Help! I spent a great week with my family, the only hitch was i dropped my Kel-Tec into the lake.

My baby went straight down to the bottom. I can skin dive my fatass 10-15ft (depending on my fitness) but that was some bullshit I was too lazy to do. I estimate the lake is 30ft there. I kept coords of the location I dropped it.

The lake drains through a river that runs through several populated communities closeby. There seems to be a small possibility that the gun could somehow shift and be carried downstream, and end up fished out by some middle school kids. I fear these kids might trade it with their dealer for weed, who'll in turn sell it to his crack customer, who'll go pop a cap in an ER docter.

I bought on that yellow form and Wisconsins additional white state form (I don't know the technical numbers). My gunsmith/FFL has retired so my name and current address and phone number should be in a federal database right now associated with that very serial number for the P-32. I don't want to be responsible for any further use of this handgun.

Okay so what do I do? Am I obligated, as a responsible gunowner, to retrieve my stuff? That would be a bitch! Is there a form I could fill out to nullify my ownership of the gun?

Should I just STFU and chill out?

STFU and start fishing.  Get your ass in the water and act like a porn star and dive deep.  Don't write it off until you've taken the measures of a responsible gun owner to try and recover it.  

Too bad you weren't in NY and having to explain to the state police why you no longer possess the gun on your gun permit.  You'd definately be in the water right now!

GET A POWERFUL MAGNET FAST!!!!

Put it on a string and get your ass out there fast.

Been there done that, (not with a firearm). Get a STRONG magnet, and drag the bottom.....

That pistol is exactly where it came to rest. It will NOT move unless you move it. 30ft is a bit much for you to reasonably get it without a scuba tank. I would buy one of those real strong magnets & a rope. Drop it down to retrieve the pistol. Either that or rent a scuba tank. Do it now or it will be covered by silt soon enough. Either that or write it off & buy another $200 Kel-tec. I think I would recover it unless it is so far as to not be realistic. I mean if it's gonna take you 4 hours each way & $75 bucks in gas. Add the magnet or scuba rent & a motel. Screw the gun. Buy another.

Better yet get SEVERAL strong magnets and spent ANOTHER great week with the family. All of you in the boat on differant side dunking should get it if you really remember the location.

Promise the person who gets it a special treat, kids to an evening of dinner out and movies with their friends, the wife to a good long roll in the hay.

SorryOciffer

I'm very cool with writing off the $180 gun. I'm not cool being responsible for it.

Think of all the other cool guns you might find....

was it loaded/chambered?

Maybe notify local law enforcement what happened and provide the serial number? That way they won't come knocking on your door later if some else retrives it?

You are only responsible for it if you left it out in an unsafe place. Jesus, if you can't swin down & get it knowing WHERE to look, then little Johnny from the scout troop isn't going to accidently find a pistol that you LOST by ACCIDENT. Even if it is found by some dude snorkeling, you wouldn't be responsible for it if he handed it to a toddler in a pre-school. You lost a pistol. End of story. Just remember where it went if ever asked & buy another.

Buy a Glock, they float in water. Comes in REAL handy when you drop your CCW in the toilet during a pee-pee. AND, best of all; they are X-ray proof. [%|]

just be glad it wasent a Kimber.  I really don't think you have to worry about it going anywhere.

What you need is a ROUV [0j]

You're in deep sh*t!

I'll bet you didn't have a trigger lock on that thing before you 'put it away'!

What were you doing?...Trying to shoot fish?..[:D], Anyway if you want what you can do is file a report with the local P.D. for a missing handgun, in your report as the last place you saw it you say that it was just hitting the water, Some teletype geek at the local police records room will then enter it as a missing firearm into the NCIC system, and the local system..if it ever see's the light of day again, and is reported it will come back to you..If it is ever used in a crime, It will show that you reported it missing (not stolen). and the last place it was known to be.. Not a big deal, but It would be fun to give the teletype clerk GPS grid for a last know location..(Try looking that up in the entry code manual.)

Aimless has a great point, the local Sheriff's office should have a dive team, this would be great practice for a evidence search..offer to buy lunch the next time they need to do some training...(I used to play with the dive team, and they would go for something like this, but you may have to wait till they get around to it)

You are the (once) proud owner of a water pistol.

If you kept the coordinates I assume you have a GPS receiver and know how to use it.  Your mistake was not marking the locations with some sort of float, like a plastic bottle tied to a brick or something.  If you do decide to go back and find it, and your GPS will recieve WAAS corrections, you've got at least 700 square feet of area to cover at the bottom of that lake.  

I know a guy who pulled a revolver up from the bottom of a lake with a large magnet once after dropping it while bass fishing.  He marked the locations immediately with a handfull of lead sinkers, a red bobber, and about 25' of fishing line.  It still took about an hour to find the revolver when he went back with the magnet.  It was covered in mud of course, but otherwise was unharmed.  In the process I think he found a belt buckle, the head of a claw hammer, a filet knife sans handle, a steel propeller, and some other assorted steel junk.

If the water was clear (which I'm sure it's not) you could just dive it.  I used to dive 25' down in crystal clear water in Silver Springs Florida when I was a kid, but that water was so clear you could see individual pea gravel at the bottom of the spring.  It hurts the ears, but can be done.  Searching at the bottom is a different story though.  I wouldn't try it without scuba gear and a powerfull flashlight.  Actually, I just wouldn't do it.  Get a big magnet.  You should be able to find one at West Marine or something.  In fact, I'm of the opinion that there isn't any real reason for any fresh water power boater to not have one of these on their boat.
[url]http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=24410[/url]

It won't move, or at least it shouldn't unless there is a decent current.  If it was loaded it's a lot less likely to move since it'll weigh more.  But eventually it will rust away and only the frame will remain.

Damn mine doesn't float( I just tried it in my toilet).  I guess I will have to send it back to the factor for repair.

Rodales scuba diving forum has a diver to diver message board.
It's at scubadiving.com
Most of them are good guys and would probably just do it for another reason to dive.
If you were near me I would do it for kicks.
I'd try it first before I filed a report.
Good luck.
Andy

Try northern tool they have a couple of nice magnets that might do the trick [url]http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&TEST=Y&productId=13888&categoryId=0[/url]