Tried to get local cop on patrol to NCIC check gun, denied

[JeepGuy79]

So My grandfather is a young guy for his age lol. Him and my grandmother are very active so I tell him a month ago that I told my local gun store buddies to watch for a .38 a snub to come in that I could give him. He in turn tells his brother, my uncle, who decides to bring one over to give to me for this purpose. He has given me a couple guns over the years, and I have called the local sheriff department to do NCIC checks on them cause he buys lots of stuff face to face and at auctions. I don't want anyone caught with a stolen gun especially my grandfather. You know the cops won't believe him when he says I got that from my brother and didn't know it was stolen. Or whatever.

So I call the same sheriff office that checked a gun over the phone for me 2 weeks ago with the info and they won't check it over the phone in case it is stolen. I live way out so they don't want to come by to check it. They offer to send an officer out later, I decline cause I have stuff to do. I am running errands later and take the gun with me in case I see a local cop, which I do. I pull up next to him, ask if he has a minute, and he says he has time and I tell him want I am wanting to do. Cop looks 100 years old so I am even nicer than usual to him. He tells me he cannot do a check on a gun to see if it is stolen. I see the radio right beside him! Does he not run guns that he finds on people or in a shooting or check people for warrants using their database? I don't get it.

Best part is I tell him I want to make sure it is not stolen cause my grandfather is maybe going to get his CHL and I don't want him in jail. The cop replies to me, when he gets his CHL they will run the serial then. At that point I stop and politely correct him. I tell him they don't even ask what you plan to maybe carry or that the gun even be yours. Just the semi/wheel gun thing. He shrugs, I thank him for his time and leave.

Went to local sheriff department today with all info on a piece of paper and the gun downstairs in the glovebox. Talk to the local captain, he asks me if I have the gun with me. I tell him it is downstairs in the parking lot cause I didn't know their policy on carrying a gun in there and couldn't see the doors from the parking lot (for 30.06 signs) so I left it there. I hand him the paper and he says great this is all I need. 10 second phone call, hands me back the paper and says it is all clear. Great guy.

Still can't believe the other cop denied to do it.

[Beiruty]

Flag a DPS trooper not your local town cop.

[n5wd]

Still can't believe the other cop denied to do it.

Perhaps the department has a policy of not doing checks for plain ol' ordinary citizens. Ask the chief why his officer couldn't do a favor for a citizen!

[speedsix]

...can you imagine the legal problems for the department if it comes back stolen??? we were told "official police use only" for that over 40 years ago...I know of an officer who lost his job doing just what you described...and the town almost lost NCIC privilges...this from the chief's lips within the last 2 years...it is not a "favor"...if they get caught...

[rwg3]

I have to wonder what the criteria is "for official business only"? I can understand the reluctance of an officer to run the check especially if directed not to by the command structure. I would think however if a citizen asks the police to confirm that a weapon which not purchased NIB is not a stolen weapon, implicit in that question is the statement that this could be a stolen weapon. Further if it does come back as a stolen weapon, does the person who asks for a check face a load of trouble for possessing it, even with a bill of sale?
Alway something for me to learn on this site!

[speedsix]

I have to wonder what the criteria is "for official business only"? I can understand the reluctance of an officer to run the check especially if directed not to by the command structure. I would think however if a citizen asks the police to confirm that a weapon which not purchased NIB is not a stolen weapon, implicit in that question is the statement that this could be a stolen weapon. Further if it does come back as a stolen weapon, does the person who asks for a check face a load of trouble for possessing it, even with a bill of sale?
Alway something for me to learn on this site!

...if it shows up stolen...they confiscate it...and will expect you to cooperate finding who you bought it from...whether an individual has it or a pawn shop or gun shop...sometimes the pawn shop will repay you if it's stolen...but we had to fill out a slip on pawn or purchase that a copy of went to the local PD...a volunteer ran them against local stolen/burglary reports...don't know about NCIC...so we never had one that we sold turn up stolen...
...if I wanted one run, I'd try Chief's ofc...if he said yes, it couldn't bite an officer...some places do such favors...some don't...

