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  • John Galt

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Mar 17, 2020
    388
    76
    Huntsville
    Back almost 25 years ago while we were still newlyweds, my wife gave me a Mossberg 12 guage special edition with gold filigree and scrollwork. A beautiful gun that we could not afford at the time. She was so proud of that gun.

    I am a professional sailor and gone 9 months out of the year. Back then she would stay with my Mom and Dad a few miles down the road while I was gone so they could help her with our infant daughter.

    My first trip after getting the Mossberg she came to pick me up from the airport. When we got home the front door was swinging open (we lived out in the country so no neighbors to mind the place). We went inside and the place was ransacked. I asked her when the last time she was there and she said about 6 weeks ago when she dropped me off at the airport to fly to the ship. TV, stereo and anything else that might be worth anything was gone. Including my new Mossberg.

    She still had the paperwork from the purchase so we had the serial number. I called the Sheriff and reported the break in and gave them the make, model and serial of the Mossberg and that was the end of that.

    More than 3 years later I get a call from Walker County Sheriffs Office inquiring about me reporting a stolen firearm.
    "Um, no I haven't reported any firearms stolen."
    "You didn't report a Mossberg model blah with serial blah?"
    "Oh yeah. I had forgot about that."
    "Did you alter the gun in any way?"
    "No. It was brand new. I put 1 box of shells through it before it got stolen."
    "You didn't cut the barrel down?"
    "No I did not."
    "Okay thank you."
    "Wait a minute, what is this about?"
    "We recovered your shotgun from an individual in a stolen vehicle. The barrel has been cut down."
    "OK cool. When can I get my shotgun back?"
    "I'm sorry sir but the gun has been illegally altered and will be destroyed."
    "I see. The barrel was cut too short. I can get a replacement barrel and bring it down there. I will change out the barrel right there in front of you and you can keep the illegal barrel."
    "I'm sorry sir, it doesn't work that way. The gun has been illegally altered and we have to destroy the entire gun."
    "Why did you call me? I had forgot that this ever happened until you called my to tell me you found my gun and I can't have it back."

    I own several shotguns now but no Mossberg. I don't want to think I am trying to replace the one my wife was so proud of buying for my birthday way back when.
    Hurley's Gold
     

    mr.hammond

    Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Mar 25, 2020
    67
    11
    Salado
    Nothing worse than having guns stolen. Happened to me more than once. The last time it was a family member and he stole all 12 I owned. Got 6 back pretty quick cause he was stupid, but they were a bit beat up from travel and just weren’t the same.
     

    vmax

    TGT Addict
    TGT Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Apr 15, 2013
    17,305
    96
    So not only was your shotgun stolen once, it was stolen twice. Didn't know that LEO could confiscate your recovered personal property. Probably some cop has your shotgun hidden away in his home safe.
    A close friend got a DWI in Abilene about 20 years ago. He had his Colt Commander 1911 in the truck and it was taken by APB.
    About 2 months later, after getting a lawyer and the case progressing, he got a letter from his attorney saying he could go claim the 1911 from lockup.

    He took the letter to evidence room and he said they looked at him weird and left him at the front desk for about 30 minutes and came back and said they were having difficulty locating it and to come back in about 2 hrs.
    He left and came back and they gave him the gun back.
    He looked it over closely and while there was no damage, he swears it was taken home by one of them and had been fired and recently cleaned.
     

    lightflyer1

    Well-Known
    Rating - 100%
    5   0   0
    May 2, 2015
    1,987
    96
    I would have called a lawyer or contacted my congresscritter to get the shotgun back. What they told you about them being required to destroy the gun seems to be BS pure and simple.

    You would have had to really love that gun as a lawyer would have cost you more than its worth by a long shot, just to talk to him. It would have more than likely been destroyed before your political representative moved to get anything done about it.
     

    Sasquatch

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Apr 20, 2020
    6,590
    96
    Magnolia
    Two years ago my car was broken into. The one night I got lazy and didn't bring shit in from it - I had an AR lower in the trunk with some other stuff, and I had about $2000 in fly rods & reels in the passenger compartment. First time I ever left a gun in the car over night. Not the first time I left flyrods in the car. I told myself I should bring stuff in, but got lazy and figured "eh, it'll be OK." It was NOT ok. Woke up to my shit just gone.

    Worst part was the flyrods - some stuff I inherited from my deceased brother in law. Irreplaceable stuff. Some stuff I'd worked and saved for. The AR lower was a complete lower, but no upper. The cops weren't interested in doing more than verbally taking a report, till the supervisor who responded discovered a "firearm" was stolen. My car was one of a dozen in our neighborhood to be broken into.

    Fast forward a little less than a year, I get a call from our sheriff's office telling me they recovered my AR. They couldn't tell me the condition it was in. When I picked it up, it was sealed in an evidence bag and looked to be as I'd left it. When I got home I discovered the thieves were also halfassed vandals - they poured superglue in the action for some unknown reason. Also glued the bolt catch into place. A little heat, a little chemical magic and some elbow grease and everything was fine.

    I get anal now about leaving stuff in the car. Its one reason I don't generally subscribe to the "truck gun" thing - as appealing as having a long gun or AR-pistol handy would be in some situations, I don't like leaving unattended firearms in vehicles. Too many shitbirds willing to steal from others instead of working.
     
    Every Day Man
    Tyrant

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