What to do with a gun left behind by somebody else?

[13withinfinity]

Long story short: Mom and her fiance broke up. He's disappeared for a month but left behind a shotgun we've been trying to give back for the last month, and can't get ahold of him now.

The shotgun was registered in his name in CA and not in my moms, but since they were not married I wasn't sure how this actually works.

Is there anything I should do about this? Should I pick up the shotgun and take it to Arizona for now until I can resolve this? Or does it not matter. I'm not too familiar with the long gun registration laws anymore.

Thanks guys.

[RickD427]

Long story short: Mom and her fiance broke up. He's disappeared for a month but left behind a shotgun we've been trying to give back for the last month, and can't get ahold of him now.

The shotgun was registered in his name in CA and not in my moms, but since they were not married I wasn't sure how this actually works.

Is there anything I should do about this? Should I pick up the shotgun and take it to Arizona for now until I can resolve this? Or does it not matter. I'm not too familiar with the long gun registration laws anymore.

Thanks guys.

This question comes up every couple of months in different forms. The short answer is that you're required to surrender it to your law enforcement agency. They will make attempts to return it to the owner. If they are unable to locate the owner, then you are entitled to take ownership of the shotgun from the law enforcement agency (provided that it is in a legal configuration to transfer). Please refer to Civil Code sections 2080.1 and 2080.3.

[hermosabeach]

Taking something that is not yours..... say that out loud- I’m taking something worth X dollars and hiding it out of state!


You are trying to help mom out- that is a great thing.

It’s pretty easy to reach people now days:
Email
Phone
Text
Social media.
His family- engaged- does mom have his families info?

since they were engaged- not married- it is his sole property


Make an honest effort to reach him.

Then call the PD about abandoned property.

[13withinfinity]

Thank ya guys.

I'll just take the easy route and have my mom give it to the local PD to deal with it. Too much of a headache otherwise due to some personal spat between the families and none of them wanting to talk to each other at all.

[Scota4570]

"The shotgun was registered in his name in CA"... not so. We don't have registration. Seems to me you are getting all spun up.

Is it old? If so, there is probably no record at all.

If I is a piece of junk who cares? Hand it over for destruction.

It if it an expensive gun, I'd secure it until he returned for it, or not. I definitely would not surrender to the cops. They will just cut it up. They destroy virtually every gun they get. Even priceless antiques.

[Quiet]

"The shotgun was registered in his name in CA"... not so. We don't have registration. Seems to me you are getting all spun up.

08-07-1924 = DROS of handgun registered it with CA DOJ.
01-01-2014 = DROS of long gun registered it with CA DOJ.

[Scota4570]

08-07-1924 = DROS of handgun registered it with CA DOJ.
01-01-2014 = DROS of long gun registered it with CA DOJ.

We are not required to register guns we already have.

It depends on when he got it and how. If it was a recent retail purchase then there is a record. IF it was purchased years ago, when we had just a 4473 then no searchable record exists. If an old family gun then there is for sure no records.

IF it is a valuable older gun I would not turn it over for destruction. The guy would be rightfully pissed. I'd be furious if somebody destroyed my grandfather's high grade Parker because I left town for awhile! He might even demand payment for willfully destroy his property, I would. He might even get violent, who knows. Put it this way, If he left a '62 Corvette would you take it to the junk yard to crush it?

An old woman took her dead husbands collection of flintlock muskets to a local PD. They pleaded with her not the leave them. She did, they destroyed them. That is how "safekeeping" actually works.

There is no need to do anything anytime soon. Secure it, be cool and see what happens. That is my take.

If it is POS, whatever..........

[RickD427]

"The shotgun was registered in his name in CA"... not so. We don't have registration. Seems to me you are getting all spun up.

Is it old? If so, there is probably no record at all.

If I is a piece of junk who cares? Hand it over for destruction.

It if it an expensive gun, I'd secure it until he returned for it, or not. I definitely would not surrender to the cops. They will just cut it up. They destroy virtually every gun they get. Even priceless antiques.

Scota,

Yes, we do have registration in California. In the post above, Quiet has provided the dates that mandatory registration began for the purchase of long guns and handguns. Additionally there are many weapons that have been voluntarily registered prior to those dates.

But also keep in mind that registration does not indicate ownership of firearm. It only indicates that a particular weapon was associated with a particular individual on the date of the record.

Police agencies do not "destroy virtually every weapon that they get." You're spouting pure BS on that one. Agencies can only destroy weapons when they have the legal standing to do so. That standing comes primarily from court order (where the weapons was used in the commission of a crime) or where the weapon was abandoned. I've taken a lot of weapons into custody during my time as an LEO. Nearly all of the criminally used guns were destroyed. Nearly all of the recovered stolen guns, and those taken for safekeeping because they were unsecured in accessible areas, or at DV scenes, were ultimately returned to their owners. If you have any solid evidence (and not the "I had a friend who heard from someone down the street that the cops...." version of events) please cite it.

[Sousuke]

08-07-1924 = DROS of handgun registered it with CA DOJ.
01-01-2014 = DROS of long gun registered it with CA DOJ.

1924! Wow that was early.

[Scota4570]

"Police agencies do not "destroy virtually every weapon that they get." You're spouting pure BS on that one."

My local agencies do. I guess it depends where you are. Turlock or Susanville probably has different policies than Santa Cruz or San Francisco. I only have experience with the latter. I know one of them is prideful in destroying every gun they can.

I'm tapping out.

[RickD427]

"Police agencies do not "destroy virtually every weapon that they get." You're spouting pure BS on that one."

My local agencies do. I guess it depends where you are. Turlock or Susanville probably has different policies than Santa Cruz or San Francisco. I only have experience with the latter. I know one of them is prideful in destroying every gun they can.

I'm tapping out.

Scota,

Wrong again. Weapons destruction is determined by state law, not by local agency policy.

[colt11]

since they were engaged- not married- it is his sole property

If your Mom lived with him over 7-years then it's considered a common law marriage and since California is a Community Property State, your Mom would own half.

[Quiet]

If your Mom lived with him over 7-years then it's considered a common law marriage and since California is a Community Property State, your Mom would own half.

Does not apply to firearms.

[RickD427]

If your Mom lived with him over 7-years then it's considered a common law marriage and since California is a Community Property State, your Mom would own half.

California has not recognized "Common Law" marriage since 1895. Please refer to Family Code section 300.

[aBrowningfan]

08-07-1924 = DROS of handgun registered it with CA DOJ.
01-01-2014 = DROS of long gun registered it with CA DOJ.

How about adding 12-31-2000 for one iteration on registration of AWs, and 12-31-2016 for another iteration on registration of BBAWs? There was also another date for registration of .50 BMG, but that date escapes me at present.