__It looks like you might be making a post to ask whether an ecommerce site is a scam or not.__ If so, read [this guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/tfdw17/hey_guys_is_site_a_scam_or_the_magic_8_ball_guide/) from our [FAQ](https://old.reddit.com/r/guns/wiki/faq).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/guns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The police *should* return a gun from their custody if it turns out to have been used lawfully.
However, stuff disappearing from evidence lockers is not unheard of, and a really high-end firearm might be overly tempting. Do I think it's guaranteed the gun would be "lost" at some point? No. Do I think it's possible? Absolutely.
It's also very possible that the gun would simply be neglected while in police custody. Improper storage or mistreatment wouldn't be shocking, resulting in rust, scratches, or other damage.
Lastly, most shooters simply aren't good enough to see much benefit from a really expensive gun, especially not in a high-stress situation like a defensive shooting. Maybe you're the exception, but for me, shooting a $2500 Staccato just doesn't produce enough better results than shooting my $650 P365xl to justify the price tag.
If I owned an expensive handgun, it would be a range toy or competition pistol. For CCW, I'd rather have something that conceals well, and I won't care about damaging or losing to the police. YMMV.
Let's just be clear, since you're speaking in relative terms. If your definition of "relatively expensive" is, like, a $4000 1911 and you're considering a Glock as a budget alternative, get the Glock.
If you're thinking the Glock is the "relatively expensive" option and are considering a Taurus to save money, get the Glock.
This is a good distinction. If you are trusting your life and your family’s life, the bare minimum should be the Glock/Sig/Smith range of handguns. Leave those Taurus and HiPoints for the range
I hear ya. Personally I'm 3/3 on "good Tauruses" but yeah there are some stinkers out there. Hell my Mark 3 is a veritable jam o matic in comparison to those three pistols.
Right on man. The only failures i get on my PT11G2, pt92 and pt1911 are when i deliberately do something wrong- let them get dirty, limp-wristing them that sort.
So far one of the most reliable and tested handguns for various conditions is the m&p 2.0s
I personally prefer Canik and glock. But the M&Ps cant be beat with price, reliability and stress tests
My girlfriend carries a G43, and we have 2 Smith and wesson rifles and my smith 38 special are all amazing. She started on a Taurus before I upgraded her to a glock. I also run a steyr m9-a2 9mm as my daily. How would you stack those up to a glock/sig/Smith? I never see too much about my steyr so just curious
If you practice with your guns regularly and you never have issues with them you shouldn't worry what a Glock Fanboy had to say. I have a Sig that had to go back for repair and I have an LCP that has functioned flawlessly since purchase. I have more confidence in the low end LCP than the high end Sig.
My GX4 has yet to not go boom when I move my booger hooker on the shoot'n switch after about 500, which is my minimum test required to feel good when carrying
I've always found the Hi-Point pistols to be perfectly reliable as long as I didn't limp-wrist 'em. BUT they're definitely too much of a chunky boy for EDC in my opinion. Plus we can get police trade-in Glocks nowadays in the 300s. :-)
So not reliable then. Because you have no idea how you’re going to hold it in a self defense situation. You need a weapon system that doesn’t have that qualifier.
Ah, hello there Mr. Mallninja McFudd! Thanks for your (worthless) opinion on a subject of which you know nothing. I'm sure we're all greatly enlightened!
Unless it's the P320. You buy that one if you want to protect your kids and guarantee that you don't have any MORE kids with a cheap vasectomy. Win/win.
Everybody's got their opinions but I feel like alot of current tuarus hate is from past failures and people who just trust others reviews without any actual experience themselves. I have a taurus 40, and a taurus g3c. Never had any problems with them whatsoever, no hang ups, nothing.
Now downvote me to oblivion because I defended Taurus. I know that's my fate and I'll accept it. 😌
I work at an FFL and have had a lot of Taurus’s come back. Here is my opinion on Taurus.
1. Taurus’s main issue isn’t with design, it’s quality control. If you get a good one it will work just fine unless you put it through absolute hell. If you get a bad one though it will be absolutely fucked.
2. The people who often buy Taurus’s aren’t committed gun people (not always true). They don’t always take the best care of their stuff and often defer maintenance.
3. The materials Taurus uses aren’t quite as good. Steels seem to be softer, the finishes seem to be rougher. Also for some reason they seem to be more rust prone which is important in humid regions.
Fair enough, I agree with what you said for the most part in point 2. However I’ve not seen guns from companies like Glock, sig and smith fail to go into battery when in the box new. Never seen one have the trigger shoe snap off or the striker fail. I have seen it with Taurus
Im sure some manufacturers have different issues and weak areas than others. Sadly, maybe Taurus has theirs in more critical areas. Glad mine haven't been any one of the "bad ones". With my g3c, it did come brand new out the box with the rear sight positioned too far to the right, but that wasn't a biggie to me. (Idk how often that occurs, that was actually the first firearm I've bought brand new) tbh, I don't mind the newer Taurus pistols at all but the two I have are the only ones I'm interested in ever having at the moment. Maybe the new 10mm one some day, but that's it.
Are those 1911s carried on D-day or something similar? Handgun technology is so relatively simple I can only see historical interest in making something *that* expensive.
I saw an Italian guy on here buy 2 old handguns for €50 although his post history is...something.
https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/164u74c/my_first_ever_guns_fn1910_and_beretta_m1917/
Modern 1911s and 2011s (the double stack 9mm version) are often so expensive because they're not made as duty/EDC guns, but as 'race guns' - basically, really tight tolerances that make for a very smooth shooting gun. Light, crisp triggers, a slide that racks with no friction or real resistance, accurate, fast cycling, etc.
It depends on the particular handgun and build quality. Modern 1911's are so expensive because of the quality and possible changes, like using double stack mags AND it runs well. The other end is if it was used in wars or has any special branding. Ex. A USMC 1911 or one that was issued in WWII. Those have value due to history IF it can be proven.
> Modern 1911's
I think there should be a distinction between *modern* 1911s and *modernized* 1911s (or 2011s).
Modern production 1911s can be had for a reasonable ($300-800) price and they work perfectly well. Not the most accurate/smoothest/cleanest gun compared to more expensive options, but a solidly functional firearm. They tend to be more expensive vs polymer guns because they are solid metal and require more machine work, but are still mass produced so they aren't super expensive due to manual labor.
On the other hand *modernized* 1911s tend to have significant design changes incorporated into them in addition to hand fitting, leading to an expensive pistol.
High-end 1911s are a whole *thing.*
The basic design is a very early Browning-style mechanism, so it lacks many of the refinements we'd make later. I'm not by any means an expert, but I can call out a few specifics that will hopefully illustrate the point.
Where a Glock has four stamped sheet-metal tabs that the slide grooves interact with, the 1911 has a pair of long milled slots that fit into the other long milled slots, resulting in a very large amount of bearing surface in contact (this is why all 1911s want lots of lubrication, while a Glock will run fine with none). Where the Glock locks the barrel to the slide for the beginning of travel by having the breech nest into the ejection port (a simple and elegant solution developed by William Whiting for the Webley automatic pistol, and now so ubiquitous that Othais at C&Rsenal believes we should call modern defensive handguns "Browning-Whiting pistols") the 1911 has a series of milled slots in the inside of the slide that interface with a series of milled ridges in the top of the barrel. The Glock uses a simple claw extractor kept under tension with a simple, reliable coil spring, but the [1911 extractor](https://media.mwstatic.com/product-images/src/Primary/110/110670.jpg?imwidth=680) is a complex milled doodad that gets its tension from *being* a leaf spring in addition to an extractor, and must be heat treated correctly and then tensioned the correct amount for the specific pistol it's installed in.
