Found gun - can finder keep it?

[Ronin2]

FAIL AND FUD! There are millions of legally owned and unregistered firearms in CA. That includes many legally owned handguns.

Prior to 1992 private handgun sales were legal, thus lots of legally transferred handguns not in the DOJ database...

Also, intrafamilar transfers were not tracked until years after that. I forget when reporting of handguns by people moving to CA started. Plus, of course, home built firearms are still not required to be registered. Finally, it is still legal to transfer long guns to minors via intrafamilar transfers with zero paperwork/registration.

Ahhhhhh... The "good ole days". Making me feel real old

[jonzer77]

It's registered to somebody somewhere.

Not exactly. There are A LOT of unregistered handguns in this state.


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[jonzer77]

Sig will have each serial number in their database and have record of which wholesaler/distributer that SIG sent it to. In turn, the wholesaler/distributer will have record of what FFL is was shipped to for sale. They will lookup the DROS and find the last registered owner.



The only unregistered guns out there are those that are stolen or were done by way of handshake/money transfer.

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[SneezySky]

Found gun - can finder keep it?

http://s2.postimg.org/mba54ie7t/image.jpg

[img=http://s2.postimg.org/eijhcj88l/image.jpg]

Actual find. Again- it's with Leo now.

[RickD427]

When I was working as rangemaster and closing up for the day I had a couple of pistols that were left on the range. I contacted the local sheriff to turn them in and had to fill out a lost property form as part of the deal.

On the form it had a guide for how lost property could be disposed of. One of the ways was that after a certain amount of time, sixty days I think it was, the finder could make a claim on it.

Bad part for me was that right under that line in bold print was:

"Exception, firearms may not be claimed."

This was a Placer County Sheriff's form and I don't remember seeing a code section sited on it so I don't know if it was by law or department policy but I could not claim them if the owner was never found.

Hope this helps.

It would be interesting to see if Placer SO can point to a statute, or case decision, that provides an exception to Civil Code 2080.3. I'm not aware of any.

I know that it would be a real PITA for an LE agency to comply both with 2080.3 and the applicable state and federal statutes governing the transfer of a handgun. But PITA does not excuse the failure to comply with a statute.

[ArcherDog]

Didn't SCOTUS rule on this scenario on the case of Finders v. Keepers?

[beardog308]

I found a S&W .357. I worked for a water district and was pulling meters from a neighborhood that had burned down. The grips were gone and the barrel was bent a degree to the side. Sherriff's deputies were in the area so I gave it to them. He called in the serial number and found it was unregistered. That was the last I heard about that.

[JDay]

Didn't SCOTUS rule on this scenario on the case of Finders v. Keepers?

[The War Wagon]

My friend found a Sig in his backyard!

The police were around the neighborhood chasing some suspects. A gun was ditched in his yard. He has turned in the gun to the police... but can he claim for abandoned property on the gun at some point?

This is in LA county if it matters.

If he'd kept his mouth shut, possibly. Since his loud-mouth friend blabbed it all over the interwebz , it better ALREADY be in a police evidence locker!

[Click Boom]

Why would he even want it?

Probably broken, abused and "modified".

Probably stolen and probably has a life on it.

Most of the Same could be said for every milsurp.

[SneezySky]

Most of the Same could be said for every milsurp.

My thoughts exactly. My friend not the superstitious type. Nice story to go with the gun.

[SneezySky]

If he'd kept his mouth shut, possibly. Since his loud-mouth friend blabbed it all over the interwebz , it better ALREADY be in a police evidence locker!

Not worth the risk

[Huntsprig]

Didn't SCOTUS rule on this scenario on the case of Finders v. Keepers?

Yes, that is where the SCOTUS made the frequently cited ruling that Possession is nine-tenths of the law!

[ijustdontknow]

I can only speak for myself when I say if I found a pistol in my back lawn I wouldn't have found anything.

PS my cat's name is schrodinger.


Please blame any typos on my tapathingy

[Ron-Solo]

Ethics, the lost cause on CalGuns.

Plus, misappropriation of found property is considered theft per 485 PC. Theft of a firearm is a felony under 489(a) PC.