Found "stolen" guns

[AKTow]

I reported one gun and a rifle as stolen while I was living in Nevada a couple years back (originally purchased/ registered/and then 'stolen'' in Nevada )
Long story short, both guns have been found (not by law enforcement) but I now live in CA. What do I do? I assume I call Nevada Police or whatever and get the guns off the "list."(?) And then I guess I register the gun here in CA (?)
At this point, however, I'm not in a position to own firearms and would rather sell them to someone else anyway. Can I skip the step of CA registration in my name or is that required in order to SELL within the state?

 

[red rick]

It sounds like the Nevada Police & ATF might have some questions for you .

 

[AKTow]

Well they had questions when they were stolen, so naturally, I'd assume they would have a few questions now. I have no issue with that. But I am concerned about having guns that are technically listed as stolen. Rest assured, the guns have not, and will not be used or even moved until I figure this out.

 

[MedWheeler]

Contact the law enforcement agency to whom the thefts were originally reported. That agency will have the items removed from the criminal databases. They will likely need some information from you to demonstrate that you are the original complainant in the thefts.

By your quotes around the word "stolen", I assume they never actually were, just missing/misplaced? Are they now in California and, if so, how did that come to be? (These are pretty much rhetorical questions; you need not answer them here on a public forum.)

I'm not in a position to opine on California law, so I will not.

 

[AKTow]

Im in no way implying that the theft wasn't legit. I used the "quotes" because when I reported them stolen, I truly believed that they had been stolen. But then I come to discover that they were actually in storage in California the entire time.

 

[lemaymiami]

Part of the stolen/recovery process is for the originating agency to cancel the entry into NCIC (at least that was part of my job, years ago when I had my agency's property room for a few years..). The correct thing to do is contact whatever outfit took your original report, then have them file a supplement to that original case number - then they'll cancel the message. If you're not in that state they may simply ask you to file a report with whatever agency handles things in the state you're now living in (your local police department), then have that agency contact them.

At any rate your first action should be to contact the original agency you filed the report with and follow the steps they outline for you. Don't fret - these kinds of situations occur a lot more often than you'd expect... The one thing you don't want to do is simply ignore the original report since those weapons will be "in the system" forever until the stolen message is cancelled by the original outfit that took the report. Anyone in possession of those weapons with a stolen message active is going to need a lawyer if the message isn't cancelled.

I've actually made an arrest or two over property that had been recovered - then never reported. Yes, it's a mess until all is sorted out. The smart citizen takes the steps needed to prevent that. The only difficulty you might encounter are firearms laws in your current state (but all that would need to be sorted out after you make the supplemental report and gotten the stolen message cancelled.

If you can post up how it works out for you. You're probably not the only one on this site that's run into something like this. Good luck.

 

[AKTow]

Thank you. Your response was reassuring and helpful. I don't think I have the piece of paper with the report number. But I do have the info on the guns so that's a good start.

 

[lemaymiami]

Even without the original case number - all that should be needed is the name of the reporter, and the approximate date of the original stolen report to the exact agency involved... By the way - for those who've never seen one - stolen messages come with the name and contact of the original agency, and other contact info for whoever inquires...

Forgot to mention one other small point... After the dust has settled if it were me - I'd want whoever my local cops were to run a last check on that serial number(s) to verify that the original agency did, in fact, cancel the message properly... In my career I saw more than one instance (even within my own outfit... ) where the ball got dropped and the cancellation was never done like it should have been. That sort of stuff is much better done in the light of day than at 3Am when some young officer is verifying that your weapon isn't a problem....

 

[Riomouse911]

The serial number alone will result in an NCIC hit, which will list the originating police agency and reporting party information as well. With the millions and millions of guns in the US there are often duplicate serials in the system, which is why it's also important to let them know the make, model and caliber. These can help narrow it down to your specific guns if there are others with the same serial numbers in NCIC.

People report things as stolen all the time only to find out it was misplaced or borrowed.

Yup, as was suggested it's always a good idea to double check the numbers have been removed from NCIC after you report the firearms as located. Paperwork gets misplaced or forgotten, and you want to make sure all is good before you try to sell them.

Good luck!

 

[jmr40]

You need to talk to a lawyer.

 

[AKTow]

Why would I need a lawyer? There's no crime.

 

[MedWheeler]

AKTow writes:

Im in no way implying that the theft wasn't legit. I used the "quotes" because when I reported them stolen, I truly believed that they had been stolen. But then I come to discover that they were actually in storage in California the entire time.

That's exactly what I thought, that you had simply misplaced them, thought they'd been stolen, and reported them as such.

How they got into California might have some effect on what you need to do to get them "legal" there, if they're not already.