What happens to stolen firearms recovered in Canada and Mexico?

[davethedog]

I was talking to a former dealer the other day and he said some firearms stolen from him years ago were recovered in Canada but they wouldn't give them back. I would have thought they would have at least made some attempt at returning them to their rightful owner. Maybe some of you FFL's know if this holds true for all recovered firearms in Canada and Mexico. I just never gave it much thought.

 

[Speedo66]

Hopefully, neither country has access to our criminal justice databases.

 

[jmr40]

Even if they are recovered in the USA it is often not worth the trouble to get them back. You have to show up in person to the city where it was recovered with proof of ownership. I've had 2 stolen and recovered. One in the next county over and it took over 8 years to get it back. It was recovered within a month of being stolen. But other than the time it was relatively easy.

The other was recovered 700 miles away in Baltimore. I would have had to make a 3 day road trip, spend 2 nights in a hotel and buy gas for 1400 miles plus food, in order to get it back. And I didn't really want to go to Baltimore anyway. Told them they could keep it.

 

[davethedog]

I guess even if you could get them returned and get permission to transport it back into the USA, it wouldn't be worth the trip to Montreal or Mexico City to get that $250 handgun back. I wound up accidentally in possession of a firearm stolen 19 years ago(worth $150 now) and i contacted the fellow who it was stolen from. He said i could have it as it wasn't worth the 200 mile drive down to claim it from the Sheriffs office.

 

[Rubone]

I doubt either of those countries would release them, most likely destroy them instead.

 

[CapnMac]

I cannot imagine a more complicated thing, actually.
As noted above, recovery over intra-national borders is complicated enough.
International borders would require both Export and Import paperwork.

People smart on firearms importation will suggest the minimum price to expect is about a thousand dollars.

Pretty sure it would be a difficult as recovering vehicles, boats, or General Aviation aircraft (a million-buck Falcon or a $3 million Gulfstream being a different kettle of fish).

 

[unspellable]

In my case it was a Blackhawk, recovered in the same metro area. Took a little over a year to get it back. Sheriff's property department essentially ruined it by engraving case details on it and storing it under a swamp cooler so it rusted.

 

[herrwalther]

It took me almost 2 years to get a knife back from the FBI over an open and shut case. The hassle getting a firearm back from a foreign nation would not be worth the trouble unless it had some strong sentimental or historical value.

 

[Seedy Character]

My buddy had a Blackhawk stolen. It was recovered 7 years later, in California. A year later, the peep was convicted, and then gun released from evidence. A week later, he received a call, saying it was preparing to ship to Houston PD. A month later, he had it back.

I had a S&W M-60 stolen in Dallas. It was recovered a week later, being used in a robbery.
DPD held it for a year, as evidence. I was contacted when the trial ended, BUT my M-60 could not be found.

 

[NorthBorder]

Hopefully, neither country has access to our criminal justice databases.

Some Canadian agencies have access to NCIC, as well as the Feds have access to their CPIC.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

A little OT, but funny anyway-

This Colt Army Special was stolen from my buddies Dad in rural Georgia in the early '80s and recovered 4 years later in upstate NY. Somehow, the local Sheriff in Georgia was able to expidite the return of the gun- via mail, no less!
When it left, it was bone stock. When it came back it looked like this-

Some enterprising kitchen table gunsmith added a S&W rear sight assembly and top rib, silver-soldered on a full underlug, added a trigger shoe and did a rather unsafe action job on it.......

I can only assume it enhanced the "owners" street cred. Clearly, he never fire it, because the rib fell off the first time we did.

 

[gobsauce]

A little OT, but funny anyway-

This Colt Army Special was stolen from my buddies Dad in rural Georgia in the early '80s and recovered 4 years later in upstate NY. Somehow, the local Sheriff in Georgia was able to expidite the return of the gun- via mail, no less!
When it left, it was bone stock. When it came back it looked like this-
View attachment 1070425
Some enterprising kitchen table gunsmith added a S&W rear sight assembly and top rib, silver-soldered on a full underlug, added a trigger shoe and did a rather unsafe action job on it.......

I can only assume it enhanced the "owners" street cred. Clearly, he never fire it, because the rib fell off the first time we did.

That's what happens when you take your gun to someone who can do it for less.

 

[citizenconn]

This is not a firearm, but at the college library where I work the local authorities conducted a sting operation on a dirtbag who was accessing child pornography on one of our computers. They took the computer as evidence. Last week, 9 years later, they brought back the computer.

