Overcome by Stupid - A Cautionary Tale

[Wes Kenney]

A couple of years ago, while wandering through the world's largest gun show, I noticed a used Springfield Armory full-sized 1911 for sale for what I thought was a pretty good price, $700. It had the beavertail grip safety, ambidextrous thumb safety, skeletonized hammer & trigger, and ramped sights. All in all, a pretty good carry gun, I thought, so I bought it. The selling dealer informed me it was from his personal collection, so there was no paperwork necessary (NOT A LOOPHOLE!), for which I was glad, as I had been walking for three hours or so and had only covered about a third of the tables in the room. I quickly contacted my favorite holster maker, Nick Matthews of http://www.NM-Holsters.com in Burleson, Texas, and purchased a new IWB holster and mag carrier, and was soon carrying this pistol every day. I was amazed how much lighter this setup was than my XD(M) .40, which with two magazines had me carrying almost a whole box of ammo.

A little over a year and a half ago, I was looking forward to attending a conference in Atlanta. I was flying from DFW International Airport, which is 150 miles from where I lived at the time in southeast Oklahoma, so I booked a hotel near the airport for the night before my early morning flight. I had initially intended to check the pistol so as to have it with me during my time in gun-friendly Georgia, but when I checked the laws, I learned that gun-friendly Georgia prohibits carrying concealed weapons inside houses of worship, and since the conference I was attending was a preaching conference at the First Baptist Church in Atlanta, the majority of my time would be spent in a place I couldn't legally carry. So I determined that I would leave the pistol locked in my car in gun-friendly Texas. Now comes the stupid.

Before I went to bed, I placed the holstered gun, along with the magazine carrier, inside the small safe in the closet in my hotel room. I awoke the next morning about twenty minutes later than I intended, and in my haste to get to the airport, I never even thought about the safe or its contents. See? Stupid. Really, REALLY stupid. I know.

Fast forward two days to my return to gun-friendly Texas. The gun and its whereabouts never again entered my mind. I suppose I just assumed that I had followed my plan, and it would be waiting for me in the parking lot. I found my car, put my suitcase in, and unlocked and opened the glovebox, fully expecting to be greeted by my old friend from Geneseo. When it wasn't there, the realization of what I had done began to sink in. It was a terrible feeling, but little did I know that this adventure was only just beginning.

I headed directly to the hotel, and the clerk who had checked me in three days earlier was on duty. I quietly explained that I thought I had left a firearm in the room, and he checked lost-and-found. Finding nothing, he went in to the back, and the manager came out after a few minutes. He explained that something like that wouldn't show up on their regular lost-and-found list, and that he was trying to reach the head of housekeeping, who was not in on this Saturday. It seemed to me to be taking a long time, and I had another errand to run before setting off on the three-hour drive home, so I told the manager about my errand, gave him my cell number, and told him I would be back soon.

When I came back to the hotel, I only had to wait a few minutes to figure out that the manager wasn't trying to reach the head of housekeeping, but the Irving Police Department, who greeted me in the person of the very friendly and professional Officer Behrends. He asked if he could speak with me, and I began telling him what had happened. I knew something was amiss when he politely asked me to remove my hands from my pockets, and my sense that something was wrong was strongly reinforced when Officer Behrends invited me into the hotel office, where he had me place my hands on the back of my head and treated me to a very thorough frisking.

As it turned out, the hotel staff had found the result of my extreme stupidity not long after I checked out, and very properly notified the authorities. Those authorities, the Irving Police Department, very properly did a NCIC check on the handgun's serial number, and quickly learned that my 1911 had been stolen in Tennessee some years before. This explains Officer Behrends's caution when talking to me, as well as his desire to assure himself that I had nothing on my person with which I might cause him harm. Once he was so assured, we sat down for a nice visit, in which I laid out all of the above.

Either I was very convincing, or Officer Behrends is the trusting sort, or some combination of the two. Whatever the case, he found my story to be believable, and after recording my contact information, he bid me good day. I've since gotten to know (by phone) Det. Hammond of the IPD, to whom I've provided a copy of the check with which I paid for the firearm in question. I think it goes without saying that I'll never see it again. I also provided the detective with documentation proving myself to be the lawful owner of the leather in which the pistol and magazines were holstered, and was able to secure the return of this desirable leather after sufficiently proving to the IPD my ownership thereof.

