I’d never really given this much thought before. Until a few weeks ago when I found a shotgun. In the middle of the road. Literally.
Table of Contents
How did I find it?
My recently-discovered spot in the desert where I can shoot is back off a secondary road. You turn at a mile marker and cross a shallow wash a couple times. As I was pulling out, I saw a rifle case almost lined up on the center line. So I turned around and checked it out.
There was a pretty nice Mossberg autoloading 12 gauge in there. I cleared and put it in the back of my car and went home.
New shotgun; score! Right?
No. I’m an honest person and believe in the Golden Rule. So I set out to try to return it to its rightful owner, even though he was careless enough to apparently leave his shotgun on the roof of his car or truck as he was leaving the shooting area.
I’m really not sure how it made it that far; that is a rough trail (for cars, anyway) going back to where you can shoot. But it apparently came off as he turned the corner while getting on the road.
Step 1.
There was a receipt in one of the case pockets from a local store. The guy’s name was on it, but that’s it. So I called the store and had several variations of this conversation.
Me: “I found a shotgun. It was bought at your store. I have a receipt with a name on it. I know you can’t give me his information, but I’d like to give you my number. Then maybe you could contact him and tell him I found his gun?”
Employee: “What?”
Look, I’m pretty articulate. I said it just like that and it just completely baffled them. Including at least one person who said he was a manger.
If they’d said they couldn’t do it, that would have been fine. But the complete inability to even grasp what I was saying…
I gave up on that idea.
Step 2.
I figured I’d just call the local PD’s non-emergency number and see if they had any ideas.
I did this on August 28, and got a voice mail system. I left a message. “I found a shotgun and would like to know what to do with it.” Along with my contact information.
I’m still waiting. I mean, they said it might take a few days, but it’s now been 20.
Moving on.
Step 3.
I was in one my local gun stores. One of the employees used to work for the local sheriff’s office. I asked if he had any advice. He said to just take it down to the main sheriff’s office and turn it in there.
He also advised against just walking into the lobby carrying a shotgun, but I’d already figured that out.
Turns out you can’t actually get into the lobby; I assume it’s some kind of COVID leftover. I walked up, empty-handed, to the door and there was a guy behind a glass thing. I told him what I wanted. He pointed to the door and said to call that number and they’d send someone out.
So that’s what I did. Gave the dispatcher my car’s description and just waited in the car for about 10, 15 minutes.
When the deputy came up I just opened my hatch and pointed. He made sure the case went with the gun, then took my information and a brief description where and when I found it. He said something about trying to find the owner, we talked for a few, then I left.
Conclusion
What lessons do we have?
- Keep track of your guns. I mean…
- If your local PD’s non-emergency number is just an answering machine, be prepared to wait.
- It’s up to you, but I didn’t want to have possession of a gun that had likely been reported lost or stolen any longer than I had to.
- Just to reiterate, don’t walk into a police station carrying a shotgun without talking to some first. That’s always going to be a bad idea, even if the gun is cased.
So, hopefully, the guy got his gun back. Regardless, I did what I could.
Hopefully neither side of this situation ever applies to you.
