Man finds family's rifle at Gander Mountain

[The Rifleman]

The very first thing through my mind when I read the origional post and before I read what anyone else said was that this is a Felony - recieving stolen property.

First off - Gander Mountains first responsibility was to call the police at this point and turn in the person that sold it to them. You have to fill out a bill of sale when you sell a used firearm to any gun dealer.

So Gander Mountain bought it in good faith.

But the man that sold it - didn't.

You would be suprised how many people have a sudden recollection of memory when faced with thousands of dollars of fines and lawyers fees and court costs and years in jail...

Without a doubt - this man would have gotten his gun back without any cost and Gander Mountain should have prosecuted the individual that sold it to them. Probably some crack head that needed money. Most legal situations first name changes but the last name doesn't....

 

[SolaScriptura139]

"He said, 'Before you pass away, you put your mark on it. That way, they'll know how many generations it's been in this family,'" Bullock said.

That's a sweet heritage to pass down. Hopefully I'll pick up a really beautiful gun someday for a similar purpose (among many others).

 

[wdlsguy]

The Bullocks didn't have serial numbers, so all they could do was describe the items to the police.

BATFE has a nice Personal Firearms Record you can download, print and fill out for your records.

 

[History Prof]

History Prof:

It'd be nice if:

a) they were able to reverse trace the rifle back to the thief.

That's a possible argument in favor of registering all guns.

To a certain degree, it is already "registred." Enough so that they might be able to trace it back with 4473s, dealer log books and a little detective footwork. I must humbly disagree that this is an argument for "further" registration, though. It *would* be an argument *against* repeal of CGA'68, though.

 

[jnojr]

It'd be nice if:

a) they were able to reverse trace the rifle back to the thief.

All he'd have to do is say, "Oh, I bought it at some yard sale a while back..."

b) Gander Mountain would just eat the $140 and give him his cash back. Positive publicity goes a LOOONGG way.

Because they'd have a line out the door of people identifying long-lost rifles

Now, if the rifle was behind a counter, and someone could identify marks without being able to see them, I could see them kicking down, especially with a $160 item. But if someone is touching it, and excitedly "identifying" marks that are right there... that isn't so impressive.

In any case, $140 to retrieve a bit of family history is money well-spent.

 

[Correia]

A copy of that Police Report with a matching description of the rifle including the notches should have been a good reason to contact the Police Dept and report that the stolen rifle had been found and its location. The stolen rifle would have been returned to its rightful owner.

The report probably said something along the line of: Rifle. Old. Has two scratches.

As the owner of a gunstore, I'll be glad to just toss over guns that I paid money for because you found one that had two scratches that belonged to your grandfather.

Honestly I would need a little more evidence than that before I had Free Gun Day.

 

[hoghunting]

My copy of the police report had the make, model, caliber, description and serial number. If his police report stated "Rifle, old, two scratches", then he should have given the officer more information and requested a better description on the report.

 

[hueytaxi]

Something similar happened in my family a couple years ago and i enlisted some forums for help. Not back into shooting then, I don't know if I posted here or not. When my Father died, my stepmother reminded me of Dad's old guns and she had them still. I had not seen them since about 1959. I don't know how many or which ones she talked about because I felt I would never see them. He had a recent Remington Auto loading 12 gauge, 2 Mannlichers in 2 calibers from WWII era, a trapdoor Springfield, 2 SXS shotguns with hammers and a Harper's Ferry rifle. My stepmother dies soon after my Dad. I am not an heir, but share the same attorney as my Dad had. In conversation, I mentioned the weapons and found that I did have a claim to them since they were acquired while my Dad and Mom were married. I contacted the nieces handling the estate without success with them claiming no knowledge of them. (Some could have been sold over the years). I contacted Dad's best friend from WWII and into the present and he claimed that they probably never existed. He said my Dad gave him the Remington which was probable as his sight failed and he said the smaller caliber Mannlicher was his wifes, not Dad's (absolute lie). I had my attorney draft a letter to all of the principles explaining my intent to turn this over to the State Attorney and then got on the forums, called every auction house, estate liquidation, and pawnshop I could find. With no real descriptions or SN, I expected nothing, but did achieve what I wanted. After a few weeks the caretakers of Dad's place found 4 of the weapons, a Remington SxS, a Parkhurst SxS, a fair 1873 Springfield and the Harper's Ferry M1855 Rifle. Will never know what happened or why, but these are back in the family.

 

[hueytaxi]

Something similar happened in my family a couple years ago and i enlisted some forums for help. Not back into shooting then, I don't know if I posted here or not. When my Father died, my stepmother reminded me of Dad's old guns and she had them still. I had not seen them since about 1959. I don't know how many or which ones she talked about because I felt I would never see them. He had a recent Remington Auto loading 12 gauge, 2 Mannlichers in 2 calibers from WWII era, a trapdoor Springfield, 2 SXS shotguns with hammers and a Harper's Ferry rifle. My stepmother dies soon after my Dad. I am not an heir, but share the same attorney as my Dad had. In conversation, I mentioned the weapons and found that I did have a claim to them since they were acquired while my Dad and Mom were married. I contacted the nieces handling the estate without success with them claiming no knowledge of them. (Some could have been sold over the years). I contacted Dad's best friend from WWII and into the present and he claimed that they probably never existed. He said my Dad gave him the Remington which was probable as his sight failed and he said the smaller caliber Mannlicher was his wifes, not Dad's (absolute lie). I had my attorney draft a letter to all of the principles explaining my intent to turn this over to the State Attorney and then got on the forums, called every auction house, estate liquidation, and pawnshop I could find. With no real descriptions or SN, I expected nothing, but did achieve what I wanted. After a few weeks the caretakers of Dad's place found 4 of the weapons, a Remington SxS, a Parkhurst SxS, a fair 1873 Springfield and the Harper's Ferry M1855 Rifle. Will never know what happened or why, but these are back in the family.

 

[Shipwreck]

That's a heck of a story...