Since my last update, two more of the 79 firearms stolen in the 2007 burglary of Scheel’s All Sports in Lincoln have been recovered. On July 20, the United States Border Patrol stopped a vehicle on I-10 near Blythe, CA occupied by two Mexican nationals who were illegally in the United States and had extensive criminal histories. A 10mm Glock was recovered that was part of the Scheel’s haul.
Most recently, on September 9th, the Boulder County, CO Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of gunfire in a rural area, and contacted a pair of men out for a little sport. When they checked the firearms, one was determined to be a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver stolen from Scheel’s.
These two guns bring the total number recovered to 48, with 31 guns still out there.
21 comments:
Im afraid.
Wow, interesting these weapons are turning up all over the country. How about a brief recap Chief of where they have been found? I know you have kept us up to date on this, but new readers to the blog might not be aware of what this is about. And I know I sure could use a refresher.
Didn't some of these weapons turn up in Arizona too?
Hopefully they can all be recovered. Now I will jump on the soapbox to call for action for two things I think are needed desperately: Mandatory 20 year sentences for theft of a firearm. Plus a database of the serial numbers and description of stolen firerms that a PRIVATE citizen can access to verify that they are NOT buying a stolen weapon.
Gun Nut
Gun Nut-
Sign me up!
Dave-
Busy day, but if you follow the first link in the post, then the links in that post, you'll get the full picture. I might put a recap together sometime when I have a lull.
Juveniles were heavily involved in that burglary, so, on a related note, can you briefly explain what it means when you "refer" charges on a juvenile (a 15 year old for example, like last night's speed demon), as opposed to issuing a citation? You said it was a busy day, so ignore at your discretion.
I don't think my pistols are stolen.
October. Last Friday, the 9th was October?
Err.. Chief? That's a wee tiny Glock.
/rl
Question. Let's say I am buying a gun via a private transaction. Can I call the information desk and have them run the serial number prior to purchase?
Is it safe to assume that any used firearm purchased at a local gun shop (Scheels, Acher (don't say it) etc.) has been "cleared" as not stolen?
Gun Nut:
I wouldn't object to your suggestions, especially the data base, but why not make mandatory sentences of 20 years (or more) for the people who use guns to rob, assault, rape, and murder. It's the criminal who uses the gun for these kinds of offenses who really needs to be removed from society. Theft is theft, and I see no reason to punish someone more for stealing a gun than for stealing a hammer, a car, or money. Now if you want to make 20 years mandatory for these thefts, too, I'll be fine with that.
It's a safe bet that this pillar of the teen community didn't produce a firearm purchase certificate and buy that shotgun legally (because he's too young to get a FPC in the first place). He'll probably get 6 months probation for the whole slew of charges, and do the same thing again this weekend while he's waiting for his court date.
Hey Chief: A new method of breaking and entering!
New crime has been reported in your area:
Type: Description: Case #: Location: Agency: Date: See it:
V RPTS UNK PTY ***BROKE WIND*** TO ENTER RES AND REMOVE ITEMS FROM RES CASH, KEY TO SAFE A9-102425 3600 BLOCK OF GARFIELD ST Lincoln PD, NE 10/14/2009 Link
Steve,
Not all thefts are equal. A thief that steals a gun usually has another crime in mind when he steals a gun. He is probably planning on using it to commit another felony or just as bad selling it to purchase drugs. If these thieves knew that they would do a MANDATORY 20 years if caught the supply of guns for criminal purposes would be reduced drastically.
The database of stolen weapons would further reduce the market for stolen weapons. If I answered a classified ad for a gun and the seller could/would not give me a serial number for that gun I would not buy it and most people would not. The thief would have to sell it for a lot less than the gun was actually worth.
Now if I am wrong in this statement the Chief can correct me but under the current rules IF a LEO calls into the NCIS system to check out a serial number on a gun IF that weapon is on their watch list it has to be confiscated or accounted for. Unless you know a friendly Sheriff (which I do, but I won't say what State) a PRIVATE citizen currently has no national database to verify a stolen weapon. Those two things would probably result in a lessening of gun crimes all across the country.
Gun Nut
8:21 -
Kids under the age of 16 don't get citations, rather a special form is sent to the County Attorney's Office, so they may ponder filing a case in Juvenile Court (or not.) Hence, the term of art here at LPD is "Referred."
9:15-
Thanks. Duh. How'd it get to be October, already?
Ryan-
One tenth of a millimeter--that would really be a wee one! Two pretty blatant errors in the same post: maybe I need to catch up on some sleep.
9:36-
No, we can't. Law enforcement purposes only. We do, however, have our own list of stolen guns reported to LPD within the past three yearsonline, so you can at least check local stolen guns.
11:50-
;-) As previously reported on the Chief's Corner:
September, 2008
November, 2007
Hmmm, seems to occur every fall. Must be the chili.
"Kids under the age of 16 don't get citations"
I assume that's state law. I wouldn't mind seeing that age changed to 12.
Gun Nut:
There are lots of things stolen to be resold in order to have the cash to buy something else (drugs or whatever). I still see no difference betweeen guns and anything else stolen in that regard. If we were to incarcerate those who actually use the guns to commit other crimes more severely (longer sentences), the market for stolen guns would dry up so that people stealing guns to resell for cash might move on to something else. At the same time, if those guns were stolen in order to commit some other crime, then prosecute the hell out of those thieves when they commit that crime. If we'd quit letting these robbers, muggers, rapists, and gang bangers back out on the street, we wouldn't have much of a problem with stolen guns. As you said, any law-abiding citizen would check out a gun pretty well before buying it (at least, I would).
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against stronger penalities for gun thefts. I just see no reason not to increase the penalities for other thefts and the crimes committed with guns as well.
I'm all for incarcerating violent people but twenty years for a theft of a gun. Don't see that one coming anytime soon. Typically the ones who want all this incarceration don't want to fork up the money to build all the prisons we would need. I believe in incarceration and I also think we need more cops. I would be willing to pay. The problem is getting everyone else on board.
I don't agree with twenty years for a gun theft. Let's just concentrate on keeping the sex perverts,burglars, murderer's etc,.etc ,etc in jail and not letting them out.
Not to pile on chief but if you look at ACI #232 in the Scheels case file the S&W 642 was actually recovered on September 9, 2009.
"ENTRY THRU UNLOCKED BACK DOOR"
AGGGGHHHH!!! I always figured that locks were installed for a reason, not just because it might be in the building code. I think that they might be there for actual use, not for just lookin' at. I guess I could be wrong (A9-103696 by the way).
Sorry, but every time I see "unlocked" in connection with a larceny or burglary, it drives me right up a wall.
It really ought to be up to the owner if they want to lock their car or home. No one should be entering and taking things either way if they are not authorized. You may consider someone who locks up to be the wiser, but that doesn't mean someone who leaves things unlocked "wrong". Generally, all a lock will do is cause the intruder to do more damage in order to get in anyway.
I'm not aware of any ordinance prohibiting a ditz from leaving their property unsecured, o apparently it is up to them, and thus thing are already as some think they ought to be. As soon as I find that happy place where things are as they should be, where I can leave bars of gold in the front seat of an open convertible and no one even thinks about boosting them, and it rains German beer and Irish whiskey on alternate days, I'll let everyone know where it is - but until then, I'll be smart and lock up my lift-able loot, as well as not leaving it visible through the windows of a vehicle.
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