Increase your odds of having your stolen gun recovered

[Yup!]

I've thought about removing the grip on pistols and stocks on rifles and shotguns and "engraving" my S.S.# using an electric vibrating "pen."

Anyone see see a downside to this ?

The engraving pen will look sloppy. If this is something you intend to do, do it properly. I'm not sure I'd use my SSN - but that's me.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I've thought about removing the grip on pistols and stocks on rifles and shotguns and "engraving" my S.S.# using an electric vibrating "pen."

Anyone see see a downside to this ?

if you already have a list of make/model/serial you already have pretty substantial proof it's yours. For instance if BBI said he had a stolen Glock recovered and you gave him the matching serial that he wod give it back to you. Your SSN in a hidden spot probably wouldn't be effective because I seriously doubt any depts actually take the time to strip down a gun looking for distinguishing marks that 99% of the time won't be there. (It does seem like a good idea on the surface)

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I've thought about removing the grip on pistols and stocks on rifles and shotguns and "engraving" my S.S.# using an electric vibrating "pen."

Anyone see see a downside to this ?

What's the upside?

 

[shootersix]

I've thought about removing the grip on pistols and stocks on rifles and shotguns and "engraving" my S.S.# using an electric vibrating "pen."

Anyone see see a downside to this ?

please tell me you just forgot to use 'purple!"

What's the upside?

heres the upside! he can take a highly valuable gun....that would be very hard to sell....and sell it in no time!!!!! for pennys on the dollar!!!!!

you'd be amazed at how fast a like new, belgian browning auto five will sell with somebody elses name on it!...plus how cheap it will sell for!!! all because some jack leg thought it it would make it easier to return to him if it was ever stolen!

 

[Hop]

What if you see your stolen firearm listed for sale on Armslist? Say by some guy that helps run daddy's company that has clients in the Geist area where the firearm was stolen. Then you forward those pictures & coms to your investigating officer & the ad gets pulled down & then you get threatening texts from the ph# listed in the ad. Say the firearm was never recovered but other suspicious ads are still for sale by the same seller. Sounds like a fencing scheme for stolen merchandise right? Now what?

 

[MCgrease08]

I'm curious, what did you get as a replacement for used guns? new gun value? Depreciated value?

I had Liberty Mutual homeowners. The policy was to replace with the same item, brand new if it was possible, or to replace with the exact item or better if an exact replacement was not possible.

I had a Glock 19 stolen. They replaced that with a brand new one. Same story with a laptop.

One of the other guns taken was a Colt Detective special. That was replaced with a S & W Bodyguard revolver. That one was a bummer, b/c I loved that old Colt. The BG just isn't the same.

Theives also took an old Mosin-Nagant. They replaced it with a Century Arms WASR AK variant. (Both are Russian rifles, right?)

Fourth gun stolen was a Bersa Thunder 9mm. I chose not to replace it, to essentially cover the deductible.

All handguns were in a pistol safe. Burglars just walked off with it. (Bolt them down folks). Insurance company replaced that too, along with 120 + rounds of self-defense ammo.

All told we had most of our stuff replaced (minus a few items to cover deductible) and still got a check for close to $450. I highly recommend Liberty Mutual homeowners.

If the stolen guns are ever recovered, I would have to send the replacement guns back, or a check for the purchase price.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

What if you see your stolen firearm listed for sale on Armslist? Say by some guy that helps run daddy's company that has clients in the Geist area where the firearm was stolen. Then you forward those pictures & coms to your investigating officer & the ad gets pulled down & then you get threatening texts from the ph# listed in the ad. Say the firearm was never recovered but other suspicious ads are still for sale by the same seller. Sounds like a fencing scheme for stolen merchandise right? Now what?

I dunno. A guy called our office last week because one of the crimestoppers bulletins showed a robbery suspect using his shotgun. He knew it was his because it had a nylon shell holder on the buttstock. He was unconvinced that this was not uncommon and insufficient to ID his gun. So, for the sake of the argument, let's say we did know who the guy was and it was a hunting photo.

Me: Your honor I would like a search warrant to search Joe Bob's house for guns. This guy saw a picture of it and knows it is his gun.

Judge: How does he know?

So, how do you know?

That's step #1 to overcome. I'll also need sufficient evidence to request a subpoena of gunbroker accounts, and then likely email accounts, and then likely IP addresses, as people often don't use their real names for such things.

So in the end, I have no idea. How you characterize things may not be how a judge sees them when laid out in black and white. What can be done, or what will be done, will be extremely fact dependent. What does "suspicious ad" mean, and how can you articulate it? How can you be certain its your weapon from a picture, and how can you articulate it? Clients in the Geist area is irrelevant, as it doesn't put any particular person at any particular place at any particular time.

 

[jamil]

I've thought about removing the grip on pistols and stocks on rifles and shotguns and "engraving" my S.S.# using an electric vibrating "pen."

Anyone see see a downside to this ?

