Finders keepers

[Armybrat]

A fellow on the Texas sports board where I spend a lot of time posted the picture below today.

Seems he moved into a house 4 years ago and the previous owner had forgotten to check the top shelf in a closet. The new owner's wife was cleaning stuff out last year and discovered a heavy metal object on that supposedly "empty" shelf but she wasn't tall enough to pull it down. So hubby found this beautiful Ruger Redhawk - loaded. His dad made the holster for it.

http://s9.postimg.org/t6o0senrj/IMG_9966.jpg

[b4uqzme]

That'll make ya smile.....

[340pd]

That is cool but if it were me I would have the ser# run to make sure it was not reported stolen.

[ripley16]

How does one "run a serial number"?

[JohnR]

Lucky bugger!

[marshal kane]

Someone somewhere is crying the blues.

[Bawanna]

Funny the previous owner didn't come looking for it.

You'd have to take it to a Police Department to have the serial number run. Here we have to have the gun in hand to do it, won't do it over the phone.
If it's stolen we keep it and track down the owner.
Some might do it over the phone, not sure.

[wyntrout]

If he really wanted to keep it, he shouldn't have advertised having it. Now LE should have an interest in its history. It does have a history and a yellow sheet somewhere. It's not like an unmarked gold coin found in the ocean or desert! :rolleyes:

[ltxi]

Well, if it were me, I'd contact the previous homeowner and give it back.

[wyntrout]

Yep. That's what I was thinking, but the OP had a holster made for it, then posted his find publicly!

Off topic, but I could never understand some of the finds reported... as one cache of OLD valuable coins found in a hole in Kommifornia. That state and many others would make some kind of claim. Look at those treasure ships lost hundreds of years ago... still claimed by several entities other than the finders!

[Bawanna]

Who knows, maybe the previous owner passed on and that's why the house sold. Wife didn't know or care about it.

Maybe, maybe not. Seems to be loved and appreciated by the current possessor. An effort to find the previous owner would have been nice and maybe he did that too. We just don't know.

Fine looking gun regardless.

[340pd]

Stories like this happen every day in America. As the finder I would have greater concern if it were a snubbie or a short barreled shotgun.

Given the style of this firearm it is most likely classified as lost, misplaced, or sold by the previous owner of his/her family.

I know nothing about this site so do your own research, but if the number here does not appear as stolen I might feel a bit more comfortable. Regardless I would not be advertising how I came about it's coming into my possession.

http://www.hotgunz.com/

[JohnR]

Yep. That's what I was thinking, but the OP had a holster made for it, then posted his find publicly!

Off topic, but I could never understand some of the finds reported... as one cache of OLD valuable coins found in a hole in Kommifornia. That state and many others would make some kind of claim. Look at those treasure ships lost hundreds of years ago... still claimed by several entities other than the finders!
You probably read about the rotting ribs of a very old wooden ship washed up on the beach here, possibly an 18th century vessel. The news says it's property of the State of Florida, and it's being guarded until it can be moved to a museum.

[Bobshouse]

Least he edited his message to refer the find to a friend on a Texas board he hangs out on. That's even better than "his best friends second cousin who knows a guy" kinda post.

[jeepster09]

I am pretty sure it is mine.....I looked at a house once and left one on a shelf....I was setting it there till I could get the color fixed.:ohmy:

[wyntrout]

Then there was that guy who recently bought a Russian tank on the Internet and found gold bars in the gas tank! :eek:

[ltxi]

Who knows, maybe the previous owner passed on and that's why the house sold. Wife didn't know or care about it.

Maybe, maybe not. Seems to be loved and appreciated by the current possessor. An effort to find the previous owner would have been nice and maybe he did that too. We just don't know.

Fine looking gun regardless.

And morally correct. Old, back in the day guys such as me tend to think like that.

[Armybrat]

The finder did not provide any details about the former home owner or if he tried to return it.
He did say his wife's first reaction was "when did you buy it", and "are you expecting to have a shootout in the bathroom" (where the closet is located).
But yeah, a real attempt to return it to its owner would've been the right thing to do.

When my Dad's lifelong friend sold his ranch in Oklahoma and moved to Fort Smith, he couldn't remember where a couple of his handguns were secreted in the old house. One of them was a Kahr.

[wyntrout]

I gather up my strategically placed Glocks and Kahrs and put the ones that I'm not taking with us in the small 3-cubic-foot safe. I have to count them several times and make sure that I got them all. The Glocks are for home defense and are all deployed. I wear my P380 24/7 around the house and usually my P40 for outings. I can forget that the Kahrs are on my hip, but the Glocks weigh me down and they are fat, or thick! :) I barely have enough room in my shorts or pants to carry IWB. :D