Arrested with gun.

[evil tyler durden]

Hey LEO's I have a situation. I was arrested recently to clear up some traffic warrants. I had my gun properly stowed in my trunk in my range bag locked up with my gear in the pockets, as well as 4-10 round magazines fully loaded in the magazine pockets. with another 260 reloaded rounds bagged in 50 counts. Just so we are clear everything was in the trunk and stored as per CA law states. My question is this, since I was arrested how would I go about re-obtaining my pistol and gear. Do I just show up with ID and request it back? I now have no warrants/felonies and my license is being resent to me from the DMV.

Also on a side note I only had a CA ID card when I was picked up, and the officers took it and kept it, they also stole my carabiner for some reason as well.
FYI they were CHP's.

Any help as always is greatly appreciated.

[Heiko]

Sorry if this is OT but they didn't just cite release you, they actually arrested and booked you?

[E Pluribus Unum]

It depends on why the firearm was taken.

If it was taken as evidence in some accused crime, they will hold on to it until the case is adjudicated.


If they took it for "safe keeping" after your arrest, and the gun is registered to you, you should now be able to fill out a DOJ firearms eligibility check, wait 30 days or so, and then pick up your firearm.

If it is not registered to you, you will need to obtain proof of ownership of the weapon. In my case, it was an original 4473 form obtained from the FFL I bought it from.

Your first step is to contact the arresting agency and ask them what you need to do.

[CenterX]

Get a lawyer.

[kemasa]

In some cases you will need to have a FFL pick up the firearms and then transfer them to you (I have done that for people before). In one case the person had one firearm directly returned to him, but another, which was acquired before the requirement of going through a FFL, had to be picked up and a DROS submitted.

As was said, you need to talk to the agency and see how they want to proceed. You will need proof that you are eligible to own a firearm, as was stated above.

[Jimmy310]

Did you have multiple failures to appear?

[TRICKSTER]

Contact the CHP Office where the arrest occurred and they will tell you what you need to do. On a side note, was your carabiner modified in any way or carried so they it could be used as "brass knuckles"? That may explain why it was taken, and if so, you may have even more problems.

[Roddd]

You don't need a lawer as was suggested above. They should have given you a receipt, but if they didn't, you can still get them back. Just call the agency and go through the motions. And take care of those pesky warrants!

[Tripper]

your license receipt is usually a pink sheet.

on a side question, why would a person need to establish eligibility to get back whats rightfully theirs in the first place, where does teh authority to demand that derive. I just find it odd, I also find it odd to demand proof of ownership for something that was yours in the first place, I dont think i have an actual receipt for many things after a couple years, most receipts i have more than 3 years old (for anything important for some reason) have faded into nothing more than a blank piece of paper. I thought when the receipt of confiscation was proof enough.
these are just questions, not accusations or anything of the like, this just brings up thoughts on the matter.

[kemasa]

I agree, if you are not prohibited, they should be required to return what they took from you without your having to pay any money, but that is not the way it works. They KNOW that they took it from you, so they should return it to you, not force you to hire a FFL to get your property back. The problem is that it would cost more for an attorney to try to make that point in court.

[BigDogatPlay]

IIRC, the OP needs to be eligible to DROS and have a current HSC since it's a pistol. Eligible to DROS generally means no holds or suspensions on his CDL, no more open warrants, etc. Assuming that the pistol was purchased new in California it should be registered to the OP and in AFS. No further proof should be needed than that, I believe.

Assuming no underlying charges he should be filing a Law Enforcement Gun Release and going through that process.

If they stonewall, and you're otherwise good to go, then contact CGF for assistance.

[E Pluribus Unum]

Assuming that the pistol was purchased new in California it should be registered to the OP and in AFS. No further proof should be needed than that, I believe.

Negative ghostrider. If the gun was legally purchased before 1999, it may not be registered to him.

I bought my Glock in 1999, and I had to get an original 4473 from the FFL because it was not automatically registered to me.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Warrants with good I.D. present usually need to be pretty large to justify a hard booking rather than a cite out.

[BigDogatPlay]

Negative ghostrider. If the gun was legally purchased before 1999, it may not be registered to him.

I bought my Glock in 1999, and I had to get an original 4473 from the FFL because it was not automatically registered to me.

I've got a whole safe full not registered to me. So yeah, I sort of get that. This isn't my first rodeo. I made an assessment based on the OP description of circumstances (traffic warrants, 4 10 round mags, screen name) that he's a probably a younger guy and more than likely purchased post 1999.

And starting out with "negative ghostrider" that way is just a little demeaning... but maybe I am a little sensitive today.

[E Pluribus Unum]

I've got a whole safe full not registered to me. So yeah, I sort of get that. This isn't my first rodeo. I made an assessment based on the OP description of circumstances (traffic warrants, 4 10 round mags, screen name) that he's a probably a younger guy and more than likely purchased post 1999.

And starting out with "negative ghostrider" that way is just a little demeaning... but maybe I am a little sensitive today.

I apologize if I offended you... I'm just a big Top Gun nut.... so I say "negative ghostrider" a lot... I meant no disrespect or condescension.