 

[The Night Rider]

I guess even if you could get them returned and get permission to transport it back into the USA, it wouldn't be worth the trip to Montreal or Mexico City to get that $250 handgun back. I wound up accidentally in possession of a firearm stolen 19 years ago(worth $150 now) and i contacted the fellow who it was stolen from. He said i could have it as it wasn't worth the 200 mile drive down to claim it from the Sheriffs office.

Did you get something in writing from the guy?

 

[davethedog]

Did you get something in writing from the guy?

Nah. it's not worth the trouble for me either, trying to get a $150 gun back.

 

[The Night Rider]

Nah. it's not worth the trouble for me either, trying to get a $150 gun back.

My question was more about whether or not the gun was taken off the stolen firearms data base.

Did you get something to prove it was your gun?

 

[davethedog]

No i can't prove i bought it as i purchased it new 17 years ago from a FFL at a gun show. It was stolen new two full years earlier from another FFL(1 of 5 stolen). I'm sure there would be no 4473 on file even if i could remember who i got it from. I remember the only receipt i got was handwritten on a generic receipt form(after i had to ask for it). It saw it in a dream last night plain as day and the receipt said 1 Kel Tec P11 $250 sold to .............(me) with an almost unreadable name of the seller at the top. Funny how things work like that. LOL I'm pretty sure they knew it was stolen but i didn't think anything of it then because it was brand new in the box. It's probably been taken off the database by the ATF by now since i reported it to them and they did some investigating.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I had several guns stolen, three I never wrote the serial numbers down and where I bought then or what I paid.
The other two I had written numbers and they got recovered.
One a Ruger P-89 or P-90 and Dan Wesson 357mag. The Ruger was picked up in South Seattle by the king county sherif dept. Got a letter in the mail and went down to their department, showed my ID, signed a release paper and took it home.
The Dan Wesson was found at a Pawn shop in Orting WA. I got a letter from the Orting PD. called then up and and got to talk to the right person in the right department & made a appointment to recover the revolver.
Went down there and asked the person at reception who I wanted to see. He called the guy and said I was there. We came out with the revolver in an (EVIDENCE BOX) and just handed it to me. I asked him if he needed my ID and he said who else would be there to pick it up. Nothing to sign.
Very easy on that one.

 

[Will Munny]

I doubt either of those countries would release them, most likely destroy them instead.

Here is an idea, if they won't return property that belongs to US citizens they can do without foreign aid or access to the US market, that ought to change their policy real quick.

 

[Ignition Override]

The UK, Germany and a few other countries found it possibly "easier", and via redtape, to get hundreds of Anti-Tank weapons to the Ukrainian border (other than tricky logistics) than our US Taxpayer-Funded ATF finding a method to bring just one recovered gun from Baltimore (which Seems to be In the continental US ? ), or Canada.

Or so it would appear. Just one gun, for which an original Private Owner often worked extra, and saved up the cash.

 

[davethedog]

On another note about 15 years ago, i knew a guy(USA) who showed me two fairly new looking Finnish Mosin Nagants made in the WW2 years. They still had traces of cosmoline(and blood) on them with NO import marks anywhere and the condition led me to believe they were taken out of arsenal storage fairly recently. They are not supposed to be here but i saw them with my own eyes. Supposed to have been brought back from Somalia in the 90's. I'm not sure i believe that's possible, but they got here somehow and one of them did have traces of blood in the small parts and soaked all into the stock. I'm guessing the last user of this rifle died. How you get two rifles like that into this country is a mystery i can't figure out. It doesn't seem likely they were brought in from Canada or Mexico. Unfortunately they were not for sale!

 

[Malaga2]

I doubt either of those countries would release them, most likely destroy them instead.

Im thinking they would destroy them

 

[Skylerbone]

Had a sub down here at work that was surveying elevations find a bag last week with 2 ARs in it within our perimeter fence. I’m more than a bit curious what will become of those, I’m sure they were stolen, but if not claimed, would he have a claim?

 

[Rubone]

Had a sub down here at work that was surveying elevations find a bag last week with 2 ARs in it within our perimeter fence. I’m more than a bit curious what will become of those, I’m sure they were stolen, but if not claimed, would he have a claim?

If I found them and they ran through NCIC clean I would keep them. If an owner doesn't report them stolen, then they aren't, the owner is just giving them up for whatever their reasoning is. They become no one's property.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Had a sub down here at work that was surveying elevations find a bag last week with 2 ARs in it within our perimeter fence. I’m more than a bit curious what will become of those, I’m sure they were stolen, but if not claimed, would he have a claim?

You would have to check your state laws. Here, if goods are abandoned on your property, and are not reported stolen, you have to make public notice- which used to be done by putting an ad in the newspaper- and if not claimed within 30 days of the notice, they are yours.