Oh, I totally agree. You should also include your credit card number, full name, birth date, and any other information you think might be helpful in identifying you as the owner of that gun. So do you also have a 401K? The account numbers for those would also come in handy in identifying that gun as yours.

 

[wizardfitz]

Actually we just updated our list. The only thing I'll have to add is photos
Thanks for the info

 

[Cameramonkey]

I dunno. A guy called our office last week because one of the crimestoppers bulletins showed a robbery suspect using his shotgun. He knew it was his because it had a nylon shell holder on the buttstock. He was unconvinced that this was not uncommon and insufficient to ID his gun. So, for the sake of the argument, let's say we did know who the guy was and it was a hunting photo.

Me: Your honor I would like a search warrant to search Joe Bob's house for guns. This guy saw a picture of it and knows it is his gun.

Judge: How does he know?

So, how do you know?

That's step #1 to overcome. I'll also need sufficient evidence to request a subpoena of gunbroker accounts, and then likely email accounts, and then likely IP addresses, as people often don't use their real names for such things.

So in the end, I have no idea. How you characterize things may not be how a judge sees them when laid out in black and white. What can be done, or what will be done, will be extremely fact dependent. What does "suspicious ad" mean, and how can you articulate it? How can you be certain its your weapon from a picture, and how can you articulate it? Clients in the Geist area is irrelevant, as it doesn't put any particular person at any particular place at any particular time.

IF the ad photo clearly showed the serial, AND the person in possession has a tie to the property as Hop implies (e.g. guns disappeared when Acme steam cleaning was in the house cleaning carpets and the seller is known to work with/for Acme) how is that not PC? Yes I am making some big assumptions... like Hop saw a serial and somehow knew who the seller was.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

IF the ad photo clearly showed the serial, AND the person in possession has a tie to the property as Hop implies (e.g. guns disappeared when Acme steam cleaning was in the house cleaning carpets and the seller is known to work with/for Acme) how is that not PC? Yes I am making some big assumptions... like Hop saw a serial and somehow knew who the seller was.

Again, fact dependent.

 

[Hop]

I dunno. A guy called our office last week because one of the crimestoppers bulletins showed a robbery suspect using his shotgun. He knew it was his because it had a nylon shell holder on the buttstock. He was unconvinced that this was not uncommon and insufficient to ID his gun. So, for the sake of the argument, let's say we did know who the guy was and it was a hunting photo.

Me: Your honor I would like a search warrant to search Joe Bob's house for guns. This guy saw a picture of it and knows it is his gun.

Judge: How does he know?

So, how do you know?

That's step #1 to overcome. I'll also need sufficient evidence to request a subpoena of gunbroker accounts, and then likely email accounts, and then likely IP addresses, as people often don't use their real names for such things.

So in the end, I have no idea. How you characterize things may not be how a judge sees them when laid out in black and white. What can be done, or what will be done, will be extremely fact dependent. What does "suspicious ad" mean, and how can you articulate it? How can you be certain its your weapon from a picture, and how can you articulate it? Clients in the Geist area is irrelevant, as it doesn't put any particular person at any particular place at any particular time.

Thanks for the reply!

It's a buddy's gun. Unusual color, aftermarket sights, stolen mags from a 2nd gun that don't fit into the stolen gun were also shown in the Armslist picture, texts from the "seller" pleading it not be reported to the police, then texts after the investigating officer called the seller threatening him. Info about the company this "seller" works for came from a reverse ph# lookup. That company has contracts in the Geist area where the theft occurred.

INGO Mods were notified in case someone tried to list if for sale here.

What I don't understand is why the investigating officer called the seller tipping him off? I'll ask him if there's been any updates on his case.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Thanks for the reply!

It's a buddy's gun. Unusual color, aftermarket sights, stolen mags from a 2nd gun that don't fit into the stolen gun were also shown in the Armslist picture, texts from the "seller" pleading it not be reported to the police, then texts after the investigating officer called the seller threatening him. Info about the company this "seller" works for came from a reverse ph# lookup. That company has contracts in the Geist area where the theft occurred.

INGO Mods were notified in case someone tried to list if for sale here.

What I don't understand is why the investigating officer called the seller tipping him off? I'll ask him if there's been any updates on his case.

Dunno. I usually try to get my subpoenas and the like done first, but without knowing anything about the case I can't really know why.

 

[Denny347]

Detailed pictures of EVERY gun I own. All pics are backed up on Google Cloud so I can access them anytime from any device. Out of town and a gun gets stolen? No problem, look up the pics on my phone.

 

[SteveM4A1]

I had Liberty Mutual homeowners. The policy was to replace with the same item, brand new if it was possible, or to replace with the exact item or better if an exact replacement was not possible.

I had a Glock 19 stolen. They replaced that with a brand new one. Same story with a laptop.

One of the other guns taken was a Colt Detective special. That was replaced with a S & W Bodyguard revolver. That one was a bummer, b/c I loved that old Colt. The BG just isn't the same.

Theives also took an old Mosin-Nagant. They replaced it with a Century Arms WASR AK variant. (Both are Russian rifles, right?)

