carpettbaggerr
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And if it turns out to be linked to a murder? How does the "third party" explain how he came into possession?
Friend found gun in new house,need help(legal)
- Thread starter ChopperKen
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sicario103
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- Aug 30, 2006
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- 196
Bleh.... You should break that revolver as much as you can and ditch it in a river or drain.
Why?
Because who ever owned it is a complete irresponsible moron for "leaving or forgetting" a gun and therefor should not have a gun at all... Assuming it's a legal gun. If it ended up being illegal.... oh well it's all broken so even if somone finds it won't matter because they won't be able use it anymore.
That happened at the place where I work, a few guys come in to have some drinks. After they leave, one of the waiters comes up to me and tells me to go take a peak. I walk over to the table.... and whats there? A stainless steel pistol on the chair. I took it and put it away.... about 10 mins after the guy shows up all embarrassed.... lucky he's a good customer and friend....
Why?
Because who ever owned it is a complete irresponsible moron for "leaving or forgetting" a gun and therefor should not have a gun at all... Assuming it's a legal gun. If it ended up being illegal.... oh well it's all broken so even if somone finds it won't matter because they won't be able use it anymore.
That happened at the place where I work, a few guys come in to have some drinks. After they leave, one of the waiters comes up to me and tells me to go take a peak. I walk over to the table.... and whats there? A stainless steel pistol on the chair. I took it and put it away.... about 10 mins after the guy shows up all embarrassed.... lucky he's a good customer and friend....
pendentive
Member
sounds like a very big stretch to me...
Here's a "What if..." that makes more sense:
What if the previous owner comes back looking for it?
(I don't have the answer to that one...just more likely to happen)
As a knifemaker...I have knives all over the place. It's certainly possible that I might leave one behind when I move (stashed somewhere). Unlikely, because I try hard to be thorough...but not impossible.
Like I said, best case scenario is for a third party to contact the previous homeowner and return it. Worst case scenario: felon to take it to the cops in a plastic bag and say "I think this might have been used in a crime" :banghead:
Here's a "What if..." that makes more sense:
What if the previous owner comes back looking for it?
(I don't have the answer to that one...just more likely to happen)
As a knifemaker...I have knives all over the place. It's certainly possible that I might leave one behind when I move (stashed somewhere). Unlikely, because I try hard to be thorough...but not impossible.
Like I said, best case scenario is for a third party to contact the previous homeowner and return it. Worst case scenario: felon to take it to the cops in a plastic bag and say "I think this might have been used in a crime" :banghead:
romma
Member
Geez! get out the crime scene tape...
ZeSpectre
Member
A bit of a puzzler for sure. Here's what I think about some of the options and advice given so far.
a) The origional owner might want an accidentally forgotten gun back.---Personally I agree with those who think that if the previous owner forgot a GUN they shouldn't get it back. Nevertheless, legally it is still their property and if you don't return it you are a thief (and things like that just always come back to haunt eventually).
b) Just destroy/dump it/keep it on the sly.---If the gun winds up being evidence in an open/unsolved case then you are instantly an accomplice. REALLY BAD for your buddy who already has a record.
c) Turn it in via a third party (lawyer). --- This seems like the best idea to me. I would write up a detailed statement about the situation and keep it on file. If the gun does get linked to a crime your buddy will need a lawyer anyway because the police WILL have questions, so why not start the process with one on retainer.
my $.02, take it for what it's worth
a) The origional owner might want an accidentally forgotten gun back.---Personally I agree with those who think that if the previous owner forgot a GUN they shouldn't get it back. Nevertheless, legally it is still their property and if you don't return it you are a thief (and things like that just always come back to haunt eventually).
b) Just destroy/dump it/keep it on the sly.---If the gun winds up being evidence in an open/unsolved case then you are instantly an accomplice. REALLY BAD for your buddy who already has a record.
c) Turn it in via a third party (lawyer). --- This seems like the best idea to me. I would write up a detailed statement about the situation and keep it on file. If the gun does get linked to a crime your buddy will need a lawyer anyway because the police WILL have questions, so why not start the process with one on retainer.
my $.02, take it for what it's worth
ChopperKen
Member
In the attic, I'm not even sure what make or model it is.
