Help me get my rifle back!

[Pilot]

Long story.

Back in the '60's while I was in the Air Force an M-1 Carbine I owned was stolen from my parent's house in Pasadena, CA., 160 mi. from where I was stationed I provided the model and serial number but I don't know for sure that my parents passed it on to the cops.

Now, about 50 years later I'm in a gun shop chatting with the owner & told him what happened and that the cops if they found it wouldn't know how to contact me after several moves. He said to tell the Pasadena cops how to contact me now as they keep the records for a long time. Said there is a data base on all stolen or found guns. And someone came into his shop the day before to show him a gun he had just gotten back that had been stolen or lost 50 years before.

So I call Pasadena and the cop said I would need a case number and that we could go thru the old records to find it.

Last week we went to SoCal for a family reunion & I visited the Pasadena copshop. The records folks there told me they wouldn't have records that far back and that some jurisdictions would do a courtesy report so they could update the files. Or I could wait there to talk to a detective but he had to make 7 investigations before he could get to me--a current case would have a higher priority and new calls could come and make the list longer. I didn't stay.

So I call my local sheriff's office and the detective I talked to wasn't at all helpful, apparently thinking I wanted to report the crime and that it was out of their jurisdiction and it happened too long ago and to piss off. I apparently didn't make it clear that I just wanted to get the gun in the database in case some jurisdiction came across it so they could contact me to return it. No way could anyone prosecute the perp.

Questions: Is there such a database? What do I have to do to get the rifle listed?

 

[95XL883]

I believe there is a database but I don't know any of the mechanics of it. You might go to thehighroad.org and ask there. There are a lot of very knowledgeable gun people there. I'd expect that at least one of them would know how.

 

[95XL883]

Think I found it. There is a NCIC (National Crime Information Center) database. It covers a lot more than guns. It is accessible only by LEO's. Any LEO who would help you would have to have a copy of the original police report to get it on the database (if it isn't already there). Good luck.

 

[Pilot]

I just talked to the NRA & they said yes there is a database and only law enforcement can enter the info so the previous poster is right.

 

[turnkey4099]

I worked in the local Sheriff's office, entered a lot of stolen items into the NCIC data base. If you can find a cooperative LEO ask him to do a stolen check on gun, serial # and make. If it was ever entered, he will get a hit that includes the original case number. IF not, then try to find an LEO that will enter it as a new case.

 

[jeff9366]

Assuming a LEO total compensation package is $50/per hour, it does not seem reasonable to expend investigative time on a potential, not certain case, fifty years old.

If recovered, what shape is rifle probably in? Would market value today in humdrum condition be $50? $100? What cost to ship to OP from recovery point? Was it used in a crime and destroyed in the normal procedure for old evidence? Did it go to Mexico illegally?

I have a neighbor, age 86, who was wounded in Korea and evacuated to Japan. In the hospital in Japan, he refused the Purple Heart, medal and citation.

Now, in old age, he wants some disability compensation from the VA. He has tried tracing the records through the VA. According to the VA, our Congressman, our two Senators and the White House, his Army records were burned up in a warehouse fire where old VA paper records were stored.

He cannot let go. He has worried our Congressman, both Senators and the White House about his case repeatedly, at who knows what administrative expense. He receives a consistent reply: No record, no payment. Mind you: In the hospital in Japan, he refused the Purple Heart medal and Purple Heart citation, presumably with his name inscribed.

It is JUST TOO LATE.

The sum of our national debt, which consumes 6% of the Federal budget, has to be considered. Not efficient use of tax dollars.

I am a six year US Navy veteran, 1965-1971.

 

[Cataclysm]

Long story.

Back in the '60's while I was in the Air Force an M-1 Carbine I owned was stolen from my parent's house in Pasadena, CA., 160 mi. from where I was stationed I provided the model and serial number but I don't know for sure that my parents passed it on to the cops.

