Craigslist robbery

[XinTX]

As was said earlier, this kind of stuff has been going on way before the invention of Craigslist, or AlGores invention of the internet.

Back in the 70's my dad was in a group of guys who met at a local place to sip coffee and talk about all the things going on in the county. Kind of a 'county fathers' gathering in the rural Georgia county where we lived at the time. One guy was talking about selling his Rolex watch. Guy at the table said "Don't advertise it, if you want to sell it, I'll buy it if you decide to." But he puts an ad in the local and Atlanta papers. Buyer calls, and comes to his home driving a Mercedes sedan. He opens the door, buyer asks to see the watch. Seller produces it, at which point the 'buyer' produces a pistol and takes the Rolex. Seller calls the cops after the robber leaves. He read the plates. Cops say the Merc was stolen that morning. I'm guessing the 'buyer' obtained it pretty much the same way.

[OldCannon]

This falls under the same heading as most other things...be prudent. I have sold lots and lots of things, high and low, on craigslist without incident. Bring a friend if possible, meet in a public place, and be courteous but mindful. What about buying a firearm privately? How many times has that stopped any of us? Just need to be careful like with anything else.

Yeah, anytime I see a "ooh, Craigslist is scary", I recall that this SAME crap happened with classified ads before the Internet. To claim it happens with "increasing frequency" seems to ignore the fact that 1) Craigslist is a place that homogenizes the bartering experience and 2) Google searches for "Craigslist robbery" are guaranteed to "prove" your point (See all those pages of hits? SEE? Told you so!).

Get a grip, folks. I've bought and sold tons of stuff. So have hundreds of millions of people.

What's the alternative? Ban Craigslist? Ban eBay? Ban newspaper classifieds?

Good luck with that. The bad guys will just find another way to take advantage of unsuspecting people. I'm sure they have for untold thousands of years.

[seamusTX]

What's the alternative? Ban Craigslist? Ban eBay? Ban newspaper classifieds?

How about being careful?

People (still after all this time) have a way of thinking that they live in a cozy neighborhood where "that kind of thing never happens." I guess that's why they don't lock their homes or cars.

They extend that thinking to internet-based transactions, and this kind of thing happens.

- Jim

[92f-fan]

Add to the list of Craigslist crimes the Theft of my truck. It was stolen a few years ago. It was found stripped and abandoned in one of the worst parts of Dallas. Since it was in some ways unique I was able to find someone selling my parts on craigslist. Getting that info to the DPD was VERY tough but eventually I convinced a guy that it was my stuff and I could prove it and they busted the kid. Didn't get him for stealing the truck simply for possession of stolen property. The kicker is they searched his house and found evidence linking him to lots of other crimes.. He made his living stealing stuff and selling it on CL. With a really long rap sheet and 7 more charges from this, he STILL was offered probation.

I dont buy stuff from CL for that reason .. to make it gun related, the theft did prompt me to get my CHL and I had a buddy sit in my house with his gun while i dealt with the cops for hours that night and got a taxi ride home

[drjoker]

shoulda had a cover sniper in an overwatch position....

Would that even be legal?

Perfectly legal in the great state of Texas. There are no restrictions on how to carry long guns in Texas. You don't need to have a CHL to conceal carry a rifle in Texas. Just be careful to keep that itchy finger off the trigger....

Before there were CHLs, a friend wanted to buy a car with cash once. He met the seller from a classified ad in the parking lot of a supermarket. I sat in my pickup about 50 ft away with an AK. The seller didn't even notice that I was there. Transaction went down without a hitch. This is a lot more common than you think. When done right, the other party shouldn't even notice the rifleman watching the transaction. You might have taken part in a few transactions with a "sniper" (50 ft is not really sniping distance) watching without even knowing. Just have your pickup/car heavily tinted and park with the passenger side facing the transaction (driver's side has lighter tint by law).

[OldCannon]

What's the alternative? Ban Craigslist? Ban eBay? Ban newspaper classifieds?

How about being careful?

People (still after all this time) have a way of thinking that they live in a cozy neighborhood where "that kind of thing never happens." I guess that's why they don't lock their homes or cars.

They extend that thinking to internet-based transactions, and this kind of thing happens.

- Jim

Yup, that's precisely my point: You're meeting a stranger. Smartest thing you can do is be in maximum control of the situation.

Would you believe that Craigslist even gives people a simple guide for it? http://www.craigslist.org/about/safety" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (although they would never say "Bring friends with guns", because, you know, it's Craigslist)

[seamusTX]

That's another thing: Craigslist is right up there with eBay and PayPal on the list of "anti-gun" businesses and organizations that we are supposed to boycott.

