Traded for a murder weapon

[G23WAX]

I trade and sell guns pretty often, but this is the first time anything like this has happened. Heres the story:

I had a Glock 30 that I traded for an FDE G23 that I have been looking for for a while. I met the guy in a public space to trade. He was very friendly and showed me a receipt from a pawn shop in Garland and was even nice enough to give me some ammo. I had only had the gun for about a week, (even polished the barrel!) before I got a frantic text to call him ASAP.
Long story short, the glock was stolen a couple months ago during a robbery in Ft. Worth. Immediately after the theft, 3 other houses were robbed with said Glock and at least one person was murdered. The criminal then immediately drove to Garland and pawned the gun. Since the timing was so quick, it had not been reported stolen yet and was sold to the guy that I eventually traded. The detective contacted the previous owner who contacted me and the pawn shop. The pawn shop was nice enough to give me a newer G23 gen 4. The kicker is that they had the guy in custody and the only thing tying him to the murder was the gun they had been searching for. He was supposed to be released on saturday!
I know I came out lucky on this one as the guy could have just given the detective my number and I would have been out a gun. Im also lucky the serial number didnt get run while it was in my possession!

[gigag04]

Could've gone real bad. Glad it worked out.

[carlson1]

This could have been really bad.

[G23WAX]

I agree. At best I could have been out $500. At worst I could have been charged with murder.

[carlson1]

I will be honest this will make me do some things different with people I do not know.

[G23WAX]

I will be honest this will make me do some things different with people I do not know.

Im with you on that. I am on a number of facebook gun trader sites, so it does make it a tad bit easier to get on and look at pictures (i know, I know, Profiling) and see some of their posts. You can pretty well get the idea of who you will be trading with. However, the situation that happened with me would only be avoidable by not going through a stranger at all.

[jbarn]

I agree. At best I could have been out $500. At worst I could have been charged with murder.

I have several questions, but first let me just say that I don't see how you could have been charged with murder. Without any other evidence connecting you to the murder at all there would be nothing on which to base charges.

How was the gun connected to the murder? I know that the gun was reported stolen, and that it how it was traced to the pawn shop. (serial number). But how did the police know that was the firearm used in the murder without a ballistic sample from the gun? Or did they just suspect it, and they wanted to get the gun for a ballistic comparison?

[G23WAX]

I agree. At best I could have been out $500. At worst I could have been charged with murder.

I have several questions, but first let me just say that I don't see how you could have been charged with murder. Without any other evidence connecting you to the murder at all there would be nothing on which to base charges.

How was the gun connected to the murder? I know that the gun was reported stolen, and that it how it was traced to the pawn shop. (serial number). But how did the police know that was the firearm used in the murder without a ballistic sample from the gun? Or did they just suspect it, and they wanted to get the gun for a ballistic comparison?

I am just guessing that they suspected. Maybe type of ammo stolen, casing with fingerprint from original owner etc. Im sure they needed to get a ballistic comparison from it as well.

[ELB]

I'm impressed that the pawn shop replaced it for you.

[carlson1]

If you buy a firearm from a Pawn Shop there should be a way that you are secured in your purchase. They have to keep whatever they take into Pawn for several weeks if I am not mistaken.

[Keith B]

If they purchase an item then they can sell it right away. No holding period is required that I am aware of.

[jbarn]

A Pawn Shop must hold purchased property for 20 days, generally

http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/rea ... =85&rl=420

Texas Administrative Code, Title 7, Part 5, Chapter 85, Subchapter A, Division 4, Rule 85.420
.
.
.
.
b) Hold Period.
(1) Each item of personal property purchased from the general public must be held at the licensed pawnshop location from the purchase date before being modified, changed, sold, or disposed of in any manner for a period of:
(A) at least 20 days; or
(B) a period of less than 20 days if a local jurisdiction has enacted an ordinance that specifies the hold period.
(2) A reduced hold period of seven days or less may be agreed upon by the pawnbroker and the law enforcement agency if the pawn and purchase ticket information is exchanged electronically. The agreement for a reduced hold period must not conflict with any local ordinance and must be submitted to the commissioner in writing by and through the chief local law enforcement officer for the jurisdiction.

[Keith B]

A Pawn Shop must hold purchased property for 20 days, generally

http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/rea ... =85&rl=420

Texas Administrative Code, Title 7, Part 5, Chapter 85, Subchapter A, Division 4, Rule 85.420
.
.
.
.
b) Hold Period.
(1) Each item of personal property purchased from the general public must be held at the licensed pawnshop location from the purchase date before being modified, changed, sold, or disposed of in any manner for a period of:
(A) at least 20 days; or
(B) a period of less than 20 days if a local jurisdiction has enacted an ordinance that specifies the hold period.
(2) A reduced hold period of seven days or less may be agreed upon by the pawnbroker and the law enforcement agency if the pawn and purchase ticket information is exchanged electronically. The agreement for a reduced hold period must not conflict with any local ordinance and must be submitted to the commissioner in writing by and through the chief local law enforcement officer for the jurisdiction.

Thanks for the clarification.

[jbarn]

A Pawn Shop must hold purchased property for 20 days, generally

http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/rea ... =85&rl=420

Texas Administrative Code, Title 7, Part 5, Chapter 85, Subchapter A, Division 4, Rule 85.420
.
.
.
.
b) Hold Period.
(1) Each item of personal property purchased from the general public must be held at the licensed pawnshop location from the purchase date before being modified, changed, sold, or disposed of in any manner for a period of:
(A) at least 20 days; or
(B) a period of less than 20 days if a local jurisdiction has enacted an ordinance that specifies the hold period.
(2) A reduced hold period of seven days or less may be agreed upon by the pawnbroker and the law enforcement agency if the pawn and purchase ticket information is exchanged electronically. The agreement for a reduced hold period must not conflict with any local ordinance and must be submitted to the commissioner in writing by and through the chief local law enforcement officer for the jurisdiction.

Thanks for the clarification.

There is a pawnshop cop on one of the other forums to which I belong, or would have had no clue where to look.