Guns stolen 1975

[Sky Dog]

I just acquired a model/serial number list of guns that were stolen from my parents house in 1975. Is there a national database I can access to see if they were ever found?

 

[jmr40]

There is, but only accessable by LE. The SN's have to be entered 1st. If you didn't provide the numbers in 1975 there is no way they are in the system.

 

[Sky Dog]

Thanks for the info. Yes I have the serial numbers and who is LE?

 

[19-3Ben]

LE= Law Enforcement AKA 5-0 / Da' po-po

 

[Sky Dog]

I have the serial numbers in the police report

 

[krimmie]

You may wish to check if the State they were stolen in has their own database....we do have one here in Florida.

 

[Malamute]

Check and see if they are still in the system. A friend had a gun stolen in the 80's, she called and checked to see if it turned up every few years. At one point, they told her that the numbers get kicked out of the system every so often, and to have them re-entered. First I'd ever heard of such a thing, I thought they were in forever once in.

 

[lemaymiami]

If possible it will help if you contact the original agency that took the stolen report, then entered the items as stolen into the data base.... The reason I say this is that many times an item (firearm or otherwise) will be recovered years later and a notification will be sent to the original reporter, which is usually entered in a supplemental report. If they're unable to locate the owner/original reporter then the item(s) would be disposed of according to that particular agency's policy.

Years ago I handled my outfit's property room for a few years and more than once sent out a written notification of recovered property that came back "no such person"... Firearms particularly have a long lifespan and might actually be recovered years and years after a theft.... Of course any police agency should be able to run the numbers on your list and tell you if they're still listed as stolen.... If they were recovered then the original message would be deleted from the system. One other bit of info... it's the original reporting agency that's responsible to contact the owner -no matter where or when the item was recovered.

 

[Twiki357]

You didn’t say where you were, but you also have to consider the possibility that the guns may have been recovered and destroyed without any attempt to contact the agency where the loss originally occurred or the rightful owner. Some departments, like Los Angeles PD, will automatically destroy any firearm they get possession of. At least that’s what LAPD did with two of mine that were stolen in a burglary and recovered the next day. The only way I could get them back was to file a law suit that would cost 10 times what the guns were worth.

 

[krimmie]

As lemaymiami alluded to, it's important to inform the local PD if your contact info changes. I had guns stolen in 2007 and have gotten three back since.