What is the proper procedure if you lose a firearm?

[Lonesome Dove]

It’s legal to have a handgun without an LTC so report it. It will also add a slight chance of getting it back if ever found.

 

[candcallen]

Yesterday I recieved a panicked phone call from a co-worker.
He had gone to a out of town event. He took a small pocket handgun
He doesn’t have a LTC.
He and his family had gotten done at the motel and were packing up to leave when he couldn’t locate said handgun.
He swears it was in the room but now it could not be found.
He panicked and called me asking what to do.
After ripping on him for leaving an unsecured weapon about I told him to call the local police. He chose not to.
He returned home sweating about it when the weapon was located in some luggage.
No harm. No foul.

This made me want to ask the forum what IS the correct way to handle this situation?

I left a gun in an off body carry bag on the top of my car once.

Another reason why off body carry can be challenging but I digress.

The second I pulled out I heard it slide off and went back for it and it was gone. I reported it mainly cause I was pretty sure who took it. The apt handyman, He denied it and the police told him it was reported lost. So he figured finders keepers.

I talked to him a few months later and said who ever picked it up still cant just keep it and that it was reported stolen and I would like it back. No questions asked and even offerd a couple hundred bucks. The dip shit tossed it into the CAP canal 50 miles away the very next day. His wife told me when I offerd her the reward a few days later. I paid her the reward not for the gun but so she would tell her husband what an idiot he was.

So yah, regardless of the stupid reason they may or may not enact laws in my opinion you should report a gun as lost or stolen. Your insc would require it anyways.

Yep I was an idiot. It was a beautiful S&W 645. First handgun I bought myself from a FFL the day i turned 21.

 

[benenglish]

I left a gun in an off body carry bag on the top of my car once.

I did that. Well, it was just a bare gun. I didn't hear it slide off the roof. I got home and panicked when I realized my prized .44 T/C Contender was missing. I was 18 at the time so my dad called the police to report it missing and gave them a very basic report over the phone. The two of us were walking out of the house to go back to the range to look for it when a local PD pulled up. He verified what we were looking for then handed it to me. Someone at the municipal shooting range (just an unattended pile of dirt rented by the county on someone's farm) had turned it in to the police and they brought it right to me. From loss to recovery was less than an hour.

I count that as the time I was the most dense and the most lucky in a single day.

 

[oldag]

If reported stolen (with a serial #), is there a chance the gun be returned to the owner in case it was found and handed to the LE/authorities?

Yep.

Know of someone who had a pistol stolen. Pistol was found on a criminal when that criminal was arrested. Pistol returned to owner once trial was complete.

 

[Shady]

If you lose a gun you should never mention it to anyone or face the ridicule that is sure to come.

 

[sidebite252]

Ok guys unfortunately we’ve been through this. My wife left her pistol in a lock box/safe in a hotel room of a casino. I was at work when all this went down. When she realized what she had done (once she got home) she called the hotel and told them what she had done. They in turn contacted the tribal police (Oklahoma casino) and they went and got the pistol from the hotel room lockbox and turned it over to the sheriff of the county in which the casino/hotel was. When she drove to the sheriffs office to get her pistol they simply handed it to her. No questions or proof of identity. This happened almost 10 yrs ago.

I know we can analyze this in every way imaginable and believe me we had some serious conversation about firearms & responsibilities. My wife won’t do that again but the part that defies logic is the fact no questions or ID required to get her firearm back. It still blows my mind.

 

[kbaxter60]

Buy a new one

Close.
You have to buy TWO new ones, as you clearly are prone to losing them.

 

[BillFairbanks]

Ok guys unfortunately we’ve been through this. My wife left her pistol in a lock box/safe in a hotel room of a casino. I was at work when all this went down. When she realized what she had done (once she got home) she called the hotel and told them what she had done. They in turn contacted the tribal police (Oklahoma casino) and they went and got the pistol from the hotel room lockbox and turned it over to the sheriff of the county in which the casino/hotel was. When she drove to the sheriffs office to get her pistol they simply handed it to her. No questions or proof of identity. This happened almost 10 yrs ago.

I know we can analyze this in every way imaginable and believe me we had some serious conversation about firearms & responsibilities. My wife won’t do that again but the part that defies logic is the fact no questions or ID required to get her firearm back. It still blows my mind.

Interesting story. I’m glad she got it back. I thought taking a gun into an Indian casino was a violation of Federal Law since it’s considered Tribal property.


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[JCC]

Interesting story. I’m glad she got it back. I thought taking a gun into an Indian casino was a violation of Federal Law since it’s considered Tribal property.


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If so, I know of someone who violated this in an Oklahoma casino. My friend does not recall if they had the 30.06 and 30.07. Maybe on the casino floor. Asking for a friend.

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[majormadmax]

Define "lost."

I am constantly finding firearms I "lost" (in my mind) as I don't remember owning them.

At no time did I ever consider reporting that to the police.

The biggest concern is who finds it. Texas Penal Code §46.13. Making a Firearm Accessible to a Child (b) states "A person commits an offense if a child gains access to a readily dischargeable firearm and the person with criminal negligence: (1) failed to secure the firearm or (2) left the firearm in a place to which the person knew or should have known the child would gain access."

Texas Penal Code §6.03. Definitions of Culpable Mental States (d) states "A person acts with criminal negligence, or is criminally negligent, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur.  The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor's standpoint."

How that is applied and interpreted in a court of law is anyone's guess. However, I doubt simply reporting the weapon lost would negate any accountability requirements if the weapon is found by a child.

Easy answer? Don't lose your f***ing firearms (at least unintentionally)!

 

[toddnjoyce]

O

If so, I know of someone who violated this in an Oklahoma casino. My friend does not recall if they had the 30.06 and 30.07. Maybe on the casino floor. Asking for a friend.

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Oklahoma doesn’t have 30.06/30.07. Those’re Texas statutes

 

[SQLGeek]

If so, I know of someone who violated this in an Oklahoma casino. My friend does not recall if they had the 30.06 and 30.07. Maybe on the casino floor. Asking for a friend.

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Edit: Ninjaed

Why would your friend expect to see a 30.06/30.07 sign anywhere outside of Texas?

 

[JCC]

O

Oklahoma doesn’t have 30.06/30.07. Those’re Texas statutes

Noted. Other states just have the "no guns" sign?

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[Wiliamr]

If so, I know of someone who violated this in an Oklahoma casino. My friend does not recall if they had the 30.06 and 30.07. Maybe on the casino floor. Asking for a friend.

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The 30.06 and 30.07 are ONLY TEXAS THINGS!!!!!!!!

 

[SQLGeek]

Noted. Other states just have the "no guns" sign?

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Depends upon the state. In some, the no guns sign or gunbuster, has the full force of law. In others, they have no force of law and still in others they don't have force of law until told to leave.

 

[General Zod]

Noted. Other states just have the "no guns" sign?

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This is why your friend should really check into local laws before carrying in other states. If he had gone to Atlantic City he'd still be in a New Jersey prison if he'd been caught carrying...

And I'm not aware of any Tribal government that honors Texas LTC. Even if the state the reservation is in does.

 

[sidebite252]

Interesting story. I’m glad she got it back. I thought taking a gun into an Indian casino was a violation of Federal Law since it’s considered Tribal property.


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I don’t know really. Last time I went to a casino in Oklahoma (couple months ago) they had a no weapons on every door going into the casino. I’ve never carried into any casino but I always carry or pack a pistol into a hotel/motel room.

 

[smittyb]

One time I thought I had lost a revolver. Turns out it was in the compartment under my truck seat, and I had forgot I put it there.