Public Info

[Texan2]

Don't you mean it's not his, it's his friend's and he's just holding it for him? LOL

Something like that...
I have seen many a gun picked up by police because it shows to be stolen in NCIC. Most of the people who have them walk away if they have a decent explanation of how they got it or if there has been an extended period of time since it was reported stolen and there is no affirmative link between the guy who you are taking it from and the theft.
That having been said, if a gun is stolen at 8 am and you are found with it at noon, you are probably screwed.
If it was stolen in 1984 and you are found with it today...probably safe.

 

[London]

On a similar note, my neighbor has a friend who knowingly bought stolen property then immediately took it over to the PD so they could find it's rightful owner. You guessed it- our good Samaritan got charged with buying stolen property.

 

[txinvestigator]

I also know of people getting busted for buying stolen property they had no idea was stolen. Met a guy who got 6 months and a felony conviction for buying a lawnmower this way.

Unless you have intimate knowledge of that then I have to say you were mislead. It is not illegal to buy or be in possession of stolen property. It is only a crime if you appropriated the property KNOWING it had been stolen by another. Knowing is a culpable mental state that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

[Texan2]

my neighbor has a friend who knowingly bought stolen property then immediately took it over to the PD so they could find it's rightful owner. You guessed it- our good Samaritan got charged with buying stolen property.

These stories are always 3 degrees (or more) removed from the story teller. Either there was alot more to this story that he didn't tell you or he is full of shit. (As TXI stated) Cops dont arrest people who walk in and turn in stolen property if they dont have reason to believe that they were involved woth the theft.

 

[London]

My neighbor has told some pretty wild stories, all of which I later verified. The truth is none of us were there. Believe it or not.

 

[Texan2]

The truth is none of us were there. Believe it or not.

Verified how, that he got arrested? Maybe he did....it would be the rest of the facts that I would question. How many FTF gun sales take place in Texas everyday? How many go to jail for it?
I hear these stories in person regularly, in EVERY case when I check the facts with an arresting agency, there is more to the story....every single time. When I confront the story teller with the facts I usually get a shocked look, as if they cant believe that I checked on their story, followed shortly after by, "oh yeah...i forgot to tell you that part, I didnt think it was important."
Yuo are right, we weren't there, I choose not to believe this one.

 

[mtaylor]

There are a couple of sites that I know of. One is stolengunz.com (I think I have it right) hot guns has already been mentioned. There was a site that was specific to Florida a couple of years back. I do not know if it is still active.

I have contacted the NRA twice to see if they would start a national data base of the serial numbers, so far I got a nice letter and no action.

Perhaps if several members of the NRA contacted them we might get some interest.

It is stolenweapons.com

And, the firearms dealers need access to NCIC direct. There is a provision to limit access to only that database necessary. That is what we should be petitioning NRA's help for...