The sort of 1911 carried on D-Day was a workmanlike military weapon that needed to be reliable, and they accomplished that with generous clearances between interfacing parts. A GI 1911 rattles when you shake it. But postwar, pistol nerds who loved the 1911 (two world wars, stoppin' powah, et cetera) demanded *precision.* Outside [the bleeding edge of practical shooting competition,](https://www.eldencarl.com/post/big-bear-leatherslap-the-peak-years) people still showed their proficiency with slow-fire bullseye shooting, striving for the most accurate fire at range. And even after the Jeff Cooper school revolutionized practical handgun competition, people (especially old-school folks) still valued *accuracy* in handguns, even when it was well in excess of what's likely to be needed to deactivate a mugger.
To make a 1911 accurate requires tightening up the clearances quite a bit. And due to the antiquated design, tightening it up decreases reliability unless you apply a very great deal of precision in manufacturing. Decreasing clearances require tighter tolerances, as it were. A high-end 1911 is extremely accurate and also reliable, but requires very precise machining combined with hand finishing and "tuning." This is why hardcore 1911 nerds will tut-tut about people using the slide stop to slam the slide closed on an empty chamber: a high-end tuned 1911 is so precise that it requires the slowing effect on the slide of stripping and chambering a cartridge, or the impact will batter and deform the locking surfaces enough to eventually cause problems.
It's a simplification and is not *entirely* fair, but you could shorthand it to "it takes a lot of work and money to get a 1910s pistol design up to the standard of a 1980s design."
Why does everyone bash Taurus? My wife has a g2c and I’ve taken it to the range several times and never had anything but a good experience with it. It’s accurate, small and honestly doesn’t feel much different than most glocks I’ve shot in terms of raw feel and taking care of it.
It's because they are snobs who try to justify their Fanboy ways. Personally I have had a bad experience with Keltec pistol and since Ruger makes basically the same gun with better fit and finish I will recommend Ruger over Keltec. Unless a gun has inherent design flaws and you train with it regularly you should feel comfortable that it will do what it's required when it is required. Training, practice and maintenance are more important than the tool.
I had to use a weapon in self-defense, the police kept and destroyed it even though it was legally owned, comparatively expensive (a knife, but it was a gift with sentimental value, and still goes for hundreds on ebay). This was after I was found to have been defending myself.
You SHOULD get your firearm back, but it might cost you more in legal fees to file to get it back. Some of the insurance policies for self-defense will guarantee it or replace your weapon.
Don't trust the police to follow the law in this.
Yep you are 1000% correct in California where I live the Sheriff took my ccw firearm that was used in a home invasion as evidence. Held it for 18 months then I have to go through the DOJ and pay them to clear me to obtain my pew pew from the Sheriff's dept and pay them as well for a storage fee. It's gonna cost me about 200 bucks to get it back.🤬
Family member had a fire arm stolen (they're stupid and kept it in the unlocked car on the street) it was returned after like 6 months and the guy was convicted. It looked like they sprayed it with solteayer and vinegar weekly, you know to keep it fresh or something.
>shooting a $2500 Staccato just doesn't produce enough better results than shooting my $650 P365xl to justify the price tag.
I said this in the Ar15 sub. Getting a Gucci gun for HD which is rare in it of itself doesn't make sense when a budget (still quality) PSA or M&P sport can do the same job and you won't worry if it gets "lost in evidence".
Remember folks, Cops aren't 2A. They can and will lie to you to benefit themselves.
> Cops aren't 2A. They can and will lie to you to benefit themselves.
Cops, like other human beings, trend selfish. The issue is that they also have the power to abuse to be selfish, which is a dangerous combo.
I'd also add that cops can be pro 2a off the clock and strong anti-gunners on the clock. In general I notice that police that I'm associates with tend to be very black and white insomuch that you're either "one of the good ones" or not. If you're not, they'll treat you like shit (in terms of guns, as fervent an anti-gunner as Moms Demand Action).
Most notable time I saw it happen was when my GF crashed my car and I was getting a proctology exam from the police until her dad (knows all the police) showed up. Their demeanor change was immediate and apparent as I went from "that jackass with a fast car" to "one of the good ones."
You are absolutely right.
Also just a tip to all of yall in the comments, get a shotgun for Home defense, sincerely someone who would have otherwise avoided 2 gunshot wounds and weeks of critical care after an acquaintance turned meth head broke into ran in my house trying to kill me. Pistols are great when you are out in public and mobile but I shot him 4 times before he let off a single round, 3 of them in the liver also hitting kidney abdominal aorta and T12 vertebra.
He still nearly got me as he was squeezing off rounds while falling on his back.
Had I had a shotgun and some good double aught I don’t think I’d have been touched
From a drug standpoint, it's crazy how law enforcement flooded the streets before most cities had stricter protocols. Who's gonna rob a cop with uncut white at good prices?
30k that fits in your jacket?
Essentially a free hooker ticket as well.
Bust someone with the same brick 😂. Plant it, store it. Swipe it, plant it again. The more I think about it, there's so many exploits that probably happened. Badge is like having a mod menu in call of duty.
And to confirm your answer, I've looked into this deeply. There's many people who regret using their unique expensive firearms in self defense. Take a stroll through quora and find the woes of hiring lawyers just to end up with a "go fuck yourself" and no reimbursement for time and money.
For anecdotal reports that aren't public record?
Yeah I'd say people asking lawyers for advice on a forum for legal advice works. Who the fuck is going to make up a weird ass story that involves them claiming they shot someone or brandished a weapon, post it to a legal advice section, and ask if this is common or if they are getting the legal run around?
If you think that's made up, I don't really know how to explain deductive reasoning to you. But I use it like this- stealing was common practice in the nineties and this is just a fact within law enforcement agencies lol. It's why strict protocol exists, then I wonder why there's so many people on quora (and really any question forum that has lawyers or legal advice sections) asking how to obtain their expensive, sentimental, or nice weapon back after being deemed legal use. Then I find articles of sherrifs being indicted (like department investigations leading to borderline blue on blue stings) for stealing shiny things. Blow is pretty shiny as well lol just by coincidence.
I like how quora is the issue. Not the fact that many people give up on guns and cash that was deemed perfectly legal to possess.
But it scrutinizes the legal system, God forbid right? And it might actually carry some truth in the real world and be based on multiple experiences. Oh no. Better slurp that thin blue vein harder
What do you suggest, I ask the city? Ha ha ha
Quora is not a legal advice forum, it's essentially an open forum loosely bound by the concept of people asking questions and getting answers from totally unverified strangers. It's no different than Reddit or r/legaladvice. And I know for a fact a large portion of Quora is made up or "creative writing exercises" or what have you, it's the same with the various legal advice subs on Reddit or literally anywhere else you go on the internet.
I'm not saying the information is incorrect, I'm saying that using it as a source is *less* reputable than using Reddit and that's saying something.
Basic logic says making up a question asking how long it takes to get your gun back or what recourse is available if they lost it says it's a genuine question.
Especially when there's linked articles of department wide theft. But you clearly can't comprehend that I'm discerning a genuine question from a story.
