Someone missing a handgun???

[texas1234]

Who in their right mind goes into "shock" over finding a handgun under the pillow of a hotel room?

Ridiculous. You would think after reading this the Drury had to call in disaster pyshologists to get the family to start speaking again.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Let me pose this question to y'all:

Say you checked into this hotel room and found
this .40 under the pillow. Let's really tempt you
here by saying that this .40 was your favorite brand
of thoracic perforator and fit your hand great. It
even came with a full mag of JHP's.

Would you say nothing to the hotel mgt or LEO's,
and keep it?

If you did keep it, would you be in violation of Texas
law?

The original CHL owner of the weapon may or may not
report his boo boo to the LEO's. But it seems to me that
this gun could turn up on a "stolen" list, then you'd be in
big trouble when it came time to sell your gun.

OTOH, as long as you never sell it, or turn it in to a LEO
buyback program, you'd have an extra .40 in your collection!

Thoughts?

SIA

[LarryH]

Let me pose this question to y'all:

Say you checked into this hotel room and found this .40 under the pillow. Let's really tempt you here by saying that this .40 was your favorite brand of thoracic perforator and fit your hand great. It even came with a full mag of JHP's.

Would you say nothing to the hotel mgt or LEO's, and keep it?

If you did keep it, would you be in violation of Texas law?

The original CHL owner of the weapon may or may not report his boo boo to the LEO's. But it seems to me that this gun could turn up on a "stolen" list, then you'd be in big trouble when it came time to sell your gun.

OTOH, as long as you never sell it, or turn it in to a LEO buyback program, you'd have an extra .40 in your collection!

Thoughts?

SIA

Since .40 is not one of my calibers, I wouldn't be particularly tempted. However, I would make a reasonable good-faith effort to return it to its rightful owner. If possible, I would do that without involving either motel management or LEOs.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Let me pose this question to y'all:

Say you checked into this hotel room and found
this .40 under the pillow. Let's really tempt you
here by saying that this .40 was your favorite brand
of thoracic perforator and fit your hand great. It
even came with a full mag of JHP's.

Would you say nothing to the hotel mgt or LEO's,
and keep it?

If you did keep it, would you be in violation of Texas
law?

The original CHL owner of the weapon may or may not
report his boo boo to the LEO's. But it seems to me that
this gun could turn up on a "stolen" list, then you'd be in
big trouble when it came time to sell your gun.

OTOH, as long as you never sell it, or turn it in to a LEO
buyback program, you'd have an extra .40 in your collection!

Thoughts?

SIA

Theft of a firearm is not only a state crime, it's a federal felony. Keeping it would be theft of a firearm. "Finders keepers" works on the playground, but not in the courtroom.

Chas.

[dihappy]

Hmm, is it standard procedure to change the sheets on a bed that appears not to have been used? You wouldn't (probably) leave the gun under a pillow on a bed that isn't made -- leaving it to housekeeping to make the bed, then replace the gun under the pillow. I would think it would happen because the gun was left under the pillow on an unused bed.

But I don't know the "standard of care" for changing sheets in hotel rooms.

I work at a hotel and was even in charge of houskeeping. Not every hotel's standards say to change an unused bed, however every one i have worked at is in fact suppose to change the pillows and all towels even if they dont appear used.

How many of you have kids who would have found the gun and KNOWN not to touch it and go to you and say "Mommy/Daddy, theres a gun on the bed".

For these people to freak out because their kids "could" have found it is kinda sad.

I would have called management and told them they should be checking/cleaning their beds better.

[WildBill]

Who in their right mind goes into "shock" over finding a handgun under the pillow of a hotel room?

Ridiculous. You would think after reading this the Drury had to call in disaster pyshologists to get the family to start speaking again.

The reporting on this story is atrocious. The story and the video seemed "staged." The video of the grand children jumping up and down on the bed was obviously taken after the fact.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=7484257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The "obviously distraught" grandmother, who walked with a crutch, wiping tears from her eyes. It appeared to me that she was putting on an act so that they could show the video to a jury when they sue the Drury Inn for "emotional distress."Boo Hoo Hoo.

I wonder who called the media to report this "newsworthy story."

BTW "Broadcast News" is an excellent movie.

