Doing the right thing: (Good deed rewarded)

[George Wilkie]

A couple of weeks ago (see "Hi and Help?" in introductions) I came you your forum, asking for help to identify a shotgun. Many of you were very cordial and helpful. Some were distrustful, understandably so, based on the info I gave.
Now, the story has had it's conclusion, and I can be more open and frank.
A man called me and said he heard that I buy guns, and he had one he wanted to sell. I met him, and he had the gun I earlier posted pictures of. It was obvious he had no idea what the gun was, as he told me it was a rifle! He offered it to me at a price that would make most of you gag, it was so ridiculously low. It was obvious he was going to sell it to someone, and it was also pretty obvious the gun was stolen. So, I bought the gun, determined to find the rightful owner. But, first, I approached you guys to find out if it was, indeed a Parker. Thank you Harry Collins and Bill Murphy, for confirming it for me.
A couple of days ago, I contacted someone with access to the LE stolen guns registry, and he confirmed the gun as stolen in a neighboring state. He attempted to contact the former owner, only to learn that the owner was deceased. He contacted the next of kin who was executor of the estate, the son. He told the officers that he had no interest in guns, and since I had purchased the gun, I could just keep it. It is now removed from the National Registry of stolen firearms, and is nice and comfy in my safe.
My sincerest thanks to you here on PGCA forums for your help in this, and to remind all of us that doing the right thing doesn't always turn out bad. My motto usually is that no good deed ever goes unpunished, but in this case, my attempt at a good deed was generously rewarded.
Thank you and Good Day to all!

[Mike Franzen]

Wow! That's quite a story

[Mills Morrison]

That is great

[Dave Tatman]

Very nice. A reminder that it is always right to do the right thing.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

[Phillip Carr]

Thank you from a guy that recently had a LC Smith custom sleeved 28 gauge stolen from my garage. I can only hope that someone such as yourself helps me to locate my gun some day.

[Jim DiSpagno]

Phil, your generosity and Christian faith all but assured it.

[allan.mclane]

Good outcome and thanks for closing the loop for us. Now that you've collected a Parker maybe it's time to join up and get a letter for that gun :)

[Bill Murphy]

The person who had legal ownership of that gun and released it to you is the same kind of person who has helped many of us expand our collections at reasonable prices. Your story reminds me of a shooting friend and college cohort who pressed his father's AHE Double Trap into my hands and would not accept more than $2200 for it because he "thought I should have it".

[Jerry Harlow]

Thank you from a guy that recently had a LC Smith custom sleeved 28 gauge stolen from my garage. I can only hope that someone such as yourself helps me to locate my gun some day.

That gun should stick out like a sore thumb. If it ever comes up on the internet or at a shoot someone will surely have heard of it and know it was stolen. I would post something on every forum you can find. I hope you can find it quickly.

[Dean Romig]

That gun should stick out like a sore thumb. If it ever comes up on the internet or at a shoot someone will surely have heard of it and know it was stolen.


Sorry, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

A good friend's Winchester Golden Quail in .410 was stolen about ten years ago. We thought it would be pretty easy to find because the gun's serial number is 410 but we haven't seen or heard tell about such a gun since the day it went missing.

[Phillip Carr]

Dean unfortunately you are correct. Unless guys like George do the right thing it may never surface. A little more to my story. the neighbor two house down told me it was a good chance it was his grandson. It seems that his grandson got out of prison the day before my gun disappeared. The grandfather told me he was a drug addict and a thief, as much as it pained him to tell me this.
Long story short the detective assigned to the case had put this guy in prison after a physical altercation, so he took an extra interest in this theft.
I received a call a few weeks ago the suspect in back in prison for parole violations, of course no gun recovered and he would not admit to taking it. Here is the interesting things I learned from the detective.
Most of these drug addicts have $500 a day drug habits with no job. Only a few ways to get this money and stealing guns especially is the easiest. Many stand out by Wal-Mart and approach guys asking if they want to buy some guns at a price that is hard to pass up. Once the guns are purchased rarely do they surface. Pawn shops are supposed to report all gun purchases. There are a number of crooks in the Pawn business here and what they will do is report the S/N only placing one number out of order. This way if they get busted they claim it is a clerical error, and of course the SN never pops up as stolen.
Once again George thanks for being an honest guy.

[Steve Huffman]

George
What about the guy who sold it to you was he the one that stole it ? If so why wasnt he charged with anything ? Sounds like hes free to do it again !

[Jerry Harlow]

Sorry, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

A good friend's Winchester Golden Quail in .410 was stolen about ten years ago. We thought it would be pretty easy to find because the gun's serial number is 410 but we haven't seen or heard tell about such a gun since the day it went missing.

On that one yes, but you would have to get close enough to see the serial number as it was a production gun. But no one has ever heard of a 28 L.C. Smith so "Loose lips sink ships."