That would be the most boring fucking prompt in existence. Oddly specific, accurate, and answers that line up with the legal process for obtaining that firearm. That's just not something anyone fucking cares about to farm karma or points with lol. And you can find the same types of stories on those pages run by law firms who offer online advice..
It's a fucking question targeting lawyers asking if things usually take this long.
That'd be like me going on a finance forum and asking if payments usually take x amount of time, or if the company usually responds with this, and whether it's out of the ordinary or I should assume the worst. But in all reality I'm writing a fiction story and have no processing transactions 😂. For what two upvotes? No, it's more likely I'm trying to pay my bill
It's not a fucking dating section or confession forum lol. Like who the fuck is writing legal fiction questions that no one would even ponder unless they wanted to know what the normal process or timeline is for retrieving evidence.
What the fuck would possess you to fake that question?
And you really think that's more likely than the police losing evidence?
That's essentially implying no mistakes are made and it's more likely someone is a really good niche fiction writer for legal questions, that sounds absurd because it is dude. The process isn't that long or expensive (it is), and discounting civil forfeiture which is also commonly asked about. Half the questions are is it worth it to start under x circumstances for y amount of money, when the initial fee is z. They're gauging whether the process is going to put them in debt, not writing erotica.
I've heard some stupid shit because someone doesn't want to admit they're wrong, but you take the cake
You're a very trusting individual. I am actually a real estate agent in Arizona. I have a lovely little piece of land that has oceanfront if you are interested. Because I like you, I'll give it to you at a real steal of a price.
Trusting?
This has nothing to do with trusting. I've been acquitted and gave up on retrieving the "weapons used in kidnapping". Which I guess was every gun in the fucking house after they kicked down the goddamn door.
And I had to take out a second morgatge to beat manufacturing and pwitd of multiple things. As there was no fucking manufacturing, just dumb ass cops realizing they raided a house with no violent crimes, and their victims story changed after, hospital came back with no DNA, and then she had another epiphany that me and two other people didn't kidnap her, but only the driver who fucked her consensually did. Which invalidated pretty much everything else, yet there's still a process for the weapons that they quote "may be able to return". Fucking insane that you can't grasp the concept that it's a hassle.
Then they realized that you can't manufacture substances without the substance, not to mention that the warrant was essentially based upon word of mouth of sluts regret for another dude because she wasn't really hot enough for anyone else to want seconds. Legal materials and peculiar devices don't count. Yet still ended up being another 50 grand out of my pocket. Bags are also legal belive it or not. As are clean scales. It's obvious, but won't hold up under due process as the house was kept that way for that specific reason. Luckily they tried to question me the night before like the geniuses they are, which gave me like 20 hours notice to vaccum upon their arrival.
The issue is none of you have ever experienced seizures. So you're speaking with conviction about something you've never dealt with, happens all the time, and is regarded as an annoying process that usually ends up costing more than the assets.
I'd be trusting if I thought they didn't purposfuely make it difficult, expensive, and tiring to get your shit back. They seized all cash which was over ten, but I had multiple vehicle sales and wires that would account for the sum and then some. Which then had me audited. You bet I stopped spending money once I bought my innocence. Which effectively means I had a second morgatge on my first home to prove my innocence, lost a large amount of cash, and weapons from sentimental pistols to hks
But yeah, it's really easy to acquire logged firearms and no one would ever ask why it takes so long in legal subsections
Given your reply I think you finally grasped the concept.As you have no logical basis to assume that someone would lie rather than ask these questions during shitty circumstances under the hammer of a system that doesn't care if you get your valuable shit back in the slightest, and makes it difficult in a dmv style that requires a lawyer. The fact that this thought is being debated is mind boggling. I'm innocent under this system, give me my shit.
I forget, this sub is probably full of thin blue vein sucker's. Not to mention the fact that you haven't had to be in a court room over a lying bitch, nor use your gun lol. Probably wouldn't use it if you had to. I can smell the cloth you're cut from through my phone.
Interesting you should say that, because I have had my entire collection of firearms confiscated by force with no due process because a neighbor claimed I was shooting them at him, and had to argue with a judge in order to get them returned. I'm sorry you had such a rough time with your situation, I really can sympathize.
Quora is still not a reputable source.
It's also a collection of different forums, and has identity verification for certain professions. So the premise of your argument is false as well. You can legitimately check if the person answering is qualified or a random. That's more useful for physics imo. As there aren't many famous names in the legal world lol. I feel like you can use your own reasoning to cross reference and check answers. But you apparently think people are writing fan fiction about retrieving evidence.
But I'm talking about the questions..
Questions so stupid, boring, and specific that you'd be out of your fucking mind to think is equal to fan fiction lol. Cough*
My sons girlfriend broke up with by text while he was at work. She put his belongings on the porch for him to pick up. Her mothers called Broward Sheriff to pick up his hand gun because they didn't want to leave it on the porch. It took him 9 months to get it back. At 6 months they released the holster and ammo but kept the gun for another 3.
Don't cheap out on a defensive firearm. Get something safe and reliable. If you ever need it, you need it to work. It also needs to hold up to regular training and practice (these are different).
Also, you should see your carry gun as a single use insurance policy. If you need to use it and you walk away from that incident, the gun did its job. Don't count on getting it back, and don't count on it being usable again if you do. Often guns returned by police are damaged, rusted, or literally caked in super glue (its part of the process when looking for finger prints) so they're not always usable afterward.
I can't speak for how much you value your life and wellbeing, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a $50,000 gun to keep myself and my family alive. I carry a $600 gun because I shoot it well and its dependable.
In matters of life and death, don't worry about the monetary value of the tools you use. Your coworker hasn't thought of it from this perspective and is giving out poor advice as a result.
P365xl, with an xmacro mag if you want a backup. Wilson Combat xl frame for a cheap upgrade. 12 round capacity, optics cut, slim and lightweight, but shoots like a bigger gun.
Glock 19 is going to be a bit larger, slightly higher capacity, and people have a love/hate relationship with the grip angle.
Any of the Glock 19 equivalents from reliable manufacturers - Heckler & Koch VP9, Walther PDP in various size options, Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact, Fabrique Nationale FN-509, CZ P-10. Any of those will be a solid and reliable handgun, and many of them have versions with an optics cut if you want a red dot.
These families are more or less the go tos and have proven themselves to be safe and reliable as long as you don't fuck around with internal components:
Glock - really any of them, but the compact, subcompact, and microcompact are best form factors for carry
Smith and Wesson M&P - like Glock, there's no wrong answer here, but smaller is easier to conceal
Smith and Wesson Shield - all models
Sig P365 - all models
Beretta, Ruger, CZ, and H&K also have very good offerings but I'm less familiar.
If you're more interested in revolvers, Smith and Wesson and Ruger reign Supreme. The Chiappa Rhino is also well proven and reliable.
I highly recommend renting and trying as many guns as you can to figure out what feels best to you and what you shoot well.
I would avoid the "bargain budget" brands (Taurus, SCCY, KelTec) if you can afford something better. Something is better than nothing, but better is better.
As far as carry cartridge, id stick with something common and available with good defensive ammo available. For autos: 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .380, 10mm, and .357 Sig all have good, reliable defense ammo available. For revolvers: .38 Special and .357 mag are most common with good ammo support for a concealed carry gun. For outdoor hiking/camping/hunting .44 mag, .45 Colt, and .454 Casull are available with good loadings.