[JeepGuy79]

I think I am the first person to go downtown and ask for them to run a check on a gun. When I told the secretary girl I wanted to speak to someone about running a NCIC check on a firearm she looked at me like I had 2 heads on my neck and said a what? I told her I needed the serial checked to make sure it was never stolen since I got it used from another person she looked at me like I only had maybe 1.75 heads.

I am kinda glad it happened like it did. I met a really nice officer who was super helpful and understanding of what I was trying to do. I really think this would be a good situation for the police. If someone brings in a gun right after they get it and has it checked and it comes up stolen then they get that gun off the street right then and closer to the time of purchase so more likely to track down the person it came from. Imagine if it had been stolen in a home invasion where someone died? It might be the evidence link they need to connect the dots and solve a crime. Not likely, but just seems win win. When I told him I just wanted it checked because it had changed hands so many times off the books and I wanted them to get it from me directly than run it in a traffic stop and me have a stolen gun he seemed real at ease about it.

by the way, the cop in the cruiser that wouldn't do it worked for a different department. He was a city cop of a tiny little town right beside mine that I have to drive thru to get from my section of this town to the other sections of it. The person that ran it for me works for the county, and they have jurisdiction over both areas. I think if I had found a trooper to ask or a county cop instead of the podunk city cop they would have been happy to help me. I think if it had come back stolen I would have told the officer that ran it for me about how the other wouldn't even look at it and missed an opportunity to get a stolen gun off the streets when a citizen brought it to his attention. I don't see much difference in that and saying "hey I saw someone down the road trying to slim jim a car, maybe you want to check it out" and him just blowing me off. maybe it is his car with keys locked in it, maybe a thief. If I were an officer I would want to investigate it. Especially if some jackass I didn't even know pulled up to me on the beat and mentioned he had a gun that might be stolen... I would find that odd and maybe suspicious and check it out.

[speedsix]

...you're right, it'd be great PR for the PD or SO...better'n a buy-back program for sure...

[gigag04]

If someone in your jurisdiction approaches you and asks to check a gun to see if it is stolen...wouldn't that be, by definition, official business??

[Oldgringo]

...sleeping dogs are best let lie...

Now, if you'd found the gun in a ditch by a dead guy or something,that might be a different matter OR if your uncle was a known bad guy....etc., etc.

[speedsix]

If someone in your jurisdiction approaches you and asks to check a gun to see if it is stolen...wouldn't that be, by definition, official business??

...no more than if they asked you to use your priviliged access to information on a person's record...or a police report that they were supposed to sign for and pay for...or run a background check on a person as a "favor"...or run a plate to see who it belonged to...as a favor, not as part of an investigation or, as mentioned, a "found" gun...which would have a report written and be turned in...

[JeepGuy79]

I thought serving was part of their official business? it is half of the thingie on their car protect and serve.

[speedsix]

...correct...and the SC says they have no duty to protect us...their job is to enforce the law...most street officers don't like that decision or feel that way...but that's what the SC says...

...there are sources of information in law enforcement that are not open to the general public, NCIC is one of them...

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...one example of abuse: http://thedesertfreedompress.blogspot.c ... chief.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


...of course, folks are gonna do what they want to do...as the OP posted...some do "favors"...some don't...but if they're caught at it: http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/Public-A ... puter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...the more I think about LE running them as a public service, the less I can see it happening without them creating a record, also known as registration...scrap that idea!!!

[gigag04]

I would treat it like someone coming up and ask me to check them for warrants.

[WildBill]

If someone in your jurisdiction approaches you and asks to check a gun to see if it is stolen...wouldn't that be, by definition, official business??

...no more than if they asked you to use your priviliged access to information on a person's record...or a police report that they were supposed to sign for and pay for...or run a background check on a person as a "favor"...or run a plate to see who it belonged to...as a favor, not as part of an investigation or, as mentioned, a "found" gun...which would have a report written and be turned in...

Apples and oranges IMO.