Vehicle B and E.

Some years ago I fell asleep driving home after a midnight shift, I ran off the road and centered a power pole at about 60mph, I broke it clean into, thankfully I was fine. Anyway, I had a pistol go missing that day, it’s possible it was just lost in the wreck. The only people that ever went near the truck were a couple county deputy's and a State Trooper, I fully believe one of the county deputy's stole it.


Other than than that I’ve never had A vehicle broken into, well since high school anyway. We used to break into each other’s vehicles for practical jokes frequently as stupid teenagers.

Virginia Jim said:

I highly doubt any first time offenders get 5 years. In some countries they chop off your hand.

Click to expand...

I’m quite content, grateful even, that we don’t live in one of those countries. I would encourage you to visit one if you haven’t and see for yourself what the price of law and order on that level entails.

In my experience any wrecked or otherwise impounded vehicle was gone through very quickly by either the wrecker driver or the nice folks at the wreck yard... Some of the wrecker services we dealt with had folks with auto theft records (go figure - since quite a few vehicle thefts in my era - were "disappeared" on the back of a wrecker... It was a thrill a minute down here in south florida back in the seventies and eighties - when most decent folk decided to vacation - someplace else...

When the Wife or I have to leave a gun in a vehicle we hide it as much as possible. Under the seat, in the consul, ect. But out of site. This goes for other valuables too! Both of our vehicles are new enough to have alarms and the consul in my truck is lockable and is under the alarm. When I was competing a group of us often traveled to matches together and we would choose our stops so that we could park with the truck in sight.

At home, I'm fortunate enough that we can both park our vehicles in the garage and my shop. But we still don't leave valuables in our vehicles.

Everyone should have a list of their guns with a description and the SN. I also have a list of out credit card numbers and our vehicle license plate numbers including both of my trailers. I also have locks on both of my trailers. This won't stop a prepared theif but it might detour an unprepared one. I also have everything that I own insured.

I believe Kim Rhode the olympic trap shooter her Kreigoff stolen a few years back.

Imagine a guy jumping over the counter at the local 7/11 with a $40,000 shotgun to steal $40!

HB said:

I believe Kim Rhode the olympic trap shooter her Kreigoff stolen a few years back.

Imagine a guy jumping over the counter at the local 7/11 with a $40,000 shotgun to steal $40!

Click to expand...

I read a story once of a recovered Webley-Fosbery semi-automatic revolver that was chopped and otherwise mauled by thugs to have a gun. Untouched, they are worth a fair piece. I'm sure that Gunny's police department has probably recovered rare firearms now and again but you would have to ask him. He used to have a thread on recoveries and what the thug du jour was using on the streets. Caused me to upgrade from my beloved snubby.

boom boom said:

Caused me to upgrade from my beloved snubby.

Click to expand...

Same here

I think the risk of having your car robbed depends a lot on what you drive and whether or not you have valuables in plain site.

My boss drives an Cadillac Escalade and had an expensive "fuzz buster" attached to his mirror. Parked on the street in the lovely city of Lowell, MA, and ..... you guessed it.....smash and grab. Damage to car was far more expensive than the fuzz buster.

A hand gun, out of site, in a secure lock box, in a "nothing special" vehicle is not likely to draw such attention.

psyopspec said:

I’m quite content, grateful even, that we don’t live in one of those countries. I would encourage you to visit one if you haven’t and see for yourself what the price of law and order on that level entails.

Click to expand...

On that we can agree. I’m grateful to live in an area where we can leave our cars and houses unlocked and can sleep without fear.

Where I am, a car thief might consider finding a gun in their new acquisition to be a complication.
They want common, innocuous, local vehicles that won't get noticed.
They're more concerned with how many illegals they can pack in it to haul them from the Rio to where they can drop them off so that they can sneak around the Falfurrias check point.
Stealing a gun would just add another charge if they get caught... .

I had one vehicle broken into years ago when parked overnight on the streets of Manhattan. They got my golf shoes, a denim jacket, and some loose change. I had a broken side window. I never had a gun stolen. I am very cautious about my guns.

If you left your vehicle unlocked and a criminal steals your gun, how do you feel knowing you just armed a criminal?

whughett said:

Would seem if your a gun owner active in almost any way your going to leave a firearm in a vehicle at one time or another. Roll of the dice it’s still there when you return.

Click to expand...

Thanks largely to GFZ's. On the other hand, if I'm gonna roll the dice I want to stack the odds in my favor.

psyopspec said:

Possession of a stolen firearm alone carries a five-year maximum penalty, depending on your state. What would you propose instead?

Click to expand...

Life. And hard labor. And bread and water. And water boarding until the gun is recovered.

SwampWolf said:

Life. And hard labor. And bread and water. And water boarding until the gun is recovered.

Click to expand...

You're making me nervous.

I ran a small-scale recycling business (remember Sanford and Son?) in Orange and Los Angeles counties in the 70s and early 80s. Many guns, components and gun-shaped lumps of rust were obtained this way.

My father and I took contracts to demolish or repair decrepit buildings. Guns, knives and many far more unlikely items were found within.

I like to hike, bike, snorkel and do urban (and rural) exploration of old buildings, illegal dump sites and archaeological sites. More guns and such found.