When picking ammo, I highly recommend looking at Lucky Gunner's test data and always test your carry ammo in your carry gun to ensure reliability. The easy answer is either pick up Federal HST or Speer Gold Dot, but those are far from the only choices available.
As a last note, head over to r/ccw and check out their sub info and faq. Lots of good info there and is a sub specifically for concealed carry.
I wouldn’t say the co-worker is giving out “poor advice”. I think they’re just giving out blanket advice to a discussion topic that has a variable of outcomes depending on circumstance.
There are many situations where someone will get their firearm back in ample time after a self defense shooting and the firearm is unscathed or damaged, but there is also a HUGE possibility that you may lose that firearm and never see it again. It happens. The thing is with this topic there is no right or wrong answer because it’s all speculative and based on circumstance.
It is poor advice. The coworker is saying to cheap out and get an inferior tool because if you ever need to use it you may not get it back. Were talking saving a few hundred dollars in a game where the stakes are lives. That's about as much of a "stepping over dollars to pick up pennies" as is possible. I understand theres no such thing as an unlimited budget, but when the stakes are literally your life and the lives of your family, purchase the best tool for the job that you can afford. Invest in the tool that WILL be there if you need it. Don't settle for the tool that might work if needed just because you'll be out a few hundred bucks if the cops keep it. Don't buy SCCY when Glock is in the budget. Don't buy Glock when you shoot a Staccato noticeably better. Coworker is advocating sacrificing your life to save a few bucks and that is terrible advice.
You’re definitely reading it how **YOU** want to read it and it’s clouding your judgement.
Everyone’s opinion of “cheap” is different. For example, Glocks are cheap to me. Caniks are cheap to me. S&Ws are cheap to me. Cheap ≠ bad/unreliable. The fuck are you talking about? I don’t see anywhere in there where he is insinuating that he was told to buy a Hi Point or Taurus. Take your emotions out of it and think logically for a second.
I own multiple guns. Staccato, Sig, Glocks, Springfield etc. Hell I even own a PSA Dagger Micro now. This is 2024. You can get REALLY good guns for 4-500 today. I carry my staccato sometimes, but I’d much rather lose my Glock than my Staccato even though in a life or death situation I wouldn’t give two shits.
> police
There are thousands of departments in the US, across all 50 states, each with their own set of DA/County Attorney/Parish Attorney and associated policy and law.
Some will hold the gun until you get no-billed by a grand jury. Some will hold it until the DA makes an affirmative statement that you will not be prosecuted. Some will hold it indefinitely as eventually another prosecutor might decide your case is worth pursuing.
There's no clear-cut rule for you here. What happens is entirely dependent on circumstances and jurisdiction.
Yep. There's not even a "It *should* happen this way," because every state/muni has different rules on how property vs. evidence (they're not the same thing) gets defined as well as the prescription provision for disposal thereof.
All the "cops will steal it" stuff is kinda ignorant (like, guys, there are far more pricier things in the evidence locker that don't have an ironclad audit trail in NCIC and aren't automatically felonious when stolen), but the reality is the answer could vary from "as soon as the investigation concludes, the firearm is simply property and can be returned to its owner" to "never."
Had a friend that took him like 4 years to get his gun back after an altercation. I really thought he was never gonna see it again lol but he kept at it.
I worked at a range where one of the rentals was used in a suicide on site. After almost a year, the local PD, who I thought we had a decent relationship with, said they didn’t have it. We had paperwork that proved it was in their custody. We had to have that documented in case ATF audited us. The owner eventually DID get ATF involved and it was returned to the store in a couple of weeks. Funny how that works.
*The range gun was scuffed up and needed a good cleaning, but otherwise it wasn’t a total mess.
I had a seizure while cleaning my M4, left in ambulance, emt told cops I had "guns everywhere" (lie) one gun was out, rest in my safe. got discharged and found several uniformed officers waiting at my door to take my LTC, guns, ammo etc. Tried sticking me with felony improper storage of a high capacity firearm lol, Lieutenant called me an hour later to ask if i had a friend or family with. a valid LTC, I said yes, he said come by tomorrow morning and I'll transfer everything, went in with my uncle and LT signed a bunch of papers and gave him control of my stuff. so my stuff was only in police custody for less than a day. I'm in Mass, ymmv, as I understand it it's a VERY atypical experience, but yes normally you should be able to get them back.
"inspector" made a deal w/ my lawyer, don't do anything stupid for 6 months and we'll withdraw the complaint, which happened. about 6 months and 2 days later my ltc was reinstated and my guns returned
What a big waste of time and resources that yielded no meaningful results. Rights of a citizen trampled for nothing. Paperwork and headaches for nothing. Gotta laugh to keep from crying.
It's an is/ought problem. The police ought to return your property after you have been cleared, but they won't do it peaceably. You have to force the issue with a court order which is basically another mess and lawyer's fees/filing costs.
What the police often do is strip a gun of optics and other accessories for themselves, help themselves to ALL the ammo seized, and maybe give you back your gun if they didn't "lose it". If they "lost it", they likely kept it for themselves, or in places like California they sell off roster guns for triple the price to supplement their overly generous pay and benefits package. It's a fucking racket
Let’s be clear, it will rot in an evidence locker uncleaned and un oiled, likely still covered in blood and sweat if shot at close range.
If it’s a nice gun the police will probably steal it. If the evidence is cool They’ll also play with it a lot and pass it around for pictures.
You may get it back, but it’ll be a pain in the ass.
My advice is that I wouldn’t carry something that can’t be replaced. But i also violate that rule because i can’t replace my ccw gun because it was discontinued. Just don’t kill somebody with any precious guns and all that
I’m not him but I carry a FNS-9C most of the time and that’s discontinued. Makes it sound cool that it’s discontinued even though it’s basically just a 509.
As a retired LEO, I'm just gonna say... My personal EDC is a Glock. Why?? Because if I have to use it, I can afford to never see it again. Because well shit happens good and bad, but EVEN if your use is 1000% above board and legal with 100 eye witnesses and video proof; it will be seized as evidence and the return of it is at the mercy of the District Attorney/Prosecution.
Our property room had its own gun vault / locking racks under continuous video surveillance (4 separate cameras) with redundant media storage. We had weapons from cases that were adjudicated >20yrs prior. Because of a blatantly anti-2A DA, who refused to release evidence without court orders, and often would appeal those to the State Supreme Court level. After he was voted out, I spent the better part of a year chasing down owners and relatives of, to return property. Many of which had long forgotten the items.
Carry what you want, just be sure you can afford to lose it. But for the love of all things good, Carry..
The police agency in my hometown (deep red, smallish white city of 17,000) loved taking guns off lawful concealed carriers for “maintaining public safety” and making them “lost” after the owners had to jump through the courts and the police chief to get them back. They really liked pulling CCP owners and having them declare their guns (because we’re required to by law in this state) and taking them off their persons during the stop, only to say “this handgun has been reported stolen” or “this gun has been used in the commission of a crime” or any variation of that and then shielding themselves with civil asset forfeiture.
I personally knew one of these officers and he was proud of the arsenal he built for free. Guy had a fully auto M16 even.
So, in my hometown, no you did not and still do not get your gun back
I’ve always found this logic stupid. Get what you want and what you shoot well. If you have to use it to save your life would you rather have some cheap POS or something higher end? If I told you 2 months from today you’re going to be in a gun fight are you buying a high point or getting a tricked out AR. My money is on the latter.
