California Spoon Question
 

A friend of mine moved into a new apartment. Buried in a closet with a bunch of junk, was an S&W .38 revolver.

Not sure who owns it or if it is even registered.

What should he do?

Shoot Feinstein and throw it in the Bay. JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek:

Where is the like button?

You guys aren't helping. LOL

He started it. :D

I'd tell him to call the cops. Don't take it to them; make them come out and get it.

I think you can contact the ATF and run the serial number to make sure it's a clean gun, and just keep it. Viola! Unpapered gun for you! The PO might be happier if you registered it tho.

He should keep it, say nothing, and delete this thread.

Yeah, the more I re-read my Feinstein joke, the less funny the thread is. :eek:

Said he wants to be able to sell it and use the $$ for something else. He's not a gun guy. I won't touch it.

Gun buy-back seems the best option for him. Just tell the cops how you came to possess it and that you want to do the "right thing" and get it off the street. If he sells it privately without an FFL in Cali, he could be in a world of hurt.

i never find guns :(

He shouldn't either... I'm pinching pennies too but NFW I would touch that... call cops and have them take it away...

It is like trying to fight a traffic ticket even if you are in the right... some things are just not worth the time/trouble.

Just my two centavos

I already reported you. $500 bucks, coming my way!

Either call the police station to turn it in, or hide it somewhere he can realistically say he never knew it was there. Anything else and he's asking for trouble.

He should probably do the former, though I'd probably do the latter. "It's not mine, I don't know how it got under that floorboard!"

I doubt you're obligated to do anything. Does CA have mandatory handgun registration? If not, keep it. Maybe take a photo, get a notarized letter saying when you found it, mail it to yourself and keep your mouth shut. If it was used in a crime, it would have been before you found it. I know a cop who found a nice gun on the side of the road and kept it as his off duty carry piece. I definitely would not tell the cops or ATF unless you have reason to believe it was used in a crime or is stolen.

Maybe not registration, but required FFL for all handgun transfers - so... has an illegal transfer just happened?

Anyway, I would find a FFL to list it on gunbroker or sell in store on consignment, once the legal issues are dealt wtih. Also, if the police are contacted for it, you can pretty much guarantee that it won't be seen by y'all again, even if not stolen, used in a crime, etc.

There's no way to prove it never was legally transferred unless you know it was stolen or used in a crime. Otherwise, it could have been legally acquired in a parking lot deal when the guy lived in AZ or TX. Since it's a revolver, it's not subject to a mag cap. limit. It's probably old enough to be grandfathered by CA's approved list. Lots of ways to legally end up with guns that have no paper trail as long as they're not real new.

What a screwed existence here for spoon owners.

My biggest concern would be-

If not stolen, or used in a crime, seems like keeping it wouldn't be a problem.

-BUT-

Suppose Mr. Scatterbrain, who just moved out and forgot his revolver, remembers it in a few months, and then reports it stolen?

Now you have stolen property.

I would call the Police, explain the situation, and ask if it has been stolen. If you can get a report, or any paper from law enforcement that the gun is clean, then go ahead and sell.