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I would appreicate some advice. I am in the automobile business whereby we repossess vehicles that default on our finance contracts. I picked up a vehicle that the owner was unfortunately killled in an accident. My mechanic found a 38 cal. revolver in the vehcile that was never claimed (law requires we hold personal belongings for 30 days and notify owner by mail). How would I go about making sure the gun is clean and have sufficient documents for keeping the gun? I have been told (not sure I am believe it's true) that police officers will rarley return found weapons if I turn it in to them. Please advise.

Hi O.S.R. and welcome to the forum. I don't have an answer for you, but I'm sure more knowledgeable people than I regarding that will chime in shortly.

OSR:
In a perfect world, I would think the cops would run the weapon's serial #
and if it had not been used in a crime, they would give it back to you.

But last time I checked I had not been assigned a mission of creating a perfect
world. :-)

SIA

I wouldn't keep it. You won't know if it was used in the commission of a crime until after you are found in the possession of it and, for whatever reason, local or Fed LE discover it was used in a previous crime or that it is a stolen weapon. Best just turn it over to the Police. If it is a high dollar revolver and you want to try to keep it - maybe your local LE will run the serial numbers (probably won't do a whole lot of good), and take a ballistic fingerprint - then give it back (probably also won't happen). Personally, I'd get it to the LE folks anyway and just not take the chance. As stated above - in a perfect world...

OldSchoolRules wrote:I would appreicate some advice. I am in the automobile business whereby we repossess vehicles that default on our finance contracts. I picked up a vehicle that the owner was unfortunately killled in an accident. My mechanic found a 38 cal. revolver in the vehcile that was never claimed (law requires we hold personal belongings for 30 days and notify owner by mail). How would I go about making sure the gun is clean and have sufficient documents for keeping the gun? I have been told (not sure I am believe it's true) that police officers will rarley return found weapons if I turn it in to them. Please advise.

Call the police and tell them you are looking to "acquire" a pistol and you want to make sure the serial number is clean.

They can probably look it up while you wait.

I have a friend who is an HPD burglary detective and I always give him a call with any used (but new to me) purchase I'm considering.

Don't ask, don't tell.

Do the right thing. You don't know if that gun was used to commit a crime. Write down the ser. # of the gun, take several pics of it, and take it to the police and be up front with them.

I believe that if you repo'd the car, then don't the items in the car at the time of repo, also become your company's property? I was told that once a long time ago.

When you take the gun to the police station, tell them the whole story, and ask them to run the serial #. You have a right to the gun(if what I said above is correct), and would like it back as soon as possible. Above all, know your ownership rights when you take it to the police station.

And do the right thing. Just my $.02 worth.

If you are in the repo business, I would guess you have a lawyer. Let HIM deal with contacting the cops. I would not do so directly.

Imagine from the cop's point of view, especially if they do not know you, or know you and do not like you for whatever reason. Guy walks into a station with a gun that turns out to be stolen/used in a crime, who is the most likely suspect? Add in some inconvenient fact, like perhaps the original owner turns out to a neighbor of yours, and/or a vehicle like yours was seen in the area, or the cops manage to trace the relatives of the driver, who all of course swear that poor old whathisname would NEVER engage in criminal activity and always hated guns, blah blah...

Probably they would believe you, but the consequences of becoming a suspect, however temporary, would not be good. (And the cops would have that in mind forever more). Let your lawyer figure this one out. And if everything pans out but the cops are slow in coughing up the gun, the lawyer would be more likely to get it back for you.

Thanks for some great advice. One mentioned "do the right thing" and that is always my intent. My company (me) legally owns the firearm by law, besides the fact I lost significant $$ on the transaction. I am going to take pictures and hand that over first and then the gun if required by HPD. Thanks again for the input.

That's not a bad idea! Handing them the pics first! Make sure you have a very clear pic showing the serial number though! And if they DO want you to turn the gun in, be sure you have copies of pics in your possession when you do.

Good luck to you, and please do let us know the outcome.

Did the deceased have a family?
If so, would not they have a claim on personal property?

Just a thought----

Call your local PD, and tell them the same thing you posted here. I am sure you don't want to maintain custody of a weapon if it is stolen and/or been used in a crime. If it has been reported stolen, of course they will take custody of it. If someone stole one of your guns, wouldn't you like it back if it were ever recovered? If it isn't reported stolen, the PD would have no reason to keep it from you. If they did, just request a Property Hearing in front of a local magistrate. The magistrate would then determine who gets the gun, not the PD. Just my two cents.....

I'd try to get it to the deceased's family, particularly so considering this may be a financially trying time for them and every asset counts.

The Vehicle was Legally Repossessed.

I assume that means that the family, if any, was offered a chance to take it (and any debt associated with it), and did/could not, or could not afford it, and let it get repossessed.

As such, it is now the property of the OP. Plain and simple.

JasonH wrote:I'd try to get it to the deceased's family, particularly so considering this may be a financially trying time for them and every asset counts.

Nice idea, but we are talking about the repo business here. If it can be done this will be one more thing that will end up being sold for pennies on the dollar. One business that is sure to be booming these days I would imagine. Alas.