Police Confiscate Guns From Lady In Portland, OR

[Gaucho Gringo]

A friend of mine called me and related this story about one of his in laws. The lady's husband passed away a few months ago and in going through his things they found a bunch of guns. They sold some of the less expensive guns and kept the more expensive guns. Among the guns that were left were 2 NIB consecutively numbered Colt Pythons with boxes, a few S&W's & Colt 1911's. There was about 10 or 12 guns total. Today they were transporting the guns from the old house to the lady's new apartment when the SUV they were in was t boned in an accident that was the other persons fault. The police were called and they saw all the guns in the SUV. The short story is they confiscated all the guns because they said she had to many. In my eyes this is wrong, wrong, wrong. I advised my friend to have her call the NRA and see if they can recommend a gun friendly lawyer. Is there anything else I could have advised them to do?

 

[Mainsail]

So, third hand? Do you think it might be a bit early to get wound up?

 

[Midwest]

From what I was able to gather from the story, the guns were illegally seized. Unless of course the person transporting them and/or the recipient had a criminal background. Have them contact a lawyer asap and then file a complaint.

 

[PA Curmudgeon]

Another possibility is that the woman sustained injuries sufficient to be transported to the hospital while the vehicle was towed away from the accident site.

What were the PoPo supposed to do with the weapons? Secure them is my guess.

I think we've all heard the horror stories, but until something of substance comes along, I cry "Occam's Razor!" and hope for the best.

 

[Midwest]

Rereading the story, I see that pistols were involved. If the pistols did were not secured properly that could mean it was concealed and if the transporter does not have a carry permit...concealed carry laws might be used as a reason for the police to take the whole lot. But if that was the case then the police should have a duty to explain to your friends why they are taking them.

Regarding a lawyer, your friend might want to get the same lawyer who handled the estate involved as well as he or she will (or should) have a list of the firearms and serial numbers that were in the collection and the more importantly, the condition they were in before the police "took them" (if not...someone should have all that information!).

I don't know Oregon's concealed carry laws but they need to be looked at as well to find a legal determination if the firearms (the pistols) were concealed or not during transportation. As well as the inheritance laws and transportation laws of firearms in Oregon.

If these firearms are collectors items, we could be talking over $500 a piece or or much more ...$6000 - $12,000 + ? What is the latest information since this happened?

 

[Art Eatman]

Sorry, but third-hand stories aren't worth the bandwidth.