Found a shotgun on the side of the road today, what do?

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I guess. If ever they ever do find it I don't think that will fly in court. More likely the guy will end up in prison.
 
A story about a gun, two strangers and the law involved & it has a happy ending!

Rare these days
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I wonder if it really is that rare or if we just focus on the negatives. Noted your location Hal, this is somewhere in the middle of our fine state. The local sheriff's office has always been pretty level headed about similar matters...(which is why I opted for them instead of the city police).

I couldn't even consider keeping it...it's no safe queen and probably has a good many stories to go with it. It'd be like keeping a guy's dog.
 
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It bothers me that I got similar reactions to my post in a similar thread, involving theoretical "found $700."

Several seemed to think that my suggestion, to bring the bag to the PD, would result in the PD doing something nefarious with the money. "Might as well just keep it..."

Those folks obviously were not raised by my parents.
 
BAAAD MOJO to not make every attempt to find the rightful owner.

You did the right thing jcims.

I would hope that if I ever lost a gun(or anything else) an honorable person such as your self would find it. Kudo's to ya!
 
What the hell was an ROTC unit doing with an M-60?


"Most are not honest and would just keep it."

That's a perilously broad statement (and as far as I'm concerned, reprehensible as hell), one I'd like to see you back up with hard data there, Rifleman.
 
Hope you didn't leave any fingerprints on it. Posting notes on public forums is going to bring a lot of undesirable people to you. I would not do that. I would turn it in to the police or destroy it. If you keep it and it was used in a crime things could get very ugly if a cop ever sees it and runs the numbers.
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The only thing I can think of worse than the police finding your prints on a murder weapon is them finding your prints on a murder weapon you destroyed.;)
 
Walklightly, we don't control the actions of others.

We do control ourselves, and I am my own worst critic.

If you think you would be better off jumping off bridges with the dishonest and shady types, that is on you.
 
It bothers me that I got similar reactions to my post in a similar thread, involving theoretical "found $700."

Several seemed to think that my suggestion, to bring the bag to the PD, would result in the PD doing something nefarious with the money. "Might as well just keep it..."

Those folks obviously were not raised by my parents.
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MLeake I like the way you think.:cool:

Contacting police was the right decision. Well done jcims.
 
I would turn it in to the cops and definitly NOT post it any any public forum. Probably fell out of a hill billy's truck, but you never know.
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Yes, the paranoia does run deep....

I would drop it off at the local PD AND post it online. Tell them exactly where it is. Then it is up to them to go to the police to pick it up.
 
I once had an acquaintenance proudly show me his Rohm .22 revolver (I believe the same model of gun used by John Lennon's murderer), saying he had found it by some railroad tracks. I was like, "Oh really" while thinking that gun was probably used to off a local Huggy Bear and then ditched by those tracks.
 
Walklightly said:
Well, what'd you do???
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Just got back from the sheriff's office and dropped it off without incident. It's been a while since I've worked with the business end of their department, and they were consummate professionals.

Glockman55 said:
He slid his rifle ( hard case) in the box of his pick-up shut the tail gate and headed back to camp. Got there and noticed the tail gate was open, must have not been latched. His gun was gone..
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This is basically what occurred. The guy backtracked once he realized what happened and found the shattered bits of plastic from the case, but no gun. He reported it shortly thereafter.

In the spirit of saying something good or nothing at all, if it weren't for the finders-keepers types out there, I think folks would be a lot less mindful of their possessions. But that's about all I've got to say about that. :)

Merry Christmas, folks!
 
I don't know the law where you live, but our youngest daughter found a really nice diamond ring once and we found what the law was here in WA,

You turn the found item into the police, (get a receipt) and if nobody claims it in either 3 or 6 months, and it is not claimed or identified as stolen, it is yours and you can go back to the police station and claim it.

At least, here in WA, that is the procedure.
 
If you keep it and it was used in a crime things could get very ugly if a cop ever sees it and runs the numbers. From post #7.

???What numbers do they run?? MI has handgun registration but not long gun!! How about your state?

Notify police and see if called in. Advise them to have looser call you. Keep them out of it.

Put ad in advertiser etc to find owner.

Get to all YOUR guncases and place an ID tag on them so when you loose yours, finder will know who to call..
 
What the hell was an ROTC unit doing with an M-60?
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They were shooting it.

Before the incident the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets was allowed to store and keep US Army weapons on campus much like at VMI. They lost everything when they lost that gun. The Army took their weapons away from the program. In fact most of their weapons and armory stuff were then transferred to VMI. This was around 20 years ago.

Most people don't realize that most of the military schools that have weapons, those weapons belong to the US military. So at VMI for example they have hundreds of M-16s of various types as well as various other weapons including historical models.
 
I would call the police. My Brother and I lost an expensive Beretta shotgun years ago by leaving it on top of the truck (yes, moronic I know!) and driving off.

As the owner you pretty much have to report it as stolen/missing to cover yourself.

We checked with the police many times in that area and it never showed up.

As the person who found if I would check with the police often so that you aren't ever faced with possession of stolen property (I am NOT a lawyer).
 
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