Anyone else use a inexpensive gun for HD due to confiscation concerns?

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The cost of my 870 Express or 590A1 is much, much lower than what I value my life at. A credit card can always cover another one.

Kharn
 
At this point, I would have to say no. I will use the best, most reliable weapon for defensive purposes. The only thing that would make me hesitate is if it were a unique firearm or priceless heirloom. Since I don't have aby guns that qualify as either of those, I am not worried.
 
greyhound: I doubt you can. After all, before being charged or cleared, you are under indictment for manslaughter or potentially murder 2, if the cops are sadistic towards HD.
 
I'd use the best gun available that will always go bang, regardless of the price.

I thought the procedure was to have a handgun (and a very bright on/off light) & shotgun for home defense...use the pistol to fight your way back to the shotgun, in case you have to barricade.
 
Quote: "In a home defense shooting, the cops are likely to confiscate ALL the guns on the premises anyway. That's why you should keep one gun off-site that you can retrieve later."

Not necessarily. One of my CHL students had used his little .32 Beretta in a home defense situation a couple of years back. Not only did he get his gun back at the end of the night, the investigating officer gave him a pat on the back. :D

I tend to agree with those who think that potential "confiscation" will be the least of one's concerns if involved in a shooting.

Where I did consider relatively "low-cost" was when setting my daughter up in her first apartment. She's trained on a 9 X 18 Makarov, which has proven to be, in both of our hands, very RELIABLE. Yea, in the semi-liberal city where she's going to skul, it might well be confiscated, but in typical urban environments, I think the probability is far higher that "home defense guns" may be STOLEN. :(
 
After all, before being charged or cleared, you are under indictment for manslaughter or potentially murder 2
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Inaccurate. Only a grand jury can hand down an indictment. The most a DA can do is CHARGE you. And most of the time, unless you live in a very anti community or the circumstances of the shooting were suspicious (eg it was a relative/friend, they weren't armed, etc) you won't likely be charged.
 
Now, as a matter of course, if you are involved in a HD shooting and they take all your guns (standard policy, they say), but you're not charged/haven't been chardged yet, can't you go but a new one while they sort it all out? (State laws may vary, of course.)
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Waiting periods. Do you really want to wait three days for a handgun when you may need it soon? If you could afford to do so you should have spare guns and ammo, and maybe a bug out kit hidden or somewhere offsite.

Bill MEadows
 
It's not difficult to get a quality gun cheaply. All you need do is spend a few minutes looking for a police trade in.

I got a SIG P-226 that was a abused very badly on the exterior. The slide is pitted everywhere it touched leather (or pleather). The guts of the gun are in 99% condition, the barrell looks as if it were unfired. I would estimate this gun wsa fired or drawn from it's holster no more often than annual qualifications.

In essence I got a nearly new gun from a mechanical standpoint. I have vetted it through 600 rounds without a hitch.

Yes, this gun is butt ugly, but I got a fully functional, completely trustworthy P226 w/ns, 3 15rd mags for $325.00

AS for using any rifle caliber gun for HD, I hope you dont live in an apartment and don't have children, You will be limited as to where you can use that weapon for fear a miss or overpenetration will certainly go through a wall and hit whatever is on the other side.
 
All of my guns are inexpensive that's why I buy one every couple of weeks. :D

I choose my most reliable gun for home defense which is usually my CCW
piece that I keep in a handy location when I'm not wearing it.

If that doesn't do the trick I have myriad of loaded weapons secured
and readily accessible.
 
Redlg155, better re-examine your Basic Premise on this one - you use a firearm in self-defense in most urban areas and while the court system mulls your fate they will almost certainly remove ALL of your weapons.
 
The $700 odd dollars that the loss of a firearm occassions will pale in light of the legal fees that may occur from a HD situation.

The loss of the gun is my least concern.
 
Redlg155, better re-examine your Basic Premise on this one - you use a firearm in self-defense in most urban areas and while the court system mulls your fate they will almost certainly remove ALL of your weapons.
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Well..in California where you live, most certainly. I wouldn't expect any less.


The notion that all of your weapons would be removed has been brought up many times and it does make an interesting point. At the same time does anyone have a verifiable instance where all the weapons not involved in the situation were removed afer a self defense shooting?

For some of us that would mean at least 10+ weapons secured in a safe. If this were common practice I'd venture to say more folks would store their collections away from home and not in the home itself where it would subject to confiscation.

Officer comes in. Wounded/Dead BG there. .45 casings on the floor. Home owner relinquishes his weapon, a 1911 style .45 auto. Investigator comes in and sees empty shell casings. Compares it with handgun at scene. 2 missing rounds from the magazine are the same nickel plated casing type on the floor.

Now the Investigator orders all of the weapons removed from the house. Shotguns, handguns, rifles, muzzle loaders, all weapons not obviously related to the shooting.

Sorry...it's a little hard for me to believe for folks living in a "free" state. California excluded.

Good SHooting
Red
 
The notion that all of your weapons would be removed has been brought up many times and it does make an interesting point. At the same time does anyone have a verifiable instance where all the weapons not involved in the situation were removed afer a self defense shooting?
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Yes, I have seen more than one newspaper article involving a self defense shooting in the home that has included a line like "Officers also removed two rifles and a shotgun from the home" or something similiar. Sorry I don't have a specific cite right now, but I've seen it enough to believe it is a more or less standard practice in my area. (Michigan, outside of Detroit). Heck, I've seen news stories posted here that have mentioned it.

