remember that guy who had 600+ guns confiscated?

[waterhouse]

Not withstanding CT state law, a paper trail would have followed this guy in every state. He bought 281 handguns in 17 months, which is about 510 days. That is one handgun every 1.8 days. Granted, thats only if he spaced them out perfectly, but either way, a lot of paper trail was following this guy around.

The Feds and local police would be getting a "Multiple Handgun Sales" about once a week.

 

[feedthehogs]

from a financial viewpoint, i wouldn't be pressing charges. this guy did a lot of business.

Until ATFE does an inspection of his bound book and wants to know where the missing guns went.

High gun purchases, high electric bills?

There's something to be said for flying low under the radar.
Life is much more peaceful 500' above the deck.

 

[hso]

If he makes restitution and his lawyers claim he will enter treatment for some sort of emotional/mental disorder that caused the unexplainable behavior he could end up with no felony charges after a plea to a reduced charge.

 

[LaEscopeta]

Congrats for the gun store owner for handling this just about perfectly. Hope his insurance covers him, without a premium increase.

 

[bruss01]

It's hard to say because articles like this seldom give one enough info to form a valid opinion. BUT...

Even though the guy is listed as a "collector" the sheer number of firearms purchased, plus the fact that, not only were there stolen guns, but the guy in question actually stole them himself, is telling. I bet he has some kind of obsessive/compulsive thing which is focused on firearms... maybe it started as a collection and literally became an obsession beyond his conscious control. Why would a guy with so much to lose, risk it all for such a seemingly small return? That points to not thinking right, and makes me wonder about his mental condition. Lots of people are "smart" in an everyday sense and yet develop irrational behaviors. Sometimes these things lie dormant for years and then are set off by a trauma (death of a spouse, job loss, etc) or by a change in chemistry whether due to disease, medication or some unknown factor. I feel sorry for the guy, I don't think, based on the facts as presented, that it was a moral failure but rather a failure of another kind which resulted in this bizarre behavior.

 

[elrod]

Kingson, mp510

Thanks, I am only accustomed to the laws of Alabama. I have been aware of much more stringent regulations in other states, especially up north and, of course, California. I have long believed that the state has too good of a chance to build a data base of gun sales to pass up. (Get out the tinfoil hats) However, the dealers I buy from have tried to assure me that this dosen't happen. This is the reason I was intrested in this case.

 

[jrfoxx]

The shop lifting sounds really foolish and bizzare, probably an OCD thing. If he could afford to buy 500 plus guns, there was no point in stealing a few on the side.

Exactly the first thing to come to my mind.This guy must have had some sort of mental issue, or was just a giant, moronic a**.Either way, its very odd...

 

[30 cal slob]

at that age i'd start hocking some of my toys and shooting the ones that i had left.

not hoarding them. lol.

sounds like an obsessive compulsive thing, as mentioned previously. i guess we can be thankful the guy wasn't trafficking them to bad guys.

 

[RubenZ]

Maybe the 600 guns were stolen only since he's an employee he could fill out the paper work and make it SEEM like they were sold.

 

[romma]

The interesing thing is that if the gunshop owner hadn't noticed the theft and contacted the police, he would be screwed every which way by now.

Made into a criminal because of the actions of others...

At the very least he would lose his FFL for inventory discrepenies.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

the bulge in my cheek is my tongue

This guy took over 600 guns off the streets and gave them
a quiet home, and we are criticising him? Sara Brady would
give him a medal for taking that many guns off the street.

 

[mp510]

The idea that all seized guns are "melted down" by the police is actually false. Sure, some jurisdictions do that that are particularly anti-gun. Also any gun with a defaced or missing serial number must be destroyed. Any gun that would not be legal to sell privately must be destroyed, such as full-autos (unless a LEO wants them) and any gun that has been modified from a 'legal" version to an "illegal" version (such as Semiauto rifles converted t ofull auto, sawed-off shotguns, etc).

But many, many police evidence lockers are sold bulk at wholesale discount prices to large gun resellers and dealers. A large place where I live regularly buys seized or evidence guns from PDs across the country to sell as used. They get in some nice stuff. A guy that works there told me somebody must have been a Ruger collector because they got in a bunch of Mini-14s, Mini-30s, PC9s, 44 Deerslayers, 10/22s etc.
__________________

In Connecticut state policy is that the confiscated guns to the melter if they were used in a crime, in almost all circumstances. They haven't auctioned off the firearms in over a decade- they used to, but stopped. DPS and the governor's office are afraid of bad guys buying the guns, despite the state POC NICS checks and mandatory PCPR's for purchase- pistols anyway.

The same policy allows PD's to retain weapons that they can use- I recall reading that one department getting a very nice sniper rifle this way. At one time at least, the same applied to ammo.

Legal guns, not related to a crime, that were owned by an individual who becomes inelligible (turn in your neighbor warrant, DV, felony conviction, etc....)can usually have a sale/ transfer arranged, or so they say. I wonder what happened to the Tommasso collection?

 

[mp510]

If he makes restitution and his lawyers claim he will enter treatment for some sort of emotional/mental disorder that caused the unexplainable behavior he could end up with no felony charges after a plea to a reduced charge.

Remember, in CT stealing a gun is it's own special felony charge. Also remember that it's a federal felony to steal a gun from a Federal Firearms licensee as well.

 

[CowTipper]

I feel really bad that the owner had to deal with a situation like this. I actually had a rifle sent to him after purchasing it on here. He had to put up with my "durh, I don't know what I'm doing for paperwork" and was really patient. Held on to it for a week without asking for anything. Really nice guy.