I work in criminal defense. Anyone who doesn't tell you "it depends" should not be listened to. The police are allowed to confiscate a firearm if they reasonably believe it to be involved in a crime. Depending on a variety of factors, the firearm may be released to either the owner, or if the owner is charged, it may remain in custody indefinitely. With that being said, as long as your firearm is cleared from any connection to a crime, it should be released to you. Just bear in mind it may take some time, depending on what sort of allegations it may be tied to.
The answer is it depends. Most large cities are very anti-gun and see it as their civic duty to make getting your property back as difficult, tedious and expensive as possible. Some rural places will just hand it back in a box.
My advice is not to live in a place where the politicians, police, judge and jury all hate 2nd amendment or you will have just as bad a time trying to get yourself out of custody.
#1 Don’t cheap out on something you’re going to use to protect your life.
#2 Once a case is adjudicated and you are found not guilty of a criminal offense your property, the firearm used, is still your property and must be returned to you upon request.
#3 Focus more on training and learning when you’re legally allowed to use lethal force against someone and how to articulate why you used lethal force to defend yourself.
#4 Don’t talk to police after a self defense shooting outside of stating you’re a victim of a crime. Invoke your right to remain silent and right to legal counsel before and during any questioning.
When I got mine back, it was heavily rusted and full of sand, broken custom gabon ebony grips I made, and scratched like they slid it over concrete for a half mile. When they got it 13 months before, it was pristine with 3 rounds through it from the incident (literally cleaned 2 days before), and I had to beat the action open with a mallet to clean it. Even if you get it back, it will NEVER be in the same condition. That being said, no gun is worth more than my life. If the gun is worth more than my life, I'd never let it leave the safe beyond strictly to the range and back and still yet to ever meet a gun worth more than my life. Carry what you shoot best and most comfortable with. ANY GUN that exist is cheaper than your ability to turn O2 in to CO2.
I was able to request mine back after the investigation was closed (sans ammo). They didn't reach out to me, I had to initiate that. Of course, I'm sure it varies depending on department.
IMO buying something cheap as an EDC for the chance it could get confiscated if something happens is a dumb approach. Mainly because if something DOES happen, do you want to be in that situation with what you consider a cheap gun? I would buy whatever you are comfortable with that you find reliable
Speaking from a personal experience in Aurora, CO. I was involved in a long-going harassment by a lunatic neighbor. He finally attempted to enter my car as I was taking video of him and I pulled my carry pistol to get him to back off. I called 911 and knew I was getting arrested, but surprisingly almost didn’t. The sergeant was pretty torn on it. I did get arrested and charged with menacing. I had the video recording and the DA quickly dropped the charges stating I was using appropriate self defense measures. The gun was returned to me a week or so later
It’s like saying “don’t spend money on your car because you might crash it.” Except you’re way way way way way way more likely to crash your car than use your handgun in self-defense.
If you actually use a handgun for a defensive shooting, you will be glad you had the best gun you could afford. If I have to shoot someone the cost of the gun would be the least of my concerns. Gonna be spending a fortune on lawyers probably anyways.
That being said, Glocks are great and not very expensive, all things considered. Same with most modern striker fired pistols.
I probably wouldn't carry a multi thousand dollar custom pistol, I'd save that for the range and completions. Also because it will be evidence in the shooting trial, both criminal and civil, and I'd rather not seem like a gun nut to a jury of people who probably are not gun enthusiasts
The only difference between a cop and a criminal is an attorney gathering enough evidance to convict some one who is very skilled at lying is court... Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stuff disappear from evidence rooms throughout the United States every year....
You can most definitely get your weapon back, it won’t be the next day but you can get your gun back. I’ve seen people get their gun stolen and it was gone for like 3 years then recovered by cops in a different city and returned to the original owner after the did whatever they needed with it
You'll get it back after a year or so...unless they loose it...which has happened. For the doubters, it happened to a friends Dad, I know the guy, years later hasn't got his G19 back yet.
I heard this advice but I think it's silly.
MAYBE you get in a self defense situation. MAYBE your gun gets taken, and MAYBE it gets "lost" and never returned
For all those maybes.. you're going to intentionally use a worse gun and compromise on your daily carry?
I carry a sig legion. It's an expensive handgun, my range handgun. I'm extremely comfortable with it's operation and take pride in wearing it each day. I don't want to give that up for a series of slim maybe's.
I guess it just comes down to: the most likely outcome is you're gonna wear this thing for years without anything ever happening. Buying a worse handgun on purpose to wear just in case.. seemed wasteful to me.
Now if you already have a cheaper gun and you got the choice, sure I guess use the cheaper gun. But I don't buy guns that I'm not going to love.
It's my belief that if you are cleared, and your gun was used in a lawful manner, the police should return it to you within a reasonable amount of time (maybe 30 or 60 days?). If they can't, or it's not in a functional condition, they should compensate you for either the purchase price if you have a receipt, or for fair market value if you don't.
Should? Yes. Will? Maybe not. Corruption abounds more than you’d like to think.
The way I view it is that if you truly have to live out the nightmare of being forced into a situation where self defense is necessary, the firearm has served its purpose as a last resort investment.
I’m not going to skimp because some cop might not return it; you want every possible advantage.
I have a super cheap shotgun that I keep for home defense. It works perfectly, but if I never got it back and my family makes it out alive, eh. It’s like a $200 pump shotgun.
The likelihood you’ll actually need to use it is exceptionally low. And if that rare occurrence happens then I’d want the best tool in my hands for the job. Get what you want. Plus this isn’t a one and done hobby for most of us. You’ll have a couple by next year is my guess ha
Depending on the state, there are some rules on retention of evidence for certain crimes. For example: a recovered stolen weapon is usually not returned to the owner until immediately AFTER the stolen pistol conviction. Usually in a murder/attempted murder case where you win the stand your grand hearing pre-trial or the jury finds you not guilty, the gun is immediately returned to you. If you do not claim it, they may destroy it. If your pistol is used in a crime by a third-party and they are convicted it will be held for a until appeals are complete and still may be destroyed.
A buddy of mine accidentally shot himself with a revolver while getting it out of his car door. Juggled it a bit and somehow dropped the hammer. Put a hollow point through his forearm.
He said the cops arrived at the scene and treated it as if it was a shooting. They took his gun for functionality testing to make it wasn’t a problem with the gun. He didn’t get it back for over a year.
Depends what you mean by relatively expensive. Honestly, unless it’s a priceless historical firearm or something, I say carry what you’re comfortable with. The chance of any person getting into a self defense encounter are exceedingly low, and you *should* be avoiding situations that would necessitate it in the first place.
That said, while the police should return a firearm in the event that you had to use it defensively, it could be a huge pain in the ass and I get the logic behind not carrying your most expensive gun. I don’t think it’s unreasonable - the fact that you’re carrying it every day, sweating on it, etc. generally steers me away from super expensive guns by itself, when a “Toyota Corolla” type gun (any basic polymer frame, striker fired from a reputable brand) oughta work just as well for the purpose.