Has anyone here been involved in a home defense situation involving a firearm, whether or not it was fired, that can comment on whehter your gun was confiscated or if any of your other guns were confiscated?


My view is that whether or not all the guns are confiscated probably varies greatly from region to region and probably also depends on the exact circumstances of the incident.

Personally, I wouldn't say with 100% certainty that your gun, or guns, WILL be confiscated, but I would consider it to be a very likely possibility that you should be prepared for.
 
"Officers also removed two rifles and a shotgun from the home" or something similiar.
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I've seen the same type of statement, but they most always were in conjunction with a commiting a felony with a firearm or being in posession of a firearm during the commision of a felony type of case.

I haven't seen it yet in a clear cut case of self defense shooting.

Good Shooting
Red
 
Some places tend to have the SOP of '"confiscate first, then never even get around to the questions".

I've heard many, many, many nasty stories, both directly from people I know and from others online, about how 'confiscation' basically means that you're never, ever gonna see it for a decade.

However, I'd rather lose an expensive, reliable pistol (or safe full of them) than a cheap, almost-but-not-quite-as-reliable one. You only live once.
 
However, I'd rather lose an expensive, reliable pistol (or safe full of them) than a cheap, almost-but-not-quite-as-reliable one.
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True...but there is a big difference between cheap, and what this post is about...Inexpensive.

I'd put the reliability of my $300 SAR1 against just about anything out there. I also know of many folks who have CZ75s that are happily gobbling up ammo. I guess they don't realize they aren't BHPs. :D

Good Shooting
Red
 
Waiting periods
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Good point. Here in MD we have a 7 day wait for handguns, but none for so called "normal" rifles and SGs. Even if you had to settle for those, I guess its better than nothing (assuming you would rather have a handgun in the first place.)

What justification can they possibly have for "take 'em all and sort it out later"? Common sense would say that someone who just went through the trauma of shooting another human being, even in a HD situation, is not very likely to go on a rampage. Or are they worried that in the stress of the situation the resident might turn on himself? (the last seems unikely but I can't wrap my mind around why they need to do this).
 
Cost doesnt bother me, surviving does. Will my Kimber or Mossberg be confinscated if I have to use one? Probably, but I'd rather trust my life to my Kimber rather than my AMT.
 
I've heard many, many, many nasty stories, both directly from people I know and from others online, about how 'confiscation' basically means that you're never, ever gonna see it for a decade.
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This is why I would keep most of my guns(if I had any) in a hidden gun safe.

Bill Meadows
 
I'm not worried about confiscation, I'm worried about losing the gun in general. I carry Glocks because they are decent, cheap guns. Since they are practically cookie cutter guns, I don't get emotionally attached to them like I do some other guns. If I was in a car wreck and my Glock dissappeared during the aftermath, I wouldn't worry about it like I would a $1K HK or the custom engraved S&W my mom gave me.
 
A guy here in Tucson capped two BG's that were beating the crap out of him in his home. The cops questioned him, but even though he had a safe chock full of guns none of those were taken. I think they took the .38 revolver he used in the HD shooting, but he did get it back a couple days later IIRC.

Now a friend of mine in PA got charged with illegal CCW, and they, of course, took the gun (he only had the one). Even though the charges were dropped (illegal search turned up the gun, plus it was in a locked box in a locked glove compartment - it should have been in the trunk), after 5 months he was still waiting to get the pistol back. It's been quite a few months since I last talked to him so I don't know if he's still waiting.

I only have one HD gun, so if it gets confiscated I'll either have to hope they let me keep my .22 rifle, or one of my WWII bolties for home defense, neither of which is an appealing choice (limited effectivness, or unacceptable overpenetration).
 
This got long in a hurry, but ***, its my beef:

In the 1980's just before I met my wife her father was murdered some distance from his home with one of his own shotguns.

The Chicago Police Department came into his house, without a warrant, and confiscated all of his guns, some of them very valuable shotguns. They never said what for.

His pre-execution girlfriend ran with some hard cases before she met him. They murdered him for his stash of folding money and she turned informant and no one was ever prosecuted for the murder because the DEA wanted drug busts on the higher ups of the murderers.

Here is the true rub. When the family inquired about the return of his guns, they did the CPD "forget about it" shuffle and that was that. At least $40k in guns "disappeared", in 1980 pre-ban dollars.

The book called "How to Hide Anything" is a starting point for concealment of valuables. Never know just don't forget your hides. And keep at least one person in on each one.

So yes, plan that your entire HD stash will probably be confiscated and stolen by the dishonorable and degenerate members of our citizenry or constabulary. Its happened before.
 
The book called "How to Hide Anything" is a starting point for concealment of valuables. Never know just don't forget your hides. And keep at least one person in on each one.
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I'm going to get that book when I get the chance.

Bill Meadows
 
Better buried and forgotten in the dirt than in the hands of some latter-day infidel!

Man I'm really glad I moved away from Chicago.
 
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