the Major minded if he carried his weapon concealed while on drills. He got a puzzled look on his face and reached back to touch the gun that wasn't there anymore. His face went white! I only smiled. I then handed it to him, scolded him a little bit and asked what would have happened if it had been a public restroom and a 8 year old kid was next in line at the stall. It's not often that a Sgt can get away with scolding a Captain, but he seemed pleased that I had found it and not someone else. We had always gotten along pretty good anyway. I don't know if it was appreciation or fear of discovery, but he always treated me well and gave me extra responsibilities after the incident. Actually I think it was because I did what I was told without bitching and did it as best I could.
 
My dad found a gun when he was in the Coast Gaurd. He was cleaning the bottom deck of this old tug and found S&W .38 for his troubles. The wood was slightly rotted away from the grips but it the rest was in good condition. He still has the weapon for his trouble.
 
I have never found a gun, but I find it troubling that if I were to find a gun my first thought wouldn't be about the "poor person who lost it and how I could help them get it back", it would probably be "if I touch this gun could I be incriminated for a crime that the gun was involved in".

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"Time changes everything"
 
Just curious...wouldn't local friends of the people try to hang other guns that "went missing" from their evidence lockers or their armory on you, as well?

Good argument for keeping mum about it.

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Cornered Rat
ddb.com/RKBA Updated March 20
"Disarm, then past the barbed wire, into the oven and out of the smoke-stack..."
 
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