Found Firearm

[ALSystems]

Turn it in to the law enforcement agency of jurisdiction, get a receipt, if unclaimed, try to claim it if possible. The local LE agency can do a trace via BATF and try to locate the original owner. The actual owner will have to jump thru some hoops to get it back, but that might get them to be more careful with their guns in the future.

Besides being the legal thing to do, it's the right thing to do.

Aloha,

Ron

From my experience, that may be the legal thing to do.

However, from a practical point of view, the original owner will probably never get the gun back unless the gun was registered and the owner is willing to jump through several flaming hoops to get it back. If it was never registered by the original owner, turning it in to LE will eventually result in destruction of the gun.

[leelaw]

The law says you only have to turn found large capacity magazines over to the police if the total value is $100 or more.

I'd argue that the ability to lawfully obtain an object which is impossible to lawfully obtain for the past ten years has an immeasurable value. Put to a bid, we'd see offers well in excess of $100 - much like the $200+ large capacity Glock magazines I saw for sale towards the end of the 1994-2004 time period, and those weren't even banned, only restricted.

[Blue]

Funny, all the "you 'found' the large-capacity magazines" folks seem to say otherwise...

To the OP - turn in the firearm to the local law enforcement organization so they may work on getting it back to the rightful owner.

Do you think LE would help return lost fullcap mags?

[leelaw]

Do you think LE would help return lost fullcap mags?

Is that your basis for trying to return found property and follow the law?

[Ed_Hazard]

Turn it in, not worth the headache in my opinion. If the owner cant get it back, well the best lessons sometimes get learned the hardway.

[Blue]

Is that your basis for trying to return found property and follow the law?

No, it's not. But magazines and firearms are two totally different things. I can't imagine an agency ever returning magazines that were turned in as found items.

[corrupt]

Dude. That's got to be embarrassing. Haha.

[Ron-Solo]

Quote:



And theft of a firearm is a felony under 487(d)(2) PC and counts as a "strike" under the 3 strikes laws.

And there is no dollar amount attached to 485 PC, contrary to what someone posted about magazines.

Integrity counts in my opinion. It isn't mine, I didn't earn it, I didn't pay for it, and I will do everything I can to get it back to the owner.

[1*mike]

can you add a poll to this thread...I'll vote turn it in to the police (and call to see if claimed).

[RTE]

Integrity counts in my opinion. It isn't mine, I didn't earn it, I didn't pay for it, and I will do everything I can to get it back to the owner.

You sound like a stand up guy.

If we have a poll.
My vote would be
I'd be more interested in getting the item back to the owner with the least time and hands as possible.

People in time tend to forget how to follow thru for what ever reasons.

edited to ask the OP
if this item could be disassembled and the offending serial numbered part be turned in to flush out the owner?

[Sinixstar]

Personally, aside from making sure it's clear/safe - I would have left the thing exactly where it was, and called local PD. You don't know who's gun that is, how it got there, or where it's been in the past. You grab it and bring it home, and now to some degree - you're taking responsibility for it. No thanks.

[Seesm]

Seems like you could make a flier to post at the range and have the rightful owner just give you the serial # and no harm no foul...

[SJgunguy24]

If this was found at a match, there will be a roster of everybody who participated in the match. Usually there is contact info (phone#'s, email, sometimes next of kin) on the liability paperwork. All of the matches I shot in you had to list your gun as well for classification and level of experiance.

That should be enough info to get in touch with the owner right there. This happens quite a bit, when I shot IDPA at Chabot people would leave their guns in the bathroom all the time. A couple of times at the Davis St. range in San Leandro I found guns just laying there for hours. There was a couple of FFL's who worked there and generally they would take possession of the gun and find out who it belonged to.

[big red]

My suggestion is turn it into the police and get a reciept for it. Ask them about claiming it if the owner is not found and what paperwork you need to fill out. Notify the range master who you gave the gun to and give him a copy of your reciept, minus anything to identify you otehr than the reciept number. The reciept will have a number the cops can use to track down the gun in case the original onwer shows up at the range looking for it. He now knows the police have it and he has a copy of the reciept to show if they deny it. Then sit back and wait.

[tonelar]

I recently found a firearm left weeks after a match on a range in Kalifornia.

Did you cross a state line with this "found" firearm?
Next time pick a better screen name, something with "troll" in it.