Now, about 50 years later I'm in a gun shop chatting with the owner & told him what happened and that the cops if they found it wouldn't know how to contact me after several moves. He said to tell the Pasadena cops how to contact me now as they keep the records for a long time. Said there is a data base on all stolen or found guns. And someone came into his shop the day before to show him a gun he had just gotten back that had been stolen or lost 50 years before.

So I call Pasadena and the cop said I would need a case number and that we could go thru the old records to find it.

Last week we went to SoCal for a family reunion & I visited the Pasadena copshop. The records folks there told me they wouldn't have records that far back and that some jurisdictions would do a courtesy report so they could update the files. Or I could wait there to talk to a detective but he had to make 7 investigations before he could get to me--a current case would have a higher priority and new calls could come and make the list longer. I didn't stay.

So I call my local sheriff's office and the detective I talked to wasn't at all helpful, apparently thinking I wanted to report the crime and that it was out of their jurisdiction and it happened too long ago and to piss off. I apparently didn't make it clear that I just wanted to get the gun in the database in case some jurisdiction came across it so they could contact me to return it. No way could anyone prosecute the perp.

Questions: Is there such a database? What do I have to do to get the rifle listed?

You will have to go through Pasadena to find the original case number. Any new case numbers assigned will have to be through Pasadena because it's where the crime occurred. Any LEO can check the serial number of the firearm to see if its been reported stolen.

#1. 1st thing to do is to get the serial number ran through NCIC by any LEO. This is to establish if the serial number was ever entered in to NCIC as stolen. If so, that NCIC hit will lead to to the original case number. Update your information on the original case number. Problem solved.

#2. If not then you will have to go through Pasadena to get the firearm entered into NCIC because that's where the original crime occurred. No other agency can legally enter it into NCIC and they won't. Now it gets iffy because Pasadena simply may refuse to look for the original case. That search will be based on the name/DOB of the person that made the original report.

#3. You can be absolutely certain those records do exist. They may be legitimately too busy or just too lazy to do the search.

#1 is your best bet.

Be aware that even if your firearm is found, it may or may not be seized by the police and it may or may not be returned to you if it is seized.

 

[fried1765]

Assuming a LEO total compensation package is $50/per hour, it does not seem reasonable to expend investigative time on a potential, not certain case, fifty years old.

If recovered, what shape is it probably in? Would market value today in humdrum condition be $50? $100? What cost to ship to OP from recovery point? Was it used in a crime and destroyed in the normal procedure for old evidence? Did it go to Mexico illegally?

I have a neighbor, age 86, who was wounded in Korea and evacuated to Japan. In the hospital in Japan, he refused the Purple Heart, medal and citation.

Now, in old age, he wants some disability compensation from the VA. He has tried tracing the records through the VA. Accorcingh to the VA, our Congressman, our two Senators and the White House, his Army records were burned up in a warehouse fire where old VA paper records were stored.

He cannot let go. He has worried our Congressman, both Senators and the White House about his case repeatedly, at who knows what administrative expense. He receives a consistent reply: No record, no payment.

It is JUST TOO LATE.

The sum of our national debt, which consumes 6% of the Federal budget, has to be considered. Not efficient use of tax dollars.

I am a six year US Navy veteran, 1965-1971.

Same attitude for POW/MIA's also?
"Not efficient use of tax dollars"?

 

[Bird]

I worked in the local Sheriff's office, entered a lot of stolen items into the NCIC data base. If you can find a cooperative LEO ask him to do a stolen check on gun, serial # and make. If it was ever entered, he will get a hit that includes the original case number. IF not, then try to find an LEO that will enter it as a new case.

The above is the best answer so far in this thread. I was a sergeant in the Burglary & Theft Unit in the end of 1968, all of 1969, and the first of 1970 in the police department. That was the most frustrating time of my career. I supposedly supervised 6 detectives. I assigned each of them at least 2 new cases per day in addition to one prisoner in jail to be interviewed and EVERY case required some paperwork. So you can guess how much "investigation" they had time to do. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I don't think I would have ever believed it.

 

[Molalla1]

Same attitude for POW/MIA's also?
"Not efficient use of tax dollars"?

:thumbsup:Thank You!