(Not that I take consumer boycotts seriously. I don't know what I could buy, eat, watch, or otherwise do if I took them seriously.)

If you don't mind using a San Francisco-based site that uses a peace sign as a logo and openly promotes illegal prostitution, just don't expect the clientele to be a bunch of choirboys.

- Jim

[VMI77]

shoulda had a cover sniper in an overwatch position....

Would that even be legal?

Perfectly legal in the great state of Texas. There are no restrictions on how to carry long guns in Texas. You don't need to have a CHL to conceal carry a rifle in Texas. Just be careful to keep that itchy finger off the trigger....

Before there were CHLs, a friend wanted to buy a car with cash once. He met the seller from a classified ad in the parking lot of a supermarket. I sat in my pickup about 50 ft away with an AK. The seller didn't even notice that I was there. Transaction went down without a hitch. This is a lot more common than you think. When done right, the other party shouldn't even notice the rifleman watching the transaction. You might have taken part in a few transactions with a "sniper" (50 ft is not really sniping distance) watching without even knowing. Just have your pickup/car heavily tinted and park with the passenger side facing the transaction (driver's side has lighter tint by law).

Sounds like the drive-in scene from Heat.

[DoubleJ]

That was a great scene in that movie.

as an aside, I was kidding about having some "overwatch" backup.

shoulda put a bunch of smilies on that post, I s'pose.

[VMI77]

There are no restrictions on how to carry long guns in Texas.

I don't think I'd go that far --there's some kind of vague very subjective law about carrying a weapon in a manner that causes public alarm, and just seeing a picture of a gun alarms most liberals.

[AJ80]

shoulda had a cover sniper in an overwatch position....

Would that even be legal?

Perfectly legal in the great state of Texas. There are no restrictions on how to carry long guns in Texas. You don't need to have a CHL to conceal carry a rifle in Texas. Just be careful to keep that itchy finger off the trigger....

Before there were CHLs, a friend wanted to buy a car with cash once. He met the seller from a classified ad in the parking lot of a supermarket. I sat in my pickup about 50 ft away with an AK. The seller didn't even notice that I was there. Transaction went down without a hitch. This is a lot more common than you think. When done right, the other party shouldn't even notice the rifleman watching the transaction. You might have taken part in a few transactions with a "sniper" (50 ft is not really sniping distance) watching without even knowing. Just have your pickup/car heavily tinted and park with the passenger side facing the transaction (driver's side has lighter tint by law).

The picture I had in my mind was a guy kneeling down on the rooftop of a nearby store with a deer rifle aimed toward the transaction ready to fire the second things went south.

[Cobra Medic]

Sounds like the drive-in scene from Heat.

Behind you. On the right.

[HadEmAll]

Way before Craigslist existed, or even the Internet, come to think of it, I used to buy my handguns from a FFL licensed individual who advertised in the the local newspaper.

Always went to his house, and we did the business in a bedroom he had converted to a "gun shop", complete with 2 large safes in which he kept his inventory.

There was a newspaper article one day, "Gun Dealer robbed and hog-tied in his house" or something to that effect. It was him, and he no longer does business that way, if he does business at all.

I always think back on that, and am thankful I was not there when something like that occurred.

Now years later, my nephew, who is pretty smart otherwise, advertised an AR-15 for sale on Craigslist, and allowed an individual to come to his house and purchase it. I couldn't believe it, and made him aware of the other incidents we're speaking of here. Hopefully he'll be wiser in the future.

[seamusTX]

In Ferndale, Michigan (Detroit suburb) earlier this month, a teenager traded an Oldsmobile that he did not own for a Pontiac though a Craigslist transaction.

The teenager's family decided they wanted to undo the trade and get the Oldsmobile back. The other party in the trade declined.

This family of fine citizens rolled up to the house of the second party. That man came out with a length of pipe. A verbal altercation ensued. Then one of the teen's brothers (who claimed to be the actual owner of the Oldsmobile) shot at the second party. No one was injured.

The alleged shooter was charged with felonious assault. He reportedly had a license to carry a concealed handgun.

http://www.dailytribune.com/articles/20 ... =fullstory" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Brains are optional. The consequences of not using one are not.

- Jim

[Dave2]

In Ferndale, Michigan (Detroit suburb) earlier this month, a teenager traded an Oldsmobile that he did not own for a Pontiac though a Craigslist transaction.

The teenager's family decided they wanted to undo the trade and get the Oldsmobile back. The other party in the trade declined.

Can they do that? Isn't the other party in possession of stolen property?