that your firearm will be "taken" if you use it in a legitimate self defense situation, and I'm going to ask how you know for sure or where its written in stone and all the details please.  I don't see why it would be necessary to keep any longer then short term as its our property.  Searching around for a while I am tempted to call bull on this one myself.

yes it is true...just because YOU think it is a legitimate self defense act doesn't mean every one else will feel that way hence the investigation

It is taken as "evidence" for the up coming legal issues. Depends on how evidence is treated in your jurisdiction.

Depending on how long the folks in authority need to retain the evidence, that is how long you will be without your property.

There is truth in the saying "one is none, two is one".

Depending on how long the folks in authority need to retain the evidence, that is how long you will be without your property.



that makes sense to me.  I was just thinking that there should be the possibility of getting your property back.  In a real life scenario its the last important thing in the world and doesn't matter,  but I have always wandered about this.

I ask the question assuming it goes all the way through the legal process and the permit holder comes out in the right btw.

As far as I know Zimmerman never got his gun back that was used in the SD shooting of TM. Holder him self said it was evidence in an on going investigation.

Around here if the shoot is deemed good without a doubt, like when you're on your own property or it's a home invasion thing, they don't even take them.

If you're somewhere else though, in a parking lot somewhere or something they do. Some other cities and jurisdictions are different.

I went to an annual  meeting once and Mills Lane was the guest  speaker. He told of an incident when he was the DA in Reno. He said he got a call one night to come down to the cop shop.(he was a little ticked that the cops couldn't get the asst DA) When he gets there they took him in an interrogation room where a little old man was sitting at the table with his head down. Mills says to the Sgt, ok what have we got? The cop says this man and his wife were  sleeping in their RV behind Harolds Club when he woke up and someone was standing there and he shot him. Mills asked the man if that was what happened and the guy keeps looking down and said , yes sir I shot him. Mills then tells the cop OK let him go, and give him his gun back. Bewildered, the man says, I'm from California and  you're going to let me go, and give me my gun back? To which Mills said to him ,yes sir , you may have to shoot another one of those bastards before morning.

Since I'm in charge of the evidence room at the PD I work for, I'll give my $0.02 about the way it would go at my PD.

If you shoot someone, even if it seems to be completely legit, the gun will be taken as evidence. It will be shot 2-3 times to verify functionality then logged into the evidence room. Even if the shoot seems legit, the case will be run through the County Grand Jury. If the GJ returns a no bill (Grand Jury's version of not guilty), that should be the end of it and, as soon as an order is received at the PD from the Prosecutor, the gun will be returned to you.

If the GJ returns an indictment, the case moves on to court. If you go to court and are found not guilty, the gun will probably be returned to you upon receipt of an order from the court, although there have been cases where the person is found not guilty but the judge ordered the gun destroyed anyway (I don't know the particulars, might have been part of a deal to the Defendant). If you are found guilty, the gun is either destroyed or, if "suitable for PD use", is permanently forfeited to the PD. We've only done this a few times and the guns were either used for duty use in one case or was used for issue to an Officer whose gun had to go back to the manufacturer in a few cases. In fact, we currently have a Springfield XD subcompact 9mm in the safe that was forfeited, but to date no one wants to carry it.

Either way, if it goes to court, based on how long it takes court cases to move through our court system, it is likely to be at least 2 years, and more probably 3 years, before you would be found not guilty and could even hope to have the gun returned. Court proceedings take time and the gun WILL be held for evidence until the court case is concluded.

Keep in mind, that's the way it goes here and I've vastly simplified the way it works. Your jurisdiction could be and probably is different, but it should give you at least an idea of what might happen. Remember, if you ever have to shoot someone, it is a really good idea to have another gun that you can use, unless for whatever reason the PD also takes your other guns, which has also happened in the past.

Bub75

To say it as least smart-assy as possible. Post SD shooting, losing your firearm is the least of your concerns (imo). And as an above poster said 2 is 1, and 1 is none.

Depends on the circumstances.

Under what circumstance would all of a persons guns be taken.  Say, after a shooting in his own home?

Yes, law enforcement will take the weapon as evidence until they have determined that no crime has been committed or until it is no longer evidence.  Shortest seizure I have ever heard of was about 6 hours.  Guy shot two armed robbers in a convenience store.  It took 6 hours (even with good security tapes) for law enforcement to determine that it was a good shoot and returned his pistol.

It will be taken for some period of time.

I wasn't working this night, but a woman tried to shoot her husband with a 12ga shotgun loaded with slugs. She missed, he ran out the front door and called 911, while she ran out the back door. When the on duty guys got there, they not only took the 12ga in question, they took ALL his guns. I don't know for certain (but have suspicions, see below) why or what was going on since I wasn't working, but they took them all. The PD kept them till the guy got a court order to have them returned a couple weeks after the shooting. Needless to say, they kept the 12ga the wife used, but had to return all the others. Given the people working that night, I suspect (but don't know for sure) that the extremely anti-gun Sgt ordered the others to confiscate them. There have been others, most notably when the anti-gun Sgt was working. The owners got court orders in all cases and the non-evidence guns were returned. As far as I'm concerned, the Sgt most certainly did not have the right to do this since the owners were able to own guns, but he did it anyway, then made the owners get a court order to have them returned. Actually, I'm surprised we didn't get sued a few times, but we didn't, so he kept doing it. Just something to be aware of.

Bub75

Around here your weapon is taken until the investigation or case is over and that could run over six months. Also depending on where it happened and who has jurisdiction other people carrying may have their firearms taken even if they didnt fire a shot and vehicles searched and any ammo or firearms in the vehicle taken till things are sorted out. Then a case number is engraved into the firearm. On a semi auto it will be the slide, barrel, and inside the mag well. Yes this is all true.

this is why above I tried to make clear (copy and pasted)

"In a real life scenario its the last important thing in the world and doesn't matter"

I don't want to give the impression that it has any importance, but I was very curious and I knew there was plenty of Law Enforcement on the board.  I didn't think it was smart assy though and I agree w/ you.

my advice is after the shooting, hide the body and recover your brass

dispose of witnesses as needed