Fourth gun stolen was a Bersa Thunder 9mm. I chose not to replace it, to essentially cover the deductible.

All handguns were in a pistol safe. Burglars just walked off with it. (Bolt them down folks). Insurance company replaced that too, along with 120 + rounds of self-defense ammo.

All told we had most of our stuff replaced (minus a few items to cover deductible) and still got a check for close to $450. I highly recommend Liberty Mutual homeowners.

If the stolen guns are ever recovered, I would have to send the replacement guns back, or a check for the purchase price.

This is why I choose SafeCo Ins (Liberty company) for my insurance as well. Excellent company.

 

[shootersix]

I had Liberty Mutual homeowners. The policy was to replace with the same item, brand new if it was possible, or to replace with the exact item or better if an exact replacement was not possible.

I had a Glock 19 stolen. They replaced that with a brand new one. Same story with a laptop.

One of the other guns taken was a Colt Detective special. That was replaced with a S & W Bodyguard revolver. That one was a bummer, b/c I loved that old Colt. The BG just isn't the same.

Theives also took an old Mosin-Nagant. They replaced it with a Century Arms WASR AK variant. (Both are Russian rifles, right?)

Fourth gun stolen was a Bersa Thunder 9mm. I chose not to replace it, to essentially cover the deductible.

All handguns were in a pistol safe. Burglars just walked off with it. (Bolt them down folks). Insurance company replaced that too, along with 120 + rounds of self-defense ammo.

All told we had most of our stuff replaced (minus a few items to cover deductible) and still got a check for close to $450. I highly recommend Liberty Mutual homeowners.

If the stolen guns are ever recovered, I would have to send the replacement guns back, or a check for the purchase price.

we transfered (tried to) 5 guns for a guy who had some stolen, one was a colt commando 38 special revolver, the insurance company found one on a auction site, bought it and sent it to us to transfer to the guy, along with a few others....we billed the insurance company for our time and transfer fees...only for the guy to get denied on his background check!....when we called to tell him, he said "i kinda thought i would"...we had to return them to the insurance company's ffl, and they got 'y with us when we billed them for shipping back to them, and we wouldnt refund their transfer fees!

 

[MCgrease08]

I took detailed pics and recorded serial numbers for all my firearms early last year. About a month later my house was burglarized and thieves got away with four of them.

I was able to provide the detective and more importantly, the insurance company, with photos, model numbers, serial numbers within minutes.

None of the guns have been recovered, but it made dealing with the insurance company much easier and they were replaced.

I had Liberty Mutual homeowners. The policy was to replace with the same item, brand new if it was possible, or to replace with the exact item or better if an exact replacement was not possible.

I had a Glock 19 stolen. They replaced that with a brand new one. Same story with a laptop.

One of the other guns taken was a Colt Detective special. That was replaced with a S & W Bodyguard revolver. That one was a bummer, b/c I loved that old Colt. The BG just isn't the same.

Theives also took an old Mosin-Nagant. They replaced it with a Century Arms WASR AK variant. (Both are Russian rifles, right?)

Fourth gun stolen was a Bersa Thunder 9mm. I chose not to replace it, to essentially cover the deductible.

All handguns were in a pistol safe. Burglars just walked off with it. (Bolt them down folks). Insurance company replaced that too, along with 120 + rounds of self-defense ammo.

All told we had most of our stuff replaced (minus a few items to cover deductible) and still got a check for close to $450. I highly recommend Liberty Mutual homeowners.

If the stolen guns are ever recovered, I would have to send the replacement guns back, or a check for the purchase price.

One of my stolen guns has been recovered!!!

It's been three years since we were burgled and I have an annual tradition of emailing the detective assigned to the case just as a quick follow-up with a polite request that he run the serial numbers on the off chance that one of my four stolen guns has been recovered.

I didn't get a response last year and it had been a few days since my recent email. I was starting to question whether the Det. was still with IMPD. But I just checked my email and had a response. Apparently my stolen Bersa UC 9 was recovered in 2015. I was directed to head down to the city county building to start the paper work to have it returned.

The best part: the Bersa was the first gun I ever bought and the only gun I did not include on the insurance claim, so I get to keep it without having to reimburse them.

I have no idea what condition it will be in, but I am glad it's off the streets. It pays to be proactive I guess. Who knows if I would have ever been contacted if I had not taken the initiative to follow up.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I forgot about this thread.

We recently recovered a revolver reported stolen in Las Vegas a touch over 30 years ago.

 

[MCgrease08]

Hey BBI, do you have any insight into how long I should expect the process to take to get the gun back?

I am assuming I won't be able to go downtown and walk out with the gun on the same day, but in this case I would love to be wrong.

 

[oldpink]

I have done this with all of my guns, saving it in an e-mail to myself for my various e-mail addresses and saving the text on my external hard drive backups as well.
BBI, you are so incredibly right with your advice, and it's fortunate that you were listening on your radio to help the guy out.