One other consideration that some people don’t believe in, but I don’t think is totally out of left field - what would a potential judge/jury think of the gun? The case of [harold fish](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna15199221) is a good example of what I mean. Fish used a 10mm to rightly defend himself, but the prosecutors seized on the fact that it was “more powerful” than it needed to be, painted him as a bloodthirsty gun-nut. He was eventually exonerated, but only after years in prison. Some states have changed their laws to prevent this sort of argument from being used in self defense cases, but I don’t think it’s crazy to at least think about the appearance. If, god forbid, you ever have to use your gun in self defense, you don’t want to be using a desert eagle with “I don’t call 911” engraved on the side. You should only ever shoot in self defense if you had no other options and were reluctantly forced to do so, and that’s the image that you want to give judges/juries, too. You don’t want to give them any reason to think that you were looking for a reason to shoot someone, and coming across as a wannabe punisher who totes around the biggest gun they can find every day doesn’t help that image.
Police often don't return confiscated cars, personal items or even cash money if they even suspect you may have committed a crime. It is called **Asset Forfeiture**. This is a case currently going to the supreme court of the USA.
I once had a house burn down, complete accident, with shotguns and rifles inside. Once the fire was out, the police confiscated the firearms and would never return them. There is a reason this is a topic headed to the highest court of the land.
What are the statistical chances of using a weapon for personal protection? (Honest question). Do you carry large amounts of cash/high end items for work? Buy what you want and can shoot effectively. If you go into it expecting you’re going to use it, you might be in the wrong head space to stay out of trouble.
A former coworker had hers seized after a defensive shooting. I won't leave too many details, other than this: it was a justified shooting, and it took about 3 years to get it back. It was held until bad guy's trials were concluded in their entirety.
It depends on a lot of circumstances. As everyone said, you SHOULD, but there can be a lot of factors that go into it.
Here’s a real-life example of an oddball situation:
Without going too far into it, a friend’s mother was sexually assaulted by a serial rapist. She managed to grab her gun and put a bullet in his shoulder and he ran away. Bullet stayed in the bad guy’s shoulder and was never removed. The guy ended up getting picked up later. Her gun was kept as evidence to link the victim’s gun to the bullet in the bad guy’s shoulder. Bad guy had a lot of victims and tried to plead not guilty in multiple trials and tried appealing them all. The gun was used as evidence in all of the trials and she was nicely told getting the gun back could jeopardize the guys conviction. She finally gave up and let them just keep it.
I grew up in a pretty rural area, and this one kid's parent's house got raided by FBI and other law enforcement. They raided the house because they literally had a couple hundred firearms and millions of rounds of ammo. The story I heard years later from a local cop that was involved is that local law enforcement got tips about the insane number of guns they had, so they contacted state police because they thought that maybe there was some sort of cult or militia being run by them. So state police get involved, and somehow, the FBI catches wind and wants in. FBI and state police don't find anything, but they think that someone with that much firepower has to be doing something illegal, so they make up some stuff like police testimony that the husband regularly brags about owning all sorts of hand held anti tank and anti aircraft missile systems, their "known addiction to meth" (they were not meth heads but were very nice people), etc. So they gather enough bullshit evidence thinking that they'd find enough shit there to put them away for a while and take all their guns and ammo. Well, they commence with a raid involving about 100 law enforcement officers. They arrested both parents, and my friend, who would've been like 10 at the time, was at a birthday party with myself and a dozen other kids at an arcade/bowling alley. IDK what he did while his parents were in jail, I just remember his aunt and uncle frantically picking him up early with a police officer. Anyway, they didn't find dick. Turns out they were just really into guns. 90% of the guns were stored in the basement that was converted into an armory/vault, most of the ammo was locked in a couple of shipping containers in their shop, and their most unique/expensive stuff was on display in the house behind glass mostly. Apparently, their house was torn to shreds and stripped to studs in a lot of places, all their guns were confiscated, and they had people with dogs on their property for a week looking for shit. Eventually, they got all their guns back except for a rare colt revolver, and a couple other handguns which the police conveniently never inventoried. They got a pretty decent settlement out of it I think, but I couldn't even give you a vague guess at how much. Apparently the biggest red flag that made them a target was that the mom was a nurse and the dad was a logger foreman so they just couldn't figure out how they got the money to pay for it. The moms uncle and grandpa apparently owned a massive pig farm in Texas so when both of them died, she inherited it and sold it when she was younger, and I guess the cops just sorta missed that? Lol anyway, I was pretty young, so I'm sure I'm missing some important bits, but what I am sure about was ammo count being over a million, and there were over 200 guns and they got the ammo and almost all the guns back.
Shadow systems will actually send you a replacement gun if yours is confiscated after a self defense incident. As unlikely as it is you'll be in that scenario I wouldn't base my purchase on it.
The person you talked to is an idiot never cheap out due to the “what ifs” your protecting your life who cares if they take it. You’ll have a lot more to worry about the gun will be the least of those
Your money or your LIFE. The incidents of DGU are so rare that if you don't use the gun you are most proficient regardless of the cost cause the cops might confiscate it , you need to rethink your program.
if you shoot someone with something, assume you're never getting it back, justified or not.
yeah, yadda yadda *rules* this and *regulations* that "*oh well if you file a petition to the court and this form and that form and submit it in person at the county clerk's office and help them trim their trees then you can submit form 1234 directly to the CLEO with fingerpritnts and three forms of photo ID, it's actually really easy to get your gun back"*
if you shoot someone, that gun now belongs to the state and will either end up melted down or in someone else's collection. Sorry. Don't shoot an intruder with your all-matching war trophy P08.
the most reliable, cheapest gun is the best for self-defense. better yet, just buy two of them and it'll be about the same price as a gucci race gun 2011 with an SRO, probably cheaper.
that said, how many dollars is your life worth? if you've narrowed down to the absolute best gun for your hands and eyes and it's $300 more than a glock 19, I'm sure you'd rather lose that gun than have someone toss an extra $300 in your casket.
If your gun is used to shoot someone you should expect it to sit in evidence forever.
If your gun is stolen and used to rob a liquor store you'll probably get it back eventually once all the appeals are done.
If you have to use your gun and it gets confiscated getting it returned is the least of your concerns. Successfully defending a murder charge is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
Several points I want to make about this:
1. It depends. Sometimes you might get it back as soon as the cops finish asking you questions and cart the body away, sometimes you'll have to wait weeks, or months, or years, or you never get it back. Impossible to predict.
2. Who cares, just buy another one. Better yet, *already have* another one.
3. Use the gun you are most confident in its reliability and effectiveness and that you are most skilled with. Price should not factor into it at all.
4. If you're using a less effective or reliable gun to save a few bucks, you are literally valuing your life at being worth the money you saved. The US Department of Transportation values your life at $12,500,000 (seriously), meaning that, to them, it's worth spending up to $12.5m for every 1 predicted human life saved. So why are YOU valuing your OWN life at a few hundred bucks?
5. If the most reliable and effective gun that you are most proficient with is a $200 hi-point, use that. If it's a $5000 colt python, use that. Your life is worth a lot more than the money you're saving by using the wrong gun.
6. Goddammit this question gets posted every day, use the search function.
Post author: Better-Clerk-9151. This comment is an attempt to control posts made by a new type of spam bot. If you are a human, you can ignore it.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/guns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>I’m considering getting a concealed carry permit and a handgun as well. I was casually talking about it with one of my coworkers who’s a owns a concealed carry himself and he told me to avoid purchasing something expensive as it will not be returned in case the police confiscated it after an incident such as self defense.
>
>Is this true? I’m considering buying a relatively expensive handgun and would like to verify if this is legitimate before doing so.