Friend has gotten it handled legally. Hopefully it gets back to the rightful owner.
Ken
Friend has gotten it handled legally. Hopefully it gets back to the rightful owner.
Ken
DoubleTapDrew
Member
As for an owner coming back for it, I have a related story.
Old girlfriend's stepdad buys a nice lifted Chevy Tahoe. A couple days later, the previous owner (who was basically a friend) came over and said "I, uh, think I left a weapon under the seat." Went in the rig and retrieved a semi-auto in a nylon holster attached to the bottom of the driver's seat. We shot the breeze for a while and it was no big deal, but had the buyer been a felon and got stopped and searched that could have been bad.
An attic gun though, I imagine fell out of a box during moving, or possibly was stashed for some reason. If it was in the attic I doubt it was very important to the previous owner.
Old girlfriend's stepdad buys a nice lifted Chevy Tahoe. A couple days later, the previous owner (who was basically a friend) came over and said "I, uh, think I left a weapon under the seat." Went in the rig and retrieved a semi-auto in a nylon holster attached to the bottom of the driver's seat. We shot the breeze for a while and it was no big deal, but had the buyer been a felon and got stopped and searched that could have been bad.
An attic gun though, I imagine fell out of a box during moving, or possibly was stashed for some reason. If it was in the attic I doubt it was very important to the previous owner.
pendentive
Member
This is not true. A felon (in many states) can certainly own a black powder rifle/pistol. On the flip side, there are those that consider even a pellet gun a firearm.
:banghead:ZeSpectre
Member
Okay, I have to relate this story now. My best friend's grandfather was a moonshiner in the catskill mountians "back in the day" and he never -quite- gave up the habit. Well in 1986 (at the ripe old age of 91) he passed away and his property and house eventually were sold (fortunately, as it turns out, to friends of the family).
About a year later my friend and I are back home from college visiting and I'm over at his parents place when there is a knock at the door and it's the friend who bought gramp's place and he wants to show us something. So off across the back field to gramp's old house and the new owner starts showing us all of the "smugglers holes" that gramps had built into the house (secret compartments) that held stuff like copper tubeing, "recepies", jars of moonshine, etc. I mean there had to be 10 or more of these little secrets around the house
Then came the crowning touch when he takes us back to the front door and says "now look at this" and reaches up to the moulding above the entrance door. Damned if it wasn't hinged and in the hollow behind it was a sawed off SxS shotgun and a box of shells (all covered in cobwebs, probably hadn't been touched in 30 years).
I guess gramps was trying to be ready if "the revenue" ever came to visit (he he he).
About a year later my friend and I are back home from college visiting and I'm over at his parents place when there is a knock at the door and it's the friend who bought gramp's place and he wants to show us something. So off across the back field to gramp's old house and the new owner starts showing us all of the "smugglers holes" that gramps had built into the house (secret compartments) that held stuff like copper tubeing, "recepies", jars of moonshine, etc. I mean there had to be 10 or more of these little secrets around the house
Then came the crowning touch when he takes us back to the front door and says "now look at this" and reaches up to the moulding above the entrance door. Damned if it wasn't hinged and in the hollow behind it was a sawed off SxS shotgun and a box of shells (all covered in cobwebs, probably hadn't been touched in 30 years).
I guess gramps was trying to be ready if "the revenue" ever came to visit (he he he).
FourTeeFive
Member
One of the founding states
Events like this remind me why I moved away from Massachusetts. A guy finds a gun in his house and has to tip-toe around because HE is scared of breaking the law.
Ridiculous. I never could figure out why MA and CT are so anti-gun, and New Hampshire is the "Live free or die" state.
Events like this remind me why I moved away from Massachusetts. A guy finds a gun in his house and has to tip-toe around because HE is scared of breaking the law.
Ridiculous. I never could figure out why MA and CT are so anti-gun, and New Hampshire is the "Live free or die" state.
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