[rgoldy]

Individual who left the handgun obviously has too many to be able to keep track of them.
Maybe should share a few of them out to rest of us to make the task easier......?
How in the world do you go off from a hotel and leave a handgun? Where is that persons
head? Not just walked away to load the car. Not just went to get ice. LEFT THE HOTEL
AND CHECKED OUT! Sorry for the shout, but it boggles my mind.

[Mike1951]

I wouldn't keep it, but I honestly can't say I would trust LE agencies to make a honest effort to return it to the owner.

Don't get me wrong. I am in no way implying any dishonesty either by individual officers or by the agency.

I just imagine it being stored until some dismal day when it gets melted.

However, I doubt the hotel would provide any contact info on the last tenant to me, so LE seems the only route.

I would have a clear conscience, but would always doubt that the found handgun made its way home.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Charles:

Your answer was what I expected to be the prevailing statute.

If you found a box of WWB with 100 rounds of .40's under the pillow,
would it also be a felony to keep that as well?

Does any "keeping" of a firearm-related object constitute a felony theft?

My assumption is "yes" and that all such items should be turned over
to LEO's at the earliest opportunity.

SIA

[MasterofFajitas]

You read my mind Brother. Where is Dr. Phil when they need him.

Who in their right mind goes into "shock" over finding a handgun under the pillow of a hotel room?

Ridiculous. You would think after reading this the Drury had to call in disaster pyshologists to get the family to start speaking again.

The reporting on this story is atrocious. The story and the video seemed "staged." The video of the grand children jumping up and down on the bed was obviously taken after the fact.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=7484257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The "obviously distraught" grandmother, who walked with a crutch, wiping tears from her eyes. It appeared to me that she was putting on an act so that they could show the video to a jury when they sue the Drury Inn for "emotional distress."Boo Hoo Hoo.

I wonder who called the media to report this "newsworthy story."

BTW "Broadcast News" is an excellent movie.

[Oldgringo]

Theft of a firearm is not only a state crime, it's a federal felony. Keeping it would be theft of a firearm. "Finders keepers" works on the playground, but not in the courtroom.

Chas.

Hmmm, I did not know that.

[fickman]

I doubt I'd touch it before summoning LE. What if it had just been used in murder? My fingerprints aren't going on it.

I would get upset at a loaded (or even unloaded) firearm being left within reach of my kids. I have a 3-year old, a 20-month old, and a 3-month old. . . we've taught them basic "no-no's" of not touching firearms and letting an adult know, but I don't trust those lessons as foolproof yet. We keep our firearms out of reach and inaccessible.

I think you could righteously be upset about:
- Motel's lack of cleaning
- Gun owner's negligence

I wouldn't cry or faint at the sight of a firearm, but I wouldn't be happy about the carelessness of the situation. Mistakes happen, but if the worst case scenario goes down, how many of us would defend the now-felon gun owner? I predict no more than we give sympathy to self-inflicted negligent discharge victims.

[5thGenTexan]

I hope the owner got their property back without too much of a lecture for their oversight...

Not so sure I aggree with that statement, don't know about most of you but if someone kicks my motel room door I want to be able to lay my hands on my gun quickly and easily so it stays in the holster on my belt on the floor next to the bed.

The way I wind up wrapped like a mummy in the short sheets of motel beds and being disoriented, my house does not have a night stand between two queen beds or a door to the outside less than 10 feet away, I would fall break my neck trying to get to the other bed IF I remembered thatwas where it was in a fog.

The rightful owner does not appear to be the most careful handling his hardware, maybe a little hassle will make him a little smarter and more careful. Hope he gets his property back, just think he needs a short lesson in responsibility.

[Dragonfighter]

You see, there's the difference in POV. I would have been, "Woohoo!" Then overcome by conscience and tried to locate the owner and or hand it over to police. The only shock I would've experienced is that the owner would have left it in the first place.

Question for Charles: If I found the weapon and then turned it into PD, is there a time frame where I could lay claim if it was not previously claimed by the rightful owner? Or is that an urban myth? Well, two questions but related.

[baseballguy2001]

I don't know about you, but I always check (at least twice) to make sure I have my Glock either in my bag, or on my hip when I travel around Texas. In the last month I've been in three different places and I have just have a hard time thinking anyone would 'forget' their weapon. I also have a hard time when I read stories about how parents forget their kid in the car on a hot day, but that's just me.