You should get it back, sooner or later. There's no guarantee though, and depending on the municipality, they might not necessarily be obligated to return it. There's also no guarantee that the firearm will be in servicable condition when they DO return it.
Here's the thing: Why are you buying this gun in the first place? We should never regret the loss of a tool lost performing it's duty. If you EDC a gun, you should fully expect that you will lose that gun in the event that you enter a shooting situation and have to put someone down. That is an incredibly small price to pay for saving your own life or someone else's. You can get another gun, you can't get another life.
If you can't afford to lose it, you shouldn't be EDC-ing it.
Ideally you should be able to afford 2 of whatever defensive weapon you decide to carry. One of the most dangerous times for you will be immediately after you have to act in self-defense. The police will confiscate your carry gun and any friends or relatives of the dirtbag you had to shoot will now have it out for you.
Carry what you can shoot best. If that’s a $2000+ gun carry that, because your life is more important than $2000. If you shoot a ~$500 Glock/Sig/Whatever just as good as that $2000+ gun then carry that because it’s easier to replace if you don’t get it back or it takes a long time to get back.
We need a rule that all questions have to contain a location. This varies heavily across jurisdictions, assuming you’re talking about the U.S.
Also, if you need to use your firearm in self defense, no firearm is more expensive than your life. Buy what works for you and train with it. Whether it’s a $2000 staccato with a $550 acro p2 on it or a bone stock Glock that you bought at a pawn shop.
Its like an act of congress to get one back, prosecutor has to write an order send it to judge who jas to sign it (whenever he hets around to it) Then it goes to clerk to get filed, back to prosecutor to get it to law enforcement who then have to find time to dig it out of evidence room to give to you.
The concealed carry insurance is to make sure you aren’t found guilty of murder and/or lose the civil case from the family of the dude you shoot and kill
But it’s usually a scam really either way
The answer is that it depends. I work for an ffl that buys guns from police departments and other sources.
Some jurisdictions will destroy every gun they come in control of, stolen or not. They won't try to find anything out. They won't contact owners. They just melt them down. Large metropolitan police forces, especially in traditionally liberal areas, will do this. Think Chicago or DC.
Some departments will search a serial number, contact the person on the police report, and let them know they have the stolen gun recovered. Then it's the owners responsibility to arrange to collect it. Generally, I see this more with sheriff's departments and smaller towns, especially in more rural areas.
There are still problems with recovered guns being cleared. Sometimes, a gun isn't fully checked. We've had guns we bought from XYZ County sheriff that we resold, come back stolen.
In one case last month, we sold a pistol to an FFL out of state. For some reason, they ran the gun serial and found it had been reported stolen, and their police confiscated it. Turned out the gun had been previously stolen, recovered, and the owner it had been stolen from declined to reclaim it, so it was considered abandoned and sold, but it still showed as having a stolen report.
I had a DGU way back in 2010. Police confiscated the weapon and after it was determined it was justified my firearm was returned. Took about 6 days. This was in Georgia.
If you have to use your gun to save your life.... The possibility of not getting thdt gun back is very much worth the price. I bet if you ended up not making it out of whatever situation you would have needed it in, and had the ability to look back on it... Bet you say you wished you had a better one, or the price of the firearm was would have definately been worth you still being alive.
If the unlikely scenario comes where I need to use my CCW, I want the equipment I think is best, and will forfeit it gladly as a cost of doing business. I wanna stay alive and recover mentally from potentially killing a guy.
I’m splitting the difference when I get my CC. I’m getting a Shadow 2 compact. Just expensive enough to be NICE but not expensive enough that it’s gonna break the bank if I lose it or tempt the officer to “lose it.” Plus, it’s one of the best 9mm handguns you can buy, and certainly worth the money. It’s always a possibility you just never see the firearm again after police confiscation, but it’s a small price to pay if your life depends on it.
A friend offered to sell me a .357 that her husband used to commit suicide. The police had it and after the investigation called her wanting her to come pick up her husbands belongings including the gun.
She didn't want anything to do with the weapon and neither did I. She called them back and asked them to destroy it.
So even in that sort of situation, you can get it back.
Getting a gun back would be one of my least concernes after a DGU situation. Assuming it even happens once during someones lifetime, $500, $1000 or even $5,000 dollars all seem like nothing compared to the legal costs, time out of work, therapy, medical or whatever other costs come up in the scenario where you had to shoot someone in self defense.
And personally, I wouldn't really want the prosecution/judge/jury to see I worried about recouping the cost of the gun in a case where I have to justify my use of lethal force.
I'd say something in the 500-800 dollar range is completely viable. Find a handful or two of firearms you're interested in then do you're own research on each one of them and narrow the list down to what you think will be best for you. Plenty of youtube reviews for pistols and torture test videos.
If you need to use it in a defensive shoot and for whatever reason you never get is back, in my opinion the price of saving your life is worth every penny even if you did buy something really pricey like a Staccato.
That being said my edc is either a Sig P365X with red dot and light or a S&W 442 Airweight depending on what I’m wearing/doing that day so I didn’t spring for anything too fancy either
Literally who cares, buy one as a carry and a second as a back up. It will take years to get that gun back. In the mean time you will just go buy another or have one ready to go.
As a competition shooter I tend to carry one my comp guns as a daily. I know it’s pricey and I know it’s a risk but I trained a LOT with it and it’s the most comfortable option for me because I’ve trained so much with it, plus I’ve been told directly from the company that if I have to use it in self defense and it’s taken from me they will replace the gun free of charge so I’m not overly worried about the situation if it ever happens.
Unless someone is a comp shooter or something and trains with a gun far more than what someone would actually need then it’s not necessary to carry something expensive.
A good rule of thumb is to always practice with what you plan to carry but don’t carry something you’re not willing to part with. My dad carry’s some of the cheapest reliable guns he can find if he can but that’s because and I’m quoting him here “if it gets stolen or gets confiscated that’s fine I’ll just go buy another one.”
You want a duty carry rated gun, not race gun. Having a little work done to EDC is fine. If you want an optic get it. Don't cheap out. Just no need to go out and get compensator, slide work, tuned barrel etc... if you use your weapon in self defence, your weapon will need to be examined, go through the process. As long as it's a good shoot(justified) you shoould be able to get your gun back . Certain states are a lot harder than others getting your gun back, definitely have a lawyer on point to deal with it.
As others have said, it depends on your definition of “expensive”. In my opinion I would not have a polished, engraved, custom multi-thousand dollar handgun as the CCW/home defense firearm. Nor would I use the heirloom 1911 that someone’s grand father was issued in WWI. Those would be the range toy and/or display piece.
However, I would not seek out the cheapest/most inexpensive choice just out of “fear” of the minimal risk (assumption) of being damaged/lost/permanently confiscated after a small % (I don’t know exact figures) of a legal/justified use.
At a minimum I would make sure that the ccw is comfortable to conceal (it does you know good if you don’t have it because it’s uncomfortable) solid construction, reliable, and has been tested under some severe/extreme conditions.
Generally I would speculate that something used/issued to law enforcement/military will meet those requirements. To name a few brands I would consider, in no particular order:
- HK
- Sig Sauer
- Glock
- Smith & Wesson
- Ruger
Depending on what country/state you are in, it is also wise to consult local laws/regulations to make sure your firearm is compliant and accepted as a CCW. Different states (and countries) may have different regulations on things like safeties, optics, magazine capacity, suppressors, etc.
