My personal experience with the Sheriffs dept and my guns this morning.

Blanca BusaLess

Suffers from PBSD
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Ooof where do I start. About a month ago my cousin was arrested for domestic battery. One of those he said she said things and I wasn't there so I can't comment on the exact situation. But in the state of Florida for domestic violence cases the state becomes the victim. If reporting officers think he touched her unwanted or vice versa then they are bound by law to arrest the accused party. Even if one person says nothing happened the state or officers have final call. This is what happened to him. They were arguing and screaming at each other. She called his mom to cry for help and mom called police and asked them to go over and 'help'. Not the brightest but she was trying to help. Cops get there and cousins girlfriend said he didn't touch her same as he said but for some reason cops thought he did touch her and arrested him. Again wasnt there so I can't say yes or no on that. Day of the arrest due to the domestic violence aspect the cops asked him if he had any weapons or guns. He said yes I do in the safe. This is where it gets interesting. The lead officer looked in his safe and made a judgement call not to confiscate the guns that day but in turn just took key to the dial so cousin couldn't open it. At the time my cousin that it was only key and told them that. Thinking he could not gain access or open it they were content to leave them there at his home. Very nice, 99% would have thrown all in the trunk and confiscated them. Another week goes by and cousin has first court appearance. The judge asks him if he has any weapons and he says yes.
Again due to the fact it's a domestic violence case the judge told him to remove all weapons from house until case is over. So my cousin calls me in a state of panic and asks me to come collect them and keep them in my safe. Ok no problem. This morning I get a call from cousin saying lead officer on case is there and wants to check guns and serial numbers he left in safe. Whoops! Now cousin tells him he found another key and had me his cousin remove them. I speak to officer and he seems ok but says I need to bring guns over asap. Hmmmm? Ok? Cant really say no. I ask why. He says he cannot be in any possession of firearms until case is settled and he has to collect cousins guns. Crap! Ok, again I can't say no so I oblige him and go home collect them and drive over. I explain to cop that of the 14 I have only two are in cousins name because others I have sold to him and they are stil in my name. Guns are cased and in my trunk. I ask if we can go inside to avoid a public scene and he says no. So in cousins front yard we start going over the guns and he writes all serial numbers down. By this time three other cops show up to offer backup due to nature of what we are doing. As mentioned all guns but two came back to my name. Lead officer says 'ok I'm gonna take these two only'. This guy is working with us and is being very nice given the situation but other officers are burnt and want to confiscate them anyway. 'guns were in his possession at time of incident and that's all that matters, we need them all!' it didn't help situation much because one of the guns was an sks in 7.39x39. Same caliber as the ak47. Once they realized this they were even more wanting to take them. I told them they are my guns in my name and no your not taking them anywhere. After a quick call to my atty while same time they were talking to whoever it was I was again sure I was right in saying no. The lead officer who turns out recognized my from my range days said to them again he was only taking two pistols that came back in cousins name and I could go. Driving over there I thought I was getting arrested. Talking to them all there I was sure they were gonna take them all but I just wanted to say there are decent cops out there who do take the time to listen and make personal judgement calls. This one did. He went out of his way to help as much as he could and really surprised me by letting me go with all but two of the guns. Only thing that pissed me off was I asked them to please be careful. These are collector guns and not your normal street pieces. One is color case hardened Winchester 94 in .44 magnum. Very rare limited gun worth about $2000. After looking at it they set it down right on top of an 1187 shotgun and scratched the dang stock. Gun is thirty years old and still new. Now it's got a scratch on it! Crap. I guess all being told I can't really complain. So I spent the morning displaying a dozen guns to the cops in my cousins front yard and got them all back except for two. Surprised they worked with us and treated us fairly. Sorry he's going thru this but it is a lesson to all. You're risking more than just your freedom when it comes to domestic violence.
 
You are such a criminal, Blanca! :rofl:

Seriously though, bummer about the scratch. Hopefully the weapons won't accumulate more scratches before you get them back.
 
Daggone Blanca, I feel sorry for what is to come in the cases for your cousin, sometimes those things aren't quite so easy to unravel.
 
Warchild the two they kept were a glock 27 as new and a Beretta 92 new still in box. Officer assured me each would be strapped into an individual cardboard box and not thrown into a box with a bunch of other ones. We can only hope. You always here and see guns getting taken and say to yourself they shouldnt have or couldnt have done that. Given the circumstances and fact the cop felt a little duped he was still very nice and understanding. Bummer when you have to give them anything but one can understand their concern and worry about him killing her which happens all the time so it is what it is. Scratch is right on stock so I'm sure I'm gonna lose sleep over it :(
Again just glad I didn't get myself into hot water or get arrested myself for some unseen thing.
 
