Gun stolen... advice?

[Murgatroy]

I loaned my mother a beater pistol about a year ago. She is getting elderly and frail, and her traditional HD firearm was an old SxS 12ga Coachgun. I gave her a little .380 and taught her how to use it. She was good with a slingshot grip and a fair shot with it.

She put it in a cabinet and left it there. She would check it every week or so, and that was it.

She checked today and it was gone.

We have a good idea of who took it, and the thought puts a knot in my gut. The idea of it 'just turning back up' is fair, but the thought of where it was and what was done with it while it was gone is not good.

I am concerned as to where to proceed from here. I bought the gun in a FTF transaction several years ago, and never kept track of the serial number. It was just a beater gun that I kept in an ammo box. She is worried that the gun will be used to commit a crime, and that it will be traced back to me. I am not worried about that, but I am very concerned that the gun will be used to commit a crime.

I am upset that the gun fell into bad hands, but at the time, it was unforeseen that this could happen. I gave her a trigger lock with it, but apparently she never used it.

I will be notifying her local PD in the morning to file a report, but without the serial number, what information can I give them? Obviously make and model, but would our suspicions of who took it be worthwhile?

[Guest Bronker]

Not likely you will ever see that gun ever again. Sorry.

Maybe the original owner will see it again, but that likely will do you no good.

[Murgatroy]

I am not concerned about seeing it again. It was a beater. When I gave it to my mother I knew I would never see it again, I just never imagined something like this would happen to it.

I am concerned about the police being able to find it before someone does something stupid with it.

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

Do you have a picture of it? With a picture/description is better than nothing.

Even if it is recovered, there is no way it can be returned because there is no way to trace it, but as you said above, that doesn't matter.

Just report it and give all the information on it you have. Partial serial numbers, correct ones, are better than none. Kind of like a partial plate on a car.... Maybe.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Hmm. Keep a record of your firearm serial number, make and model. Put this in your bank lock box. Pics with are even better.

Sorry this happened. You sound like you know who did it. Was it someone removing what they considered a "threat" to an elderly lady, or was it an out and out theft?

If it was someone who cleans the house, they will take other things too. Perhaps setting up a nannie cam and catching them stealing would lead to the firearm being recovered?

[Murgatroy]

It was a theft.

She lives in a rural area, the type of place where you don't have to lock your doors. Her neighbors are a few miles away, but they are not the savory type. We have had issues with them in the past, but petty things. Stuff around the property missing, food coming up missing out of the deep freeze, gas being siphoned. She recently had an alarm system installed, but much like the gun lock, they are no good if you don't use them.

In short, they are criminals, and they need to feed habits. If we are lucky they pawned it. If we aren't, they intend to use it to feed their habits.

[Guest tnxdshooter]

Just report it to the cops and then forget about it. If you do that and someone commits a crime with it you arent liable for it. Besides that you more than likely wouldnt have been held liable anyways if it was a ftf no way to trace it really. It would come back to the original owner as their gun and then if they remembered who they sold it to it could come to you but aint likely. Hell just report it and dont lose sleep over it.

[Brandon]

Is there a chance that a grandchild might have taken it? If there is, I think that would concern me more than anything. A lot of young kids are enamored with guns and if they hadn't been raised around them and taught to respect their power, there's no telling what might happen.

[Murgatroy]

No, a grandchild couldn't have taken it. My daughter knows better than to touch a gun, without me present and the others are either out of state or infants.

The report has been filed. I told them of my suspicions, they told me they would 'look into it.' Pretty much told me I was SOL without a serial number, but I told them, it wasn't about getting the gun back, it was more about keeping it out of the wrong hands.