There was even a surplus store in Portland back in the 60s that was gutted by fire. When the notice went up that it was about to be bulldozed in the morning, I (and most of the kids in the area) descended on the place and took all of the (non-functional) guns, machetes, billy clubs and everything else that was loose. I'll bet that we were quite a sight, bicycling through the night.

in every case except the last one mentioned above I checked with the local police on any identifiable weapons. Nothing ever came back as reported to be stolen, but it remains a possibility.

Swampwolf's list of penalties seems a bit extreme to me... .

No sticker's of any kind on the vehicle. Try not to leave anything in the vehicle that looks remotely like it has value. Even an article of clothing may be enough. My co-worker left his Federal Law Enforcement Training Center hat in his car. Smash and grab. He did it a second time and the car was vandalized.

I have had a car broken into, and as a result will never store a gun in one for more than a few minutes as I enter a restricted area.

They stole a bunch of music and my stereo. It only takes once to remind you not to leave anything of value in your vehicle if you can help it.

lemaymiami said:

In my experience any wrecked or otherwise impounded vehicle was gone through very quickly by either the wrecker driver or the nice folks at the wreck yard... Some of the wrecker services we dealt with had folks with auto theft records (go figure - since quite a few vehicle thefts in my era - were "disappeared" on the back of a wrecker... It was a thrill a minute down here in south florida back in the seventies and eighties - when most decent folk decided to vacation - someplace else...

Click to expand...

Over the years I’ve heard many stories about fine personal protection tools “disappearing” under circumstances similar to what you describe. One reason I advocate that whatever one decides to carry, it should not be the family heirloom.

Terry G said:

No sticker's of any kind on the vehicle. Try not to leave anything in the vehicle that looks remotely like it has value. Even an article of clothing may be enough. My co-worker left his Federal Law Enforcement Training Center hat in his car. Smash and grab. He did it a second time and the car was vandalized.

Click to expand...

Great point on the stickers.....what’s more likely to be targeted .... the pickup with the Sig striker or the Jeep with the dog-paw sticker?

SwampWolf said:

Life. And hard labor. And bread and water. And water boarding until the gun is recovered.

Click to expand...

Wow. Fingers crossed that you never get wrongfully convicted in your own world. That would suck. Especially if you don't like bread.

theotherwaldo said:

You're making me nervous.

I ran a small-scale recycling business (remember Sanford and Son?) in Orange and Los Angeles counties in the 70s and early 80s. Many guns, components and gun-shaped lumps of rust were obtained this way.

My father and I took contracts to demolish or repair decrepit buildings. Guns, knives and many far more likely items were found within.

I like to hike, bike, snorkel and do urban (and rural) exploration of old buildings, illegal dump sites and archaeological sites. More guns and such found.

There was even a surplus store in Portland back in the 60s that was gutted by fire. When the notice went up that it was about to be bulldozed in the morning, I (and most of the kids in the area) descended on the place and took all of the (non-functional) guns, machetes, billy clubs and everything else that was loose. I'll bet that we were quite a sight, bicycling through the night.

in every case except the last one mentioned above I checked with the local police on any identifiable weapons. Nothing ever came back as reported to be stolen, but it remains a possibility.

Swampwolf's list of penalties seems a bit extreme to me... .

Click to expand...

The reason that prosecution for receiving stolen firearms is rare is because they have to prove that you knowingly (or had a reckless disregard for knowing--e.g. buying from a known thief) purposefully acquired a stolen firearm as an element of the crime. That does mean you might have an uncomfortable time with police questioning on some firearm in their system as stolen. To some degree that is why at least some law enforcement favors requiring all transactions to go through an ffl because if someone then could not demonstrate purchasing a firearm that way, the presumption would an illegal sale. What complicates matters is that guns last a very long time and thus a transaction might have occurred way before records were required by that state. That will be a problem for any grandfathered magazine restrictions as these are not normally serialized. But, on recent firearms, serial number dates are pretty conclusive as to when it was made and thus a date of manufacture after the universal background check would be evidence of illegal activity.

For a long while, unscrupulous scrap dealers would more or less accept any lie told to them by people bring "scrap" to them such as brand new materials which is why some states require id to sell the stuff to the salvage dealer and that checks be issued and mailed to a provided address rather than paying cash. Somewhat similar for shady pawn dealers and as a result, transaction paperwork has increased for them as well. Proving that someone knowing bought stolen merchandise allowed these folks to stay in business rather than be in prison.

Police and prosecutors prefer easy cases such as ones where no intent needs to be proven such as felon in possession of _______drugs or firearms. UBC's in some ways would make it easier to prosecute criminals but also then affect people that trade guns casually among family and friends. People that flip handguns or frequently trade them would also be affected.

theotherwaldo said:

Swampwolf's list of penalties seems a bit extreme to me... .

Click to expand...

I didn't recommend a public hanging. But now that I think about it...

To reduce the chance of firearm thieves targeting your vehicle put one of the hollowing bumper stickers on your ride: "Ban Assault Weapons", "I support Bernie"," Soccer Mom", "Green Peace" or something similar. I call it Urban Camouflage.