Someone committed suicide with a gun under my name - how do I get it back?

[Chaos47]

and I highly doubt they'd press charges on someone without a prior record. Almost every form ends with that line and many people are caught lying on their forms... do they all go to prison? Nope... I bet hardly anyone does if it at all.

Think about it.
Its a catch 22, they came to you asking why someone else was in control of a firearm that was in your name. You claim that you sold it and offered proof that you did.

Now on the flip side since they said you own it you want to try to claim it.

You can not have it both ways and eat your cake too. If you claim it then you are saying you are the rightful owner so you are back to square one about why it was out of your possession.

[BumBum]

and I highly doubt they'd press charges on someone without a prior record. Almost every form ends with that line and many people are caught lying on their forms... do they all go to prison? Nope... I bet hardly anyone does if it at all.

While a lot of "forms" have this language, think about it. This isn't some jury service questionnaire. You are falsifying a LEGR, trying obtain property that isn't yours under false pretenses. Not just property, but a firearm. Obvious moral considerations aside, the political climate of this state would most surely dictate prosecution of someone trying to steal a firearm that isn't theirs. You have no legal claim to the firearm, it belongs to the estate, and you are aware of these facts. What you are proposing is an attempt at criminal theft.

[cjc16]

While you're at it, You should try to get Kurt Cobains shotgun. Maybe start a collection of suicide shotguns.




("Suicide Shotguns" would be a good band name.)

[dskit]

I vote trolling. OP the story just doesn't play. I can think of no reason the PD would contact you. The only record of you owning that firearm if it was transferred in 2008 will be in the FFL'S bound book. To get that info the PD would have to contact ATF tracing center and have them run the trace, not something normally done for a suicide. If the PD thought a crime had been committed by the guy being prohibited, as in mental health issues, that investigation would go no further than the FFL who sold him the gun.

^^^THIS.

This whole thread makes no sense...who in their right mind thinks: "I've just been informed that a crappy shotgun I sold years ago was involved in a suicide. I just MUST figure out a way to get it back. To Calguns!"

[Sharp Shooter]

OP, most everyone here is giving you the same advise. The firearm is not yours. In order to get it back you would have to commit perjury on the LEGR form. Yet you seem obsessed with getting it back. Why would you commit perjury? Why would you want a gun that someone committed suicide with?

It just doesn't make sense.

[curtru]

From what you posted the gun is not yours first of all. The detectives where probably looking into previous owners to see if they might be able to pin it on someone for illegal transfer or something like that. But in my eyes the gun is not entitled to you and it will probably get destroyed and i don't think it will be released to anyone but the executor of that persons will.

Sent from my SCH-S735C using Tapatalk

[9M62]

I vote trolling. OP the story just doesn't play. I can think of no reason the PD would contact you. The only record of you owning that firearm if it was transferred in 2008 will be in the FFL'S bound book. To get that info the PD would have to contact ATF tracing center and have them run the trace, not something normally done for a suicide. If the PD thought a crime had been committed by the guy being prohibited, as in mental health issues, that investigation would go no further than the FFL who sold him the gun.

All the PD did was call the DOJ and see when the deceased ran a DROS for a long gun. They went back through the records until they came across the 4473 that matched the gun he used.

Then they had the sellers name. The OP. They went to the OP to do their "due diligence" to make sure anyone who had any connection to the gun and deceased didn't kill him. A simple quick interview, disguised as a question about the firearm, pretty much summed up that it was in fact a suicide and that the OP had nothing to do with it.

That's how they traced the gun back to the OP, and that's my guess as to their motives for questioning him. Just simple leg-work to make sure a suicide is actually, well, a suicide.

Nothing to fret over, no major "database" to track all firearms, and no criminal aspect or creepy black helicopters. Just simple basic police work, working backwards to contact all of the people who knew the deceased to determine if any of them had anything to do with the death.

Yes, it's even done when it's very obviously a suicide. Cover the bases.

[BumBum]

OP, most everyone here is giving you the same advise. The firearm is not yours. In order to get it back you would have to commit perjury on the LEGR form. Yet you seem obsessed with getting it back. Why would you commit perjury? Why would you want a gun that someone committed suicide with?

As I stated above, it's not just perjury that's at issue here. While I know that many people don't take perjury very serious since it is hardly ever successfully prosecuted, understand there is much more at stake here. Let me ask this, would you file a false tax return (again, under penalty of perjury) just in hopes that the government might send you a bigger refund than to which you are entitled? No (at least I hope that is your answer), because that is fraud. That wouldn't just be a perjury case. Same thing here.

[anti]

Okay, I'll just let the gun go then. I just hope it isn't destroyed but chances are that'll be it's demise. What would happen if the deceased had no family to leave his estate? Would they just destroy the gun with no exceptions, or would it be possible to get in contact with the agency that's holding onto it?

[anti]

I vote trolling. OP the story just doesn't play. I can think of no reason the PD would contact you. The only record of you owning that firearm if it was transferred in 2008 will be in the FFL'S bound book. To get that info the PD would have to contact ATF tracing center and have them run the trace, not something normally done for a suicide. If the PD thought a crime had been committed by the guy being prohibited, as in mental health issues, that investigation would go no further than the FFL who sold him the gun.

Well, you're wrong because it's very real. Maybe they saw something fishy and followed whatever lead they thought they had? Maybe they're just verifying their information? It's called an investigation.

[Ocguy31]

You may not be BSing, but there is definitely more to this story than we are bring told, either because you aren't telling us intentionally, or you just don't know.

Police don't investigate things that aren't crimes. The suicide was a done deal, so unless the gun had other bodies on it (but its a long gun) and they were trying to plot the entire chain of ownership, it doesn't make sense.

You saying you are trying to re-take possession of it seems like fishing for reaction....

[Ocguy31]

Yes, it's even done when it's very obviously a suicide. Cover the bases.

I like your explanation, but don't you think that if it was standard procedure, there would be more anecdotal evidence?

I just don't see detectives wasting time and resources tracking down PPT sellers just to confirm they owned it or didn't sneak into the buyer's house and stage a suicide years later.

[anti]

Again, you're wrong, because they did come speak with me. If I had to guess, they were just making sure they had their facts straight, or they noticed something that struck them as odd or out of the ordinary as far as suicide scenes go. There could have even been a paperwork error with the transfer back in 2008 or whenever the next owner bought it. Maybe it was stolen? I don't know.

I'm not hiding any info, I've told you guys what I know except for what city this occurred in for privacy reasons. It's confusing, I know, which is why I posted to begin with... and I can't imagine Orange County homicide detectives having a whole lot of homicides to investigate all the time.

[anti]

They asked me specifically, and this may not be EXACT, but it'll carry the same connotations: "Do you know anyone that lives in (insert city here)?............. and ............. "We're wondering what a gun under your name is doing in (insert city here) when you have no affiliation with the area?" And unless they were playing dumb, they didn't even know which FFL I sold the shotgun to back in '08. See why I'm confused? I'm sure they're not telling me everything because they figure I don't need to know everything. They even wanted to keep the original copy of the bill of sale from the FFL; I told them no because it clearly got me out of a potential jam. I did let them take pictures of it, though.

[Doheny]

Someone committed suicide with a gun under my name - how do I get it back?

Well, you're wrong because it's very real. Maybe they saw something fishy and followed whatever lead they thought they had? Maybe they're just verifying their information? It's called an investigation.

I don't think you're trolling.

Stranger things have happened. If there was a paperwork screwup and something pointed to you, they'd have to follow up.


.