So you're walking down the street and you see...

To go back to the original question, if I saw a gun in that condition, I'd pull out my cell phone and call the police. I would try not to handle it, in case it had been used in a crime and there were prints on the gun. If I was in a very rural area where it would take too long to wait for a police response, then I would retrieve the firearm, unload it, and then call the police.

Jared
 
Run home, tell my mommmmy, she will make things allll better! No, pick it up in a using a plastic bag. Take it to the police station, tell them exactly where you found it, say have a nice day, glad to be of assistance and go home. Thats a very tough choice though. If the gun was used in a crime they will melt it down. Even if it wasnt, they would probably melt it anyway. People dont like guns. So had you kept it, you would have stopped a beautiful tool, and piece of art from getting destroyed. On the other hand, had it been used in a crime, or stolen and dumped, and you get caught with it, you are pretty much screwed.
 
This happened to me while in the Army - we came across a group of Navy Sea Bees... We hung around jabbering with them... While talking with these guys - a couple of us discovered a Mk 19 on the other side of some pallets.
Well - it just wouldnt do to leave a weapon around where the SeaBees could get hurt... so we took possession of it as subtle and easy as possible as not to freak them out.
Once it was removed from the area - we ended the discussion regarding Marines and the proper application of spackle, and left the area.

:D :D :D
 
Since I'm here, I'll take it George. The Sea Bees are the base/port construction workers. "Sea Bee" is a sound alike for "CB" - Construction Batallion.
 
Anyone finding a firearm under those or similar circumstances should notify the police immediately. Do not touch it, pick it up, or attempt to "secure" it. If you must, make an anonymous phone call, but better to have someone else call the police while you keep others away.

As to "securing" the gun, or keeping it, do you really want a murder weapon with YOUR fingerprints on it found in YOUR possession? No gun is worth that kind of trouble.

And yes, people who have turned in guns have been arrested for illegal possession. The law usually makes no exemption for turning in a gun, which is why most "buy back" programs are illegal on the face.

Jim
 
Finally! IMO, the correct response (along with Jeff and M1911) other than mine ( :) ). No way would I touch the weapon, with gloves or plastic bags or anything, before calling the police.
 
Just for fun, let's try a scenario.

You are walking down the street and spot a gun in a box under a dumpster. You look at it and decide it would look better in your gun collection. You make sure no one is looking and then pocket it and start to walk away. But just then a police car pulls up in response to an anonymous tip. The cops ask you to wait while they check things out.

Sure enough, they look in the dumpster and find that some cocerned citizen has decided to save tax money by cancelling an FBI agent's pension. Now the cops, having stopped you leaving the scene of a crime, decide to search you. They find what will turn out to be the murder weapon, with your fingerprints all over it.

IMHO, even the dumbest DA could manage to make a pretty good case out of that one. Even if you do convince the DA or a jury of your innocence on a murder charge, you will still be locked up on some charge just as a general nuisance.

Anyone want to tell me how it will go down any different?

Jim
 
no brainer.. call the cops.. why would ANYONE leave a pistol in a dumpster? Chances are its stolen or used in a crime. Do the right thing, that could be THE one piece of evidence that convicts a murderer. Think of the victim you might cheat by taking it home.

Dr.Rob
 
no brainer
LOOK ALL WAYS AND TAKE IT HOME!
The concern about it having been used in a crime and that its serial number is tainted is MOOT! Why? Cuz all guns are tainted. They're coming for ALL of 'em, regardless of the guns "background check".
 
Amen. Dr Rob is right. Besides, in my town they sometimes give out rewards for "information leading to the arrest and conviction of" BGs.
 
why? did you find one?

------------------
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one. Luke 22-36
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
The man that can keep his head and aims carefully when the situation has gone bad and lead is flying usually wins the fight.
 
Ten years ago I used to clean up the debris around the eccentric lady's house down the street. She didn't ask, she didn't talk to anybody at all. I was out in the deadend alley one day moving a big pile of matted leaves with a pitchfork and found a clean nylon holster stuck in the bone-dry center of the pile. I am still looking for the gun. John
 
The right thing to do would be call the LEO and hang around for them to arrive. As long as your fingerprints are not on the weapon there should be no problem with them "pinning the crime on you". And yes, that could be the piece of evidence that sends some scumbag to the electric chair, gas chamber or prison for life. Thus denying him the chance to hurt anyone else, which could possibly include you and your loved ones. No weapon is worth someone else's life.

The anonymous tip thing is alright but if you leave the scene there is always the possibility that a kid could pick it up. All joking aside, no one wants a kid to handle a loded weapon that he found in the dumpster, especially if he doesn't know how to use one.

Plus someone might also call in your suspicious actions of checking out a box, making a call and then exiting the area. They could take your tag number and you might be investigated.

There is no way that I would touch the thing, with or without gloves, plactic bag, etc. And if you secure the weapon and turn it into the police, you've violated a chain of evidence that might wreck the case. A good defense attorney might get his client off on that alone.
 
If you are not in a position to report to the police for you are afraid of being questioned (you know sometimes, being so concerned and think others welfare you will be in trouble), so just simply take it and clean well with coconut oil (the simplest thing to remove a finger print) or other removing agents.

But for what purpose you take it if you are a law abider and don't want trouble. So, just don't touch it for it might be the cause to mess your life.
 
The advice to take it home would have to be posted by either a 12-year old or an idiot.

Only a kid or a fool with no understanding of responsibility or consequences would want a gun so badly that he would risk imprisonment to obtain one. Even if not charged with any crime that might have been committed with the gun, there could be charges of tampering with evidence, illegal possession, etc. And if someone thinks no one will notice - wrong! People who do wrong things (even police) are often rather astonished to find out who is watching (and taping) their actions.

Jim
 
Turn it in to a supervisor. Have it checked to see if there is a "body" on the gun.

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"Out here, due process is a bullet"
 
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