Abandoned Firearms

[acespawnshop]

Has anybody had to deal with this sort of thing yet? Let me tell you my situation. We had a customer DROS a firearm and then never pick it up. He did the DROS in March 2014 We called and called and called for 7 months to see what the deal was with this guy. It became a weekly routine for us. We would call him weekly and we never heard back from him. We have a signed customer agreement page that clearly states that a $10 per day fee will be charged on firearms left over the 30 day period that you have to pick up your gun. We also clearly state that any firearms left over 45 days after your 30 days to pick up will be considered abandoned and become property of the FFL and possibly sold. I remember reading somewhere in the Financial Code before that as a pawn shop we have to keep property that somebody leaves here at our store for 60 days. So we have the 30 days to pick up your DROS and an additional 45 days after totaling 75 Days. Well in excess of the required 60 days.

So we held this firearm until December 2014. After we were unable to reach this guy we sold this gun. It wasn't anything special or valuable it was just a used handgun. Now he comes in yesterday wanting to pick up his gun. Anybody have any suggestions on how to handle this with the guy nicely. Other than just letting him know he was unreachable and we sold his gun? We have never had to actually enforce our "storage fee" policy and really only put it on the agreement page just to be sure that people don't just order a firearm from online ship it to us and then never come in to do the DROS and we are stuck wondering what to do with this thing.

Let me say it again. He finally showed up here out of the blue 17 months after he submitted his DROS.

[Baboosh]

I don't feel there is going to be an easy way. You can simply show him what he signed and inform him you no longer have his pistol as it has been 17 months.

I know we have items we have had for over a year that no one has claimed. Stuff was delivered and shipped from UPS Store #xxx with no buyer or seller info in the box and no one has contacted us about them.

[acespawnshop]

So I called him to tell him about this gun and guess what.... He didn't answer his phone and his voicemail box is full..... I guess Ill see him in another 17 months.

[TheSierraDrifter]

17 months? That's just crazy! Who forgets anything for 17 months (much less a gun purchase)?! Talk about putting you in an weird situation.

[DEPUTYBILL]

Not exactly sure regarding the law in this matter. I think I would send a certified, signature required letter explaining the situation to him to cover your bases.

[CSACANNONEER]

17 months? That's just crazy! Who forgets anything for 17 months (much less a gun purchase)?! Talk about putting you in an weird situation.

LOL, You obviously are not a serious gun collector if you remember all your gun purchases. It really isn't hard to forget about one once in a while unless, you only own a few and don't buy more all the time. Also, it is not a weird situation. It happens at every gun shop once in a while.

[Baboosh]

LOL, You obviously are not a serious gun collector if you remember all your gun purchases. It really isn't hard to forget about one once in a while unless, you only own a few and don't buy more all the time. Also, it is not a weird situation. It happens at every gun shop once in a while.

Sandra called someone to pickup their new Kahr last year and she must have caught the guy at a bad time. Older guy and we called his house phone and when he answered Sandra goes "Hi this is Sandra I am calling to let you know your new KAHR is ready to be picked up'

The LOOSES it, starts yelling at his wife "GOD DAMNIT YOU BOUGHT THAT NEW CAR! I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT IT!"

Sandra just sat on the phone until he was done and then told him no sir, the Kahr 9mm is yours and your 10 days is up

Guy says oh ok I'll be in tomorrow

[dc2allday]

You can send abandoned items to me I'll take care of them

[wpage]

This dude knows something you do not...

[sealocan]

Thanks for that Baboosh...

"Sandra called someone to pickup their new Kahr last year and she must have caught the guy at a bad time. Older guy and we called his house phone and when he answered Sandra goes "Hi this is Sandra I am calling to let you know your new KAHR is ready to be picked up'

The LOOSES it, starts yelling at his wife "GOD DAMNIT YOU BOUGHT THAT NEW CAR! I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT IT!" "

that's hilarious.

[acespawnshop]

He came back today and we explained the situation. It took me a while to even know who he was yesterday when he came in because he referenced a .45 glock. and we had no idea about a "glock 45" because we have never had one left here. Once I found his DROS cancellation form and found it was a Glock 22 and .40 I remembered this thing. But, any how, he came back in today and I gave him a printout of the DROS cancellation and his signed customer agreement. No drama and he seemed to understand. I feel bad for the dude, but seriously how long is long enough to wait for somebody? I feel that when the storage fees are grossly higher than the value of the firearm then its ok to sell it. We tried contacting him so many times we figured he either moved out of state, died, or was in jail.

[acespawnshop]

LOL, You obviously are not a serious gun collector if you remember all your gun purchases. It really isn't hard to forget about one once in a while unless, you only own a few and don't buy more all the time. Also, it is not a weird situation. It happens at every gun shop once in a while.

I doubt this person was an avid gun collector. This wasn't something that was special or rare. It was just a used Glock 22. Agreed it does happen, but what was strange is after I spoke with the MOD who did his DROS he did contact us on the 30th day of his DROS and informed us he could not come in and pick it up and would have to RE-DROS in a couple days. I think he had moved and was having trouble with his proof of residency since he had left his older address. Oh well. Honestly the MOD thought that he was no longer a CA resident and hoping to get it later. IDK I think he understood the situation.

[TheSierraDrifter]

LOL, You obviously are not a serious gun collector if you remember all your gun purchases. It really isn't hard to forget about one once in a while unless, you only own a few and don't buy more all the time. Also, it is not a weird situation. It happens at every gun shop once in a while.

Remember all my past purchases...maybe not. But I sure as heck am going to remember the current pending one!!!

[BigPimping]

Sandra called someone to pickup their new Kahr last year and she must have caught the guy at a bad time. Older guy and we called his house phone and when he answered Sandra goes "Hi this is Sandra I am calling to let you know your new KAHR is ready to be picked up'

The LOOSES it, starts yelling at his wife "GOD DAMNIT YOU BOUGHT THAT NEW CAR! I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT IT!"

Sandra just sat on the phone until he was done and then told him no sir, the Kahr 9mm is yours and your 10 days is up

Guy says oh ok I'll be in tomorrow

That is epic......al time.

[Gryff]

Let me say it again. He finally showed up here out of the blue 17 months after he submitted his DROS.

If he gives you an attitude, hand him a bill for the $4800 in storage fees. If he pays in full, you will be happy to replace the gun with a similar model for free.