From his lair deep in the Soviet Republic of Taxachusetts, Reader Mike L. sends me this report:
Christina Sumner of Roanoke said she was shocked and concerned there was a loaded gun left in her rental car.
Sumner rented a car from Enterprise in Roanoke on Feb. 2, and everything seemed normal at first. Then Enterprise called her a day later, telling her there may be a gun in her car.
Well now, this is an interesting situation. Note the qualifier “may be” in the last sentence; in other words, Enterprise didn’t actually know there was a gun in the car — or perhaps they did, but wanted to cover their corporate asses.
However, this poses an interesting situation. What if you’d already found the gun in the car, but told Enterprise that there had to be some mistake: you could find no gun nor indeed any evidence of a gun in the car?
Of course, I would be deeply conflicted. On the one hand: a “free” gun. On the other hand, it was just some Europellet delivery vehicle, and therefore of little interest to me, so I wouldn’t mind handing it over. Also, it being a 9mm means that the erstwhile owner may have been a state or federal official — especially if it was a Glock — and given the latter’s reputation of losing guns, or leaving them in public toilets etc., it wouldn’t surprise me at all that this might be the case. That might certainly influence any decision between “Oh yeah, here it is, come and collect it”, or “What gun? / Finders keepers, numbnuts”.
But it’s a damn good thing the “missing” gun wasn’t a Les Baer or Kimber 1911 .45ACP…
Talk about temptation.
Discuss, in Comments.
Tempting, to be sure. I’d like to assert I’d turn it in ’cause I’m so virtuous. Or at least that my virtue & honesty are top of the list. My initial knee-jerk didn’t even consider the LEO possibility, but rather the other side of the coin – there could be crimes attached to the weapon that I don’t need to be associated with. At the end of the day I’d give it back. But if it’s a gun that gets me drooling, I might have to take it to the range first. That’s only fair.
In this day and age?
I don’t care what kind of gun it was I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole with a 50 foot extension.
It might have been used in a crime and I don’t need my dna on it.
or just as likely an FBI sting to catch a “far right extremist” with “an illegal firearm”.
My first thought would be to pocket the gun with glee, and then my second thought would be “what if this is a murder weapon, and I get caught with it?”.
Discretion is the better part of valour.
My first thought would be, now I have a throw down gun.
Unfortunately, if the original owner can trace it to the rental car company, the rental car company can trace it to a particular car, and then to me as the one who rented the car, then apparently it’s not as clean as you would need for a true throw down gun.
Now as for why I might want or need a throw down gun, obviously I DON’T NEED ONE. Purely hypothetical. All guns I owned were properly purchased from a gun store where I filled out all the forms correctly. Unfortunate about that canoe accident, but still. I would never own a non-traceable gun for any reason, much less a potential criminal reason. So for sure, I’d return it.
“I would never own a non-traceable gun for any reason…”
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I have several guns that were purchased from private owners with cash, with no paperwork, by my neighbor. He then sold them to me, again, with no paperwork.
So, in theory, if any of said guns were used in a crime the serial numbers would trace to the original owner with no way to know the other buyers down the line.
I also have a 1921 Winchester model 12 12ga that was purchased by my great grandfather, then went to his son, then his son, then to me. I don’t know if they recorded serial numbers in 1921.
Same with a 1952 Winchester model 71 .348 that was purchased 2nd hand (cash) by my dad in 1954 that is now in my possession.
Plenty of ways to have an “untraceable” gun.
OMG – get the smelling salts! I feel faint! Untraceable guns!
And yes, I agree. I have several legally purchased in a similar fashion. I was being a little facetious in my post. You know, for the benefit of the FBI agents assigned to monitor our host’s blog.
“… the devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for …”
-Tucker Max, from Assholes Finish First
Oh, to be tempted with a “free” gun! If it’s a good one, keep it. If it’s a lousy one, sell it to some fool.
I am old enough to have experienced just what a bitch karma can be when I know the right and wrong of a situation and still choose wrong. I can seem to be the most honest, pious, saint of a man while I lie through my teeth about finding a gun. Then, like others have said, with my luck the gun has been used in some terrible crime, or maybe I’d shoot myself in my foot. I’m too damn old nowadays to be doing penance for yet another sin of stupidity.
Wrap the gun in a cloth before you touch it, then call the law to come get it, preferably in front of witnesses. Not that there might be some sort of frame going on, but these days, who knows?
No temptation, it belongs to someone else.
“ Christina Sumner of Roanoke said she was shocked and concerned there was a loaded gun left in her rental car.”
The news media is fucking stupid.
“Loaded gun”? I’d hope so. An unloaded gun is a useless paper weight.
The only dumber thing is when the media says “fully loaded”. As if some dumbass would only load a magazine to partial capacity. Would you only put a half tank of gas in your car if it was full?
This country is full of stupid ass people.
Typo.
Would you only put a half tank of gas in your car if it was full?
Wasn’t.
Monday got me.
You should have met my mathematically challenged son when he was a teen. He’d only put $5 in the gas tank, regardless of how much money he had or how empty the tank was. Reasoning? It was too expensive to fill up completely. If he needed more gas tomorrow, he’d simply stop and put another $5 in it. Rinse and repeat.
I take no responsibility, he gets that from his mother’s side.
To easy to trace the gun. it’s either a crime gun, left behind by a negligent 2A supporter or left behind by an imbecile with a badge.
Nope ‘taint mine and for either noble or selfish reasons, it would be returned to the owner. Unless it was a hi-point then no man should.
After having that phone call, call your local LEO and relate the call to him/her, and ask that they come out and give the rental a once over to see if there is a firearm contained within it; and if so, take the gun and rental away. Then (1) call the agency and tell them that your LEO is now in possession of the rental, and you expect a reversal of the charges for such rental.
Oh, and record your phone calls over this matter, giving advance notice JIC.