possession of stolen handgun, penalty?

[snobord99]

proving the handgun purchased from the trunk of some guys car cant be that difficult.

Did you have a witness or an admission? Proving anything beyond a reasonable doubt is not as easy as you seem to think it is.

[U2BassAce]

If he says he bought from friend of friend then he just admitted an illegal firearm transaction. (Did not go through a FFL) Enhancment?

[kmk]

and an illegal firearm transaction would lead lead a reasonable person to conclude that there was knowledge of the firearm being stolen.

[snobord99]

and an illegal firearm transaction would lead lead a reasonable person to conclude that there was knowledge of the firearm being stolen.

There are many ways to defeat this (assuming the jury believes it). I'll just point out two.

1. Claim you didn't know that there was a particular procedure (FFL) required for a firearm transaction. You thought it was like buying a TV from someone on Craigslist. Therefore, you had no knowledge or reason to think that the gun was stolen.

2. You borrowed the gun from someone a week ago and they told you it was theirs. No need for a transaction and don't necessarily NEED to know that it was stolen.

[kmk]

ur killin me

[FastFinger]

Were they in a safe?

I have a safe, but no kids, so often I leave a hand gun or two out of the safe. Plus having seen thaty video of the two guys openeing a safe in under 2 min I wonder if it's even worth the effort, especially since mine isn't a rifle size model.

BTW- If the kid has a prior theft conviction he needs to go away for a long time. Hate the thought of paying $50/yr to keep him in the pookey, and just as much hate the thought of a human life wasting away behind bars (what a depressing situation) but I also loathe people having their private property stolen. If it was a toaster I could see a slap on the wrist - but a thug with a stolen gun is not a good combo.

[snobord99]

ur killin me

I'm just saying. It's really easy to sit there and say "how hard can it be to prove..." Actually proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is a whole other issue.