Missing Luger

[SackOHammers]

I've gone back and forth on this in my mind and have finally decided to post about it. Sometimes this just burns me up. So I guess I'm here to vent. And maybe get some suggestions.

A couple years ago I lost my grandfather. Before he died, he kept telling me how much he wanted me to have his Luger. We was in World War II as you can probably guess. I don't have any pictures, but to me, it didn't look like what I imagined a luger would. It looked... simpler.
He told me that this was a "pre war" luger. I have no idea how old it was. But all the parts had the last two digits of the serial number stamped on it. Including the mags. It was Very clean and in great shape.

Well, I lived on the other side of the country from ol' Grandpa and his health wasn't doing that well. But, my sister up there helped take care of him. He also had nurses that came out to his house everyday to take care of him. "Home Health". Well, later, after he died, we discovered that some of those bastards stole checks off the bottom of his checkbooks and wrote checks. Also, one of the bastards stole Grandpa's luger.

We filed a police report with the worthless village police department (small town in Michigan). He wasn't really interested in doing anything about it. We knew the gun was registered with the State Police (or whomever keeps those records). Grandpa was pretty particular about making sure his firearms were registered. The police chief was too darn lazy to bother to contact the state police to have them look up the serial number. When we called, he said he was always too busy. This went on for months. Sometimes my sister would see him parked somewhere around town.. yacking it up with the locals. And he'd make up some excuse. After being hounded once every several weeks or months, he finally got combative and told us to leave it alone, he'll get to it when he's ready.... and he would make it a point to let us know he hadn't contacted the State Police yet.
Well, my sister pretty much gave up on it. And I did as well... living so far away and figuring it was probably gone forever anyway.

So, its been about 3 years now. And some undeserving soul has a really cool heirloom that belongs to me. And the local Barney Fife is uninterested in doing anything about it.

Thanks for listening to me gripe.
Hammers

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

Thats a terrible thing to have to endure. You have my sympathy. That is an utter afront to everything our society holds as good and right. Stealing from a dying man...that makes me want to puke.

 

[NG VI]

Ever write to the District Attorney and State Police directly?

Also, what you said about it looking, simpler maybe, than you expected, Is there any chance it could have been a Lahti? They very much resembled Lugers in external profile, but were a different design entirely.

Like so

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...agQfwr_DaBQ&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

 

[SackOHammers]

My sister contacted the State Police in Lansing. They told her they wouldn't do anything without a police report. Circle-jerk ensues.

Had not considered contacting the DA. Maybe I will.

I looked at your pictures of the Lahti. Definitely not that one. The Luger in question had round handles on the back of the slide. The ones on the Lahti you linked appear to be wedge-shaped.
This luger had obvious german markings / words. Although I cannot recall a lot of detail on those markings.
The gun wasn't entirely blued. Some parts looked copper or brass colored... like the trigger.
It didn't really look exactly like this, either:
http://www.amazon.com/Denix-FD1226-Luger-P08-Parabellum/dp/B002TKMI7M

I remember the trigger looking very thick and beefy.

I don't know how else to describe it. It looked more "crude" than the pictures of the one in the first post here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/169976-1914-commercial-military-luger.html

But, maybe my memory is just for crap. I haven't seen the thing in 6 years or so.

EDIT:
Errr, I have NO idea what this guy did to this poor luger. But that trigger looks exactly like what I remember.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361179

 

[Dr.Rob]

The firearm will be on record if it was indeed registered. Understand that hiring a lawyer might cost more than the firearm is worth, but as a legal matter, it is a traceable item. If a will or other legal document IE a transfer was written to you then the person who has it now might be in violation of state law, which is no small matter.

Suggest you retain an estate specialist, then proceed. It is possible is the person with the firearm is charged with a crime and you STILL do not inherit the item. That outcome might weigh on your potential legal action.

 

[bannockburn]

SackOHammers

I would agree with Dr. Rob on this. Hire an attorney who is well versed in these matters (wouldn't hurt if the attorney also had some connections both locally and at the state level). Maybe start with the attorney who handled your grandfathers estate, and if they can't help you, see if they can recommend another attorney who can. I wish you the best of luck in your search.

