Recovered Stolen Firearm

[acespawnshop]

We had a burglary 3 plus years ago. Of the stolen merchandise one of the things stolen was a Smith & Wesson semi-auto handgun. Well we got notice that it was recovered and I picked it up today from the police department. It was easy enough, and they are super nice at the department, but my question is has anybody ever dealt with this process before? Were you successful in finding out who stole the firearm? Were charges ever filed against the person connecting them to the break in? Is there any form I need to fill out for ATF letting them know that the stolen firearm was recovered, returned to me, and should be taken off the national registry of stolen firearms?

Also, the gun came back in pieces and has writing and this pink substance on it presumably as a way to lift fingerprints. But from what I can tell it still works and I will be taking it back to the range for testing. Of all the items stolen in the break in this was the only firearm that was taken. From what the PD was telling me most of the firearms that are stolen are not recovered. Does anybody have any data supporting? Just curious here.

[RickD427]

We had a burglary 3 plus years ago. Of the stolen merchandise one of the things stolen was a Smith & Wesson semi-auto handgun. Well we got notice that it was recovered and I picked it up today from the police department. It was easy enough, and they are super nice at the department, but my question is has anybody ever dealt with this process before? Were you successful in finding out who stole the firearm? Were charges ever filed against the person connecting them to the break in?

Also, the gun came back in pieces and has writing and this pink substance on it presumably as a way to lift fingerprints. But from what I can tell it still works and I will be taking it back to the range for testing. Of all the items stolen in the break in this was the only firearm that was taken. From what the PD was telling me most of the firearms that are stolen are not recovered. Does anybody have any data supporting? Just curious here.

I agree with your source at the PD. I don't have access to any firm statistics, but I can anecdotally say that very few are recovered. I'm saying that just from a comparison of the number of stolen guns reports that did during my working days, compared with the number of recovered weapons during that same time.

There are two primary methods for the recovery of stolen weapons:

1) We locate the weapon during a field contact, typically in a personal frisk or vehicle search. Those weapons are learned to be stolen when the serial number is queried in AFS. The lesson here is to know your serial numbers. If the weapon is registered to you, we can get them from AFS. If not, making a recovery is about impossible.

2) We'll serve a search warrant as part of a burglary investigation and locate a whole bunch of stuff that has been stolen. The problem is that we're lucky if we can show that half of what we find is stolen. The same point about serial numbers also applies.

Recovered weapons tend not to be in very good condition. Crooks don't steal them for their intrinsic value. They steal them for criminal use. A Colt Python will get trashed just as easily as a Raven .25.

[acespawnshop]

Yes, This particular firearm was in the AFS and registered to me. It made the process simple and all I did was send the DOJ their paperwork so they could do their NICS check on me. I am also an FFL and I could have had the firearm turned over that way. However, since this model is off roster and I was unsure if I were to go in with my FFL would I be able to get the gun back to me personally and not part of my dealer stock. It was easy enough to send the DOJ their paperwork and then wait for their letter and take that to the PD. Fortunately this was not something special to me or anything of value. This was purchased by me when we opened for business to keep in the back loaded, for shop protection. I believe at the time of purchase it was around $300 plus tax and dros for it. If I remember correctly it was bought on a labor day or 4th of july sale at Turners. Where I am glad that it was recovered and I have it back I ultimately really never cared if I got it back or not. My only real concern was this was the only item stolen from us that was identifiable due to its serial number. Everything else was jewelry. I was hoping that whoever got caught with this thing would eventually be charged with our break in.

[kemasa]

You do need to get it off the stolen firearm list, if you can. Personally, I think I would sell the firearm since it is always possible that it won't be removed from the stolen list and could cause problems if you are found with it. Yes, in the end, you can show that it is not stolen, but in the meantime you get matching bracelets and free room and board perhaps.

I suspect that if they are not asking questions about the other items, they are not going to do anything.

[Condorguns]

We had a burglary 3 plus years ago. Of the stolen merchandise one of the things stolen was a Smith & Wesson semi-auto handgun. Well we got notice that it was recovered and I picked it up today from the police department. It was easy enough, and they are super nice at the department, but my question is has anybody ever dealt with this process before? Were you successful in finding out who stole the firearm? Were charges ever filed against the person connecting them to the break in? Is there any form I need to fill out for ATF letting them know that the stolen firearm was recovered, returned to me, and should be taken off the national registry of stolen firearms?

Also, the gun came back in pieces and has writing and this pink substance on it presumably as a way to lift fingerprints. But from what I can tell it still works and I will be taking it back to the range for testing. Of all the items stolen in the break in this was the only firearm that was taken. From what the PD was telling me most of the firearms that are stolen are not recovered. Does anybody have any data supporting? Just curious here.

I had one returned after 14 years. I was told at the time that the gun had been removed from the national database once it was recovered and entered into evidence so there was no further record keeping to be done by me.

The pink stuff is a kind of fingerprint powder. Just about any solvent will get it off, but it will stain your white clothing..at least it did mine.

We had about 15 firearms stolen back in about 1989....three were recovered within the first year. Then the one that popped up 14 years later. They were all is pretty good shape.

[acespawnshop]

Thanks, This one has "LWE9637" written in what appears to be grey sharpie on the frame and on the magazine. I'm guessing its something to do with evidence record keeping?

[acespawnshop]

You do need to get it off the stolen firearm list, if you can. Personally, I think I would sell the firearm since it is always possible that it won't be removed from the stolen list and could cause problems if you are found with it. Yes, in the end, you can show that it is not stolen, but in the meantime you get matching bracelets and free room and board perhaps.

I suspect that if they are not asking questions about the other items, they are not going to do anything.

Matching bracelets? Are they diamond accented? Thanks for the advice all. Ill see if maybe somebody can check it for me in a few months to see if it still shows up in the NCIC.

[ugimports]

Hmm...now this has me thinking that the ruger 10/22 that my dad handed down to me I need to check. It was stolen from our house and later returned a few years later.. How would I be able to do a check on it's status? I don't think my dad has any of the paperwork on the agency that returned it to him. I never did the self registration since I got it 10 years ago or so.

[kemasa]

Hmm...now this has me thinking that the ruger 10/22 that my dad handed down to me I need to check. It was stolen from our house and later returned a few years later.. How would I be able to do a check on it's status? I don't think my dad has any of the paperwork on the agency that returned it to him. I never did the self registration since I got it 10 years ago or so.

No registration was required. You would need to find a LE who is willing to check for you. No easy way unless you know someone.

[ugimports]

No registration was required. You would need to find a LE who is willing to check for you. No easy way unless you know someone.

that's why I didn't do it. I was just making the statement to clarify. Assuming if I did do that and it was reported stolen still they would have told me at the time.

[Dano3467]

Sell it.