Nice of them to let you keep the rest, but downright asshats to scratch the other.

You would think they would repsect the value of a collectors piece:banghead:
 
Nice of them to let you keep the rest, but downright asshats to scratch the other.

You would think they would repsect the value of a collectors piece:banghead:

One would think but most of the time they are dealing with best guns of unknown origin and are just too used to not caring. All four of them were completely clueless when it comes to guns. None of them knew how to release bolt on my 1187.
 
Sux about the '94:down: but it could have been banged in station lockup.
 
Here is a classic example of how keeping calm and cool and cooperating with the police will keep you out of trouble. Just think how this could have gone if you'd started giving them lip or refusing to come over. You'd of had the entire SWAT Team surrounding your house.

It's a shame, but they won't be able to let this go. Your cousin is automatically guilty until proven innocent when it comes to domestic violence, as too many times the abusing party has been left alone, only to kill the other party. Best thing your cousin could do is get a good lawyer RIGHT NOW. And someone ought to tell the mom what kind of trouble she has brought down on her Son.

When this is over I'd have the lock changed, as he's likely to never see the key that he gave the officer again...
 
thats a bummer you had to go thru that, good thing most were in your name though, thats a tuff law, but it protects both you and me if ever said offender goes mental, speaking of which i know the same thing has happened when a person has told the poilce or asked if they were depressed, they removed their guns as well.
 
my buddy who lives in jersey went thru a similar situation but when asked to open his safe there were a couple guns in there that were illegal. I dont remember the details but it was something like the stock was too long or the barrel was too short, etc... he had no idea and was arrested as a result. all because of his drunk drug addicted pill poppn wife who was on one of her drunkn high rages.....:whistle:

needless to say he is divorced now but pretty much lost $10k worth of rifles.:banghead:
 
I am just glad it all worked out for you. The guy the scratched the gun has no respect for anything of value. Maybe one day he will have something get tore up that means a lot to him and this will come back to him.
 
Glad it turned out good for you! Palm Beach Sheriffs were probably a little tense from the recent credit union shooting. Also, very nice you had a pleasant lead Deputy, that was a big plus!

On a side note, would it be beneficial to have them out of your name after all is said and done? FDLE does know they are in your name and will stop by if an unsolved crime is committed with a caliber you own. Believe me, they will. You might can explain it as a lien type thing but they will want to check the weapon.
 
Poppy it's kind of a family pawn shop deal. I sold him the guns at low prices with the express intent of buying them back. I do have simple bills of sale for each one. In Florida no bill of sale or anything is required for FTF (face to face) private sales. Always a good idea to snap a pic of their drivers license or concealed permit if it's someone you don't know but for a cousin whos like a brother I'm not worried about it.
 
This guy is working with us and is being very nice given the situation but other officers are burnt and want to confiscate them anyway. 'guns were in his possession at time of incident and that's all that matters, we need them all!' it didn't help situation much because one of the guns was an sks in 7.39x39. Same caliber as the ak47. Once they realized this they were even more wanting to take them.

I understand the rationale behind the LEOs confiscating the weapons and i believe most of the states share the same rationale about domestic violence and weapons. It sounds as if they(LEO) got excited with the thought of the SKS being a AK47 assault rifle which it is NOT according to BATFE regulation 27 CFR 178.11. Damn gang bangers don't even own SKS to do their illegal deeds. The SKS is basically a hunting rifle or decent sniper rifle if used in that configuration. Now that he's been arrested he probably won't see those weapons again unless he can manage to sell them back to you and he won't be allowed to ever own one legally again either. I hope he gets them back and charges get dropped. Sucks what happened to your cousin because if one of my weapons gets confiscated i'd be pissed. I love the right to bear my arms
 
went thru the same thing myself in 1995.I never claimed to have firearms and never gave them up.In the state of WA you have five years to keep clean after a DV case then you can have rights reinstated.I think its dumb that someone has to be arrested even though no one was hurt or touched.I guess simple asault can be verbal assault or even just throwing something or breaking something in your own home.It susks as now he will have to endure a year of anger managment weekly, then monthly, go to court, probably have a no contact order put on him etc.
 
welcome to the club, you outlaw, you :laugh:

freakin scarey ain't it!
one second your just living your life, next second the Gestapo has you shakin in your boots.

it sucks!
 
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