[Phillip Carr]

Only one 28 gauge ever built by Hunter Arms and still in the family. My gun was an exact replica built from a 20 gauge ejector gun. I keep hoping someone will talk about it, see it at a gun show, etc.

[Stephen Hodges]

George
What about the guy who sold it to you was he the one that stole it ? If so why wasnt he charged with anything ? Sounds like hes free to do it again !

You don't have to prove he stole it, the charge would be " in possession of a stolen firearm". It is unfortunate that you did not contact the authorities and have them present when he showed up to sell you the gun. You were playing with fire in the time period when you purchased the item from him and finally had it released to you. In that time you were in possession of a stolen firearm, and could have been charged with such. I assume your friend who has access to NCIC was either a law enforcement officer or a police dispatcher of some sorts. Did those folks try an initiate a case on this, and find the person who you purchased this from? Glad in this case it turned out well, but it could have ended up to be your worst nightmare. But when you are dealing with a stolen firearm it is not your right or duty to take possession of it and try and find the rightful owner. Quite the contrary, you are now breaking the law yourself. Your duty is to alert the correct authorities and help them find the original seller so that person can be prosecuted and to let them take care of finding the rightful owner. Plus there is a federal NCIC offense if your person did not open a case # on the "hit" on the guns serial number. NCIC Terminals face yearly in house audits by the FBI, and if that hit is queried by the auditor they will want to see the case file generated by the hit. Sorry, JMHO.

I just read your original posting on this stolen gun. I now wish you had been caught and prosecuted.

[Rich Anderson]

I have the exact opposite side of the story. I bought a S&W M57 41 magnum from an older gentleman in Idaho. No problem got the gun it was as described. I paid a fair price for it. Michigan is one of only a few states that requires registration of a hand gun and as I have a concealed carry license I did the right thing and registered the gun. About a month goes by and the Sherriff's detective calls me asking questions about the transaction. Turns out this was stolen in 1986 from Tacoma Washington. The gun was sent back to Tacoma and I will not get it back or will I recoup any of the money paid. I did the right thing by registering the gun but was turned into a victim.:cuss::cuss::banghead:

[Mills Morrison]

I have the exact opposite side of the story. I bought a S&W M57 41 magnum from an older gentleman in Idaho. No problem got the gun it was as described. I paid a fair price for it. Michigan is one of only a few states that requires registration of a hand gun and as I have a concealed carry license I did the right thing and registered the gun. About a month goes by and the Sherriff's detective calls me asking questions about the transaction. Turns out this was stolen in 1986 from Tacoma Washington. The gun was sent back to Tacoma and I will not get it back or will I recoup any of the money paid. I did the right thing by registering the gun but was turned into a victim.:cuss::cuss::banghead:

No good deed goes unpunished. Coming back from Africa, there was a hit on one of my rifles, but it turns out it was a hit on a lever action with the same serial number.

[David Noble]

I've told this story before but it fits here also. In 1986 I received a call to my gun store from a man who wanted to sell a Parker shotgun. I asked him to describe it and he responded that "it was engraved and was HUGE so it must be a 20 gauge!" I asked what he wanted for it and he answered $200. I told him I wanted to see it but that I would likely buy it. After the call ended I called the local police dept and told them a man was bringing a stolen firearm to my store to sell and asked if they would send an officer over to apprehend the gent when he arrived. The dispatcher said to call when the man arrived and to call them then, which I did. The gun turned out to be a magnificent CH 8ga with 36" damascus barrels and skeleton buttplate. I of course told him I would buy it but it would take a while for me to "write it up". He asked if I would want to by a couple of handguns he had also. Sure, I responded, bring them in. He went to his car and brought in a pair of nickel plated and engraved 1st generation Colt single action army's in a vintage hand tooled double quick draw rig. I took all these gems to the back room where they would be safe and spent about a half hour admiring all these gems waiting for the police to arrive, while my employees kept watch on the seller. The police did finally arrive and started questioning the seller. It turned out the guns were stolen the day before from a judge in a neighboring county. I received a thank you call from him a few days later. He was one lucky man, as I have over 60 firearms that were stolen in burglaries over the years that have never been recovered.

[Bill Murphy]

David, we want to know what happened to the CH eight gauge. Do you still own it? $200 is a good price for a CH eight.

[Mills Morrison]

I guess it went back to the lawful owner. From there, who knows, but I believe a friend Bill knew well had a CH 8 among his many 8's

[Dean Romig]

One of our Life members displayed a 99% original CH 8 ga. with 36” composite barrels at the annual meeting in Louisville about a decade ago. A Magnificent gun!





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[David Noble]

David, we want to know what happened to the CH eight gauge. Do you still own it? $200 is a good price for a CH eight.

I never paid out for the guns. The police took them and they were returned to the owner. I have no idea if the judge or his family still has them.
Yes, that would have been a very good price to pay for the 8ga even back then. If it was for sale today in the condition it was in at that time, I suspect it would be priced $20,000 to $30,000 and even more from some of the "big" purveyors.