So what have I learned? Well, the obvious lessons, I suppose. First, it's a really bad idea to leave a weapon in a hotel room when you check out. I'd have agreed wholeheartedly with that statement before this experience, but now I truly own the truth of it.

Second, when buying a used firearm from someone you don't know, it's a really good idea to contact a friendly LEO and ask them to check out that serial number for you. Why I didn't do this is beyond me, since I was shopping that day at the world's largest gun show with my dad, who serves the sheriff of his county as a deputy and who could have accomplished said check with a two-minute phone call. For my part, I've determined that I shall henceforth purchase only new firearms from dealers. Eliminates the possibility of this sort of thing happening again.

Finally, I've learned to appreciate the good folks at the Irving Police Department. I can't fault them for a single thing in this, and I'm reminded that they're often put in difficult and dangerous situations, and want nothing more than to handle them properly and go home to their families at the end of the day.

The seller of the firearm in question turned out to be a stand-up guy, and he refunded my money with very few questions asked, and an emailed copy of the police report.

I confessed my stupidity in the title here, and multiple times in the body of the post, so please be gentle in chiding me further for it. I've learned from this experience, and post it here in the hopes that others may learn from it as well.

[Heartland Patriot]

I'm not going to chide you or anything. Anyone can have a deal turn out to be too good to be true. If I buy a used firearm NOT from a gun store, then I would ask the individual for some sort of a bill of sale. If they weren't willing to draw up something simple with the name and serial number of the weapon, date and signature, then I wouldn't be willing to part with my money and complete the deal. Some folks might take offense at being asked; no problem, we just won't complete the deal, as I stated. That famous Latin phrase always applies and it goes for all of us as far as I'm concerned: caveat emptor (buyer beware).

[Beiruty]

I'm not going to chide you or anything. Anyone can have a deal turn out to be too good to be true. If I buy a used firearm NOT from a gun store, then I would ask the individual for some sort of a bill of sale. If they weren't willing to draw up something simple with the name and serial number of the weapon, date and signature, then I wouldn't be willing to part with my money and complete the deal. Some folks might take offense at being asked; no problem, we just won't complete the deal, as I stated. That famous Latin phrase always applies and it goes for all of us as far as I'm concerned: caveat emptor (buyer beware).

I only purchased a pre-owned AK from a CHLer on this forum. He presented a CHL and bill of sale. Not sure if the SN was marked. Maybe I should double check and call PD for SN query.

Verfied Bill of sale is clean all info are there.

[Heartland Patriot]

I'm not going to chide you or anything. Anyone can have a deal turn out to be too good to be true. If I buy a used firearm NOT from a gun store, then I would ask the individual for some sort of a bill of sale. If they weren't willing to draw up something simple with the name and serial number of the weapon, date and signature, then I wouldn't be willing to part with my money and complete the deal. Some folks might take offense at being asked; no problem, we just won't complete the deal, as I stated. That famous Latin phrase always applies and it goes for all of us as far as I'm concerned: caveat emptor (buyer beware).

I only purchased a pre-owned AK from a CHLer on this forum. He presented a CHL and bill of sale. Not sure if the SN was marked. Maybe I should double check and call PD for SN query.

Verfied Bill of sale is clean all info are there.

I don't think a Bill of Sale will 100% keep you from getting burned but it does show that the seller seemed to be acting in good faith. And a CHLer from this forum is probably a nice large step in the right direction too...

[schufflerbot]

sounds like this all worked out very well for you! glad you learned your lesson... turns out, even in our adult stages, experience is the best teacher.

[RoyGBiv]

Thanks for sharing your story... A good reminder..
Reinforces my personal policy of requiring ID and signed documents (BoS) for any buy/sell of a firearm.

[bayouhazard]

It also shows those room "safes" aren't worth more than a false sense of security.

[RPBrown]

I would be thankful that you found out this way. Think of what could have happened if you would have had to use it.

[Wes Kenney]

I would be thankful that you found out this way. Think of what could have happened if you would have had to use it.

It is that very thought that has me determined only to buy new firearms, or those with unquestionable backgrounds.

[johnson0317]

It also shows those room "safes" aren't worth more than a false sense of security.

Good story, and no chiding here. Any lesson learned without someone getting harmed is a pretty good lesson.

Those hotel safes...I saw a video about them. All of them come with a default code so that hotel "security" can open them if someone leaves them locked. It is usually 0000 or 1111. They are supposed to change that code when they install the safes...many don't. That allows the savvy housekeeper to open your safe while you are not there (if they are the type that would be so inclined).

RJ