 

[mnrivrat]

Send a formal letter (registered mail) to the police dept, with a copy to the DA's office requesting the police report. Proceed from there to the state police .

 

[dodgensince74]

go down and get a copy of the police report, if they don't or can't find it just file another and then take it to your state police or county police which ever is closest. I would also contact the DA about the issue, I would definitly make sure I got a copy of the report for your records. Good luck

 

[teumessian_fox]

After 3 years I'd say the gun is gone and not even the thief knows where it is. A lot of these home health people (not all, but a lot) are in it for the drugs they can steal off their patients.

I'd say it's time to let it go.

 

[Loosedhorse]

Probably made it to a gun buy-back.

Good lesson to keep things safe, especially at the stage of life when we have strangers in the house routinely.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

A lot of these home health people (not all, but a lot) are in it for the drugs they can steal off their patients.

Must be a regional thing. That isn't how it is here. Sorry to the OP both for the loss of your grandfather and also for the loss of your Luger.

 

[SackOHammers]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It makes me feel better... even just venting it out there. I also appreciate the sentiments.

I looked up the county DA office. They have an open email address where you can send in questions. They're reviewed by the DAs and some lawyers. It is specific to Estate and Probate issues. I'll see if I can get some direction from this panel of "Judges, Registers, and Attorneys".

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

A letter to the local paper about how a police department or chief is not doing his job also gets attention. Being you are out of state, they can't even take out revenge on you for stirring things up!

 

[Old Fuff]

This is a long shot, but if your grandfather lived in a small village he might have registured the pistol at the county sheriff department. Larger police departments and sheriff departments in Michigan keep they're own copies of the "safety certificate." It would be worth checking to see.

 

[SaxonPig]

Well, you don't know for sure who stole it or if it was actually stolen at all. An elderly man might lose something and not realize it. Or a family member may have taken it. In any event all you can do is report it as stolen (assuming you have the serial) and hope for the best. I had 23 guns stolen in 1986 and 3 were recovered in the 1st year and another 17 years later leaving 19 still unaccounted for. I am not holding my breath.

Sorry it's gone. I know the feeling.

 

[4v50 Gary]

File a report with a higher authority, including the county sheriff. Once it's in, the ATF may be able to find the gun. Then they'll be doing some for for a change.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Yes. Perhaps insinuating that the police department lost or stole the gun from the evidence locker would be a good title for the report to the BATF or state police, etc.

 

[HorseSoldier]

There's an additional headache in the specific case of Luger pistols -- the factory routinely (yearly, if I remember right) recycled serial numbers, making them non-unique and making tracing a Luger a huge headache on the legal/LEO side. We had two recovered up here as part of a burglary investigation and running a trace on the S/Ns came back to a multitude of reported thefts from all over the country stretching back 30-40 years.

(Potential headache on the trace not justifying local LE not helping you with the issue, however -- not sure I grasp the foot dragging on getting a report/case number, especially since you might need that for insurance purposes as well as hoping to get the pistol logged as stolen and maybe located.)

 

[Old Fuff]

While they recycled numbers a letter prefix was added in most cases. Luger owners should make sure they record both the number and prefix if there is one.

 

[gym]

Try the "state's attorney general" , I would also call the ATF and any other agebcy you can think of along with all the tv and news channels. You may get a news person pick it up as a "human interest story", like those "help me howard" guys. If they get enough preassure they will move their asses. He'd just being unreasonable. Also you may get an attorney from an opposin party who wouldn't mind suing him and the Dept, just for political reasons.
It may not be the High road, but either is the fact that he has your property. And is using his athority to stonewall you.

 

[vidiot]

Hey Friend--I think I have the same Luger..awesome gun. My father brought it back from WW11
Like you all the numbers match even the clip. This one has the holster - with the officers name hand-written in it -- along with a tool for working on the pistol. If I can figure out how I will post a pic or two of it and we'll see if they match. Sorry about your loss but whoever stole it will probably shoot his own foot with it..