man, this is a bad deal.
about 20 years ago we had all our guns stolen.  we were sure we knew who did it but couldn't prove a thing.  turns out it was someone else but I am getting ahead of myself.  about a month ago one of the guns came up stolen when a gun shop did a search in the Texas DPS stolen guns database.  to make a long story short my uncle was the one who sold the gun to the gun shop.  damn, this is sad and it also pisses me off.  they live about 300 miles away so it's almost impossible for them to buy the gun at a gun shop or some lame scenario like that.  this guy is a consummate liar (Eddie Haskell type) so a confrontation would not yield much.  it's family which is the only reason he cop's are not beating down his door tonight.  this is the guy that sat across from me at thanksgiving dinner and gave me shitty Christmas presents.  Damn it, we hunted together.  

I know the statute of limitations has run out for grand theft in Texas but is there a new law about knowingly trafficking in stolen goods?

I want to nail this jumping jackass to the wall but I want to do it the right way.
this would be one instance where a little pain is justified but I know the rewards will be worth the wait.

there is also the matter of the five other unaccounted for guns.  if we nail him he may dump the guns in the bay but if we let him go he may try to pawn them off and we might get more of our guns back.  right now I am mad and looking for input.  

There will be alot of more elaborate ideas here.......simply put....FUCK HIM OVER IF HE DID IT....X 3 !

Actually, from what I understand, the timer on the statute of limitations only starts ticking when they name someone a suspect.

I could be wrong, but that's worth checking into.

The statute of limitations may have passed for the actual theft, but the kicker is, him possessing the stolen goods is an ongoing offense forever. Selling/pawning stolen goods is another offense.

Personally, if it was me, I would confront him. I'd tell him that I knew he took the fucking guns, that I've already got him for pawning one of them off and I either want the rest of them right now or I want to march down to the fucking bank and get the money to replace them. No checks or IOU's, either the fucking guns, cash or I'm calling the cops.

Even if I got the guns back I'd still probably whip his ass for good measure. Just the fact that he is family means that he needs some goddamn teeth knocked out all the more.

Hell, I can probably understand if you don't want to kick his ass though, since he is your uncle. So, if I've got the time I'd be willing to go with you to confront him and be the enforcer. I don't know the guy, so I wouldn't give a rats ass about throwing a couple of body blows.

It's the opposite.  The statute stops running when they indict or charge a suspect.  But it starts at the date of the crime.

My family would dispense with its own brand of justice in such a situation. Sucks to be Italian sometimes. [;D]

.308wood, I'll bet the barn that if you do some digging, it will likely turn out that you are not the only family member this guy has shat on. If you ever decide to play World Series baseball with his face, and word gets out, you might have to make all your kin, who have been on the wrong end of his stick in the past, get in line and take numbers, like at a NY deli.

Some people are just born evil.

"BATTER UP!"[xx(][:X*][spank][%|]        

Ponyboy will be happy to come over and "punch a hole in his fucking face"!

LOL[>Q]

That must have been something /really/ bad. Did he steal the donut fund?

thanks guys,
we are going to let the cops take care of it.

i can't see taking the chance of never being able to own a gun or hunt again just for the satisfaction of pushing this guys face in.

Exactly....I'd confront him myself first though before I called the cops. Once the cops are involved it could turn into a hassle trying to get the guns back, which would be my main goal. You could get the guns back and then go to the cops.

Hell, make a video telling what you are doing, then when you go to see him leave the camera in the car running. Hopefully you will leave with the other guns and then you can turn the tape over to the police as more evidence. Since they obviously already have him on receiving stolen goods.

The more I think about this the more pissed I get.

This really sucks dude, and I'm sorry it turned out for you this way.....

As was said above, he's probably screwed other family members a well.Give him the option of gunz back ,or $$$$$, or the coppers, on tape, then when he pays up, call the coppers anyway!