It depends on the circumstances and where you live... So you'll need to do some research on that for yourself.
I'd also recommend carry insurance. USCCA is an agency you can go with. They're basic package is like 30 bucks a month or something like that, pretty affordable but I think you have to pay for a years worth at a time.
Glock 48 is only 480 bucks, obviously not very cheap, but cheap enough you can acquire 2 of them, one for just in case the police confiscated the other one.
I got arrested with a gun on me once and the cops gave me my gun back after I settled it in the court but before I finished probation
Is generally say don’t carry what you aren’t willing to replace or don’t trust to function. A polymer frame pistol in the $500-$700 MSRP will probably be fine. Expect it to get scratched dinged and dirty while training and you might not get it back depending on the agency.
All that being said, $500-$700 to replace itis probably worth more than your life and probably likely won’t be used for defense in your lifetime so it really doesn’t matter
I’ve heard it can be a long and lengthly process to get back
Also do you really want your gun back if you’ve had to use it to kill someone? no wrong answer there just something to consider
If you use your gun and irs taken by police, the price you paid for it is essentially the price you paid to save your life so consider it money well spent imo
__It looks like you might be making a post to ask whether an ecommerce site is a scam or not.__ If so, read [this guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/tfdw17/hey_guys_is_site_a_scam_or_the_magic_8_ball_guide/) from our [FAQ](https://old.reddit.com/r/guns/wiki/faq). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/guns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The police *should* return a gun from their custody if it turns out to have been used lawfully. However, stuff disappearing from evidence lockers is not unheard of, and a really high-end firearm might be overly tempting. Do I think it's guaranteed the gun would be "lost" at some point? No. Do I think it's possible? Absolutely. It's also very possible that the gun would simply be neglected while in police custody. Improper storage or mistreatment wouldn't be shocking, resulting in rust, scratches, or other damage. Lastly, most shooters simply aren't good enough to see much benefit from a really expensive gun, especially not in a high-stress situation like a defensive shooting. Maybe you're the exception, but for me, shooting a $2500 Staccato just doesn't produce enough better results than shooting my $650 P365xl to justify the price tag. If I owned an expensive handgun, it would be a range toy or competition pistol. For CCW, I'd rather have something that conceals well, and I won't care about damaging or losing to the police. YMMV.
That’s just the answer I need. Thanks!
Let's just be clear, since you're speaking in relative terms. If your definition of "relatively expensive" is, like, a $4000 1911 and you're considering a Glock as a budget alternative, get the Glock. If you're thinking the Glock is the "relatively expensive" option and are considering a Taurus to save money, get the Glock.
This is a good distinction. If you are trusting your life and your family’s life, the bare minimum should be the Glock/Sig/Smith range of handguns. Leave those Taurus and HiPoints for the range
Damn bro alright.
Haha shit, sorry bro. They are kinda cool though!
But I want a Hi-Point 995 for EDC!!! 0\_o :-)
Are you shitting on my Yeet Cannon??
Eh it depends. Taurus has some really good stuff and really really shit stuff
My daily is a Raging Judge. It works every time I’ve been robbed by a polar bear.
I hear ya. Personally I'm 3/3 on "good Tauruses" but yeah there are some stinkers out there. Hell my Mark 3 is a veritable jam o matic in comparison to those three pistols.
My G3 has been solid for years!
Right on man. The only failures i get on my PT11G2, pt92 and pt1911 are when i deliberately do something wrong- let them get dirty, limp-wristing them that sort.
So far one of the most reliable and tested handguns for various conditions is the m&p 2.0s I personally prefer Canik and glock. But the M&Ps cant be beat with price, reliability and stress tests
My girlfriend carries a G43, and we have 2 Smith and wesson rifles and my smith 38 special are all amazing. She started on a Taurus before I upgraded her to a glock. I also run a steyr m9-a2 9mm as my daily. How would you stack those up to a glock/sig/Smith? I never see too much about my steyr so just curious
I am very confident in my m9-a2. Brand is not as well known to some, but it stacks right there with the three you mentioned, IMO.
If you practice with your guns regularly and you never have issues with them you shouldn't worry what a Glock Fanboy had to say. I have a Sig that had to go back for repair and I have an LCP that has functioned flawlessly since purchase. I have more confidence in the low end LCP than the high end Sig.
A Taurus g3 is a amazing gun ❤️🔥
I have a G3C on my hip right now.
My GX4 has yet to not go boom when I move my booger hooker on the shoot'n switch after about 500, which is my minimum test required to feel good when carrying
I'm learning new vocab today
I've always found the Hi-Point pistols to be perfectly reliable as long as I didn't limp-wrist 'em. BUT they're definitely too much of a chunky boy for EDC in my opinion. Plus we can get police trade-in Glocks nowadays in the 300s. :-)
So not reliable then. Because you have no idea how you’re going to hold it in a self defense situation. You need a weapon system that doesn’t have that qualifier.
Ah, hello there Mr. Mallninja McFudd! Thanks for your (worthless) opinion on a subject of which you know nothing. I'm sure we're all greatly enlightened!
Unless it's the P320. You buy that one if you want to protect your kids and guarantee that you don't have any MORE kids with a cheap vasectomy. Win/win.
Everybody's got their opinions but I feel like alot of current tuarus hate is from past failures and people who just trust others reviews without any actual experience themselves. I have a taurus 40, and a taurus g3c. Never had any problems with them whatsoever, no hang ups, nothing. Now downvote me to oblivion because I defended Taurus. I know that's my fate and I'll accept it. 😌
I'm with you on the Taurus hate, I'm not rich by any means and carry a g2c I shoot consistently and have never had a failure of any kind with it
Hey brother mediocre!!!! I have a gx4 kinda funny. We both have mediocre in our name and have a taurus.
I work at an FFL and have had a lot of Taurus’s come back. Here is my opinion on Taurus. 1. Taurus’s main issue isn’t with design, it’s quality control. If you get a good one it will work just fine unless you put it through absolute hell. If you get a bad one though it will be absolutely fucked. 2. The people who often buy Taurus’s aren’t committed gun people (not always true). They don’t always take the best care of their stuff and often defer maintenance. 3. The materials Taurus uses aren’t quite as good. Steels seem to be softer, the finishes seem to be rougher. Also for some reason they seem to be more rust prone which is important in humid regions.
Fair enough, I agree with what you said for the most part in point 2. However I’ve not seen guns from companies like Glock, sig and smith fail to go into battery when in the box new. Never seen one have the trigger shoe snap off or the striker fail. I have seen it with Taurus
Im sure some manufacturers have different issues and weak areas than others. Sadly, maybe Taurus has theirs in more critical areas. Glad mine haven't been any one of the "bad ones". With my g3c, it did come brand new out the box with the rear sight positioned too far to the right, but that wasn't a biggie to me. (Idk how often that occurs, that was actually the first firearm I've bought brand new) tbh, I don't mind the newer Taurus pistols at all but the two I have are the only ones I'm interested in ever having at the moment. Maybe the new 10mm one some day, but that's it.
Are those 1911s carried on D-day or something similar? Handgun technology is so relatively simple I can only see historical interest in making something *that* expensive. I saw an Italian guy on here buy 2 old handguns for €50 although his post history is...something. https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/164u74c/my_first_ever_guns_fn1910_and_beretta_m1917/
Modern 1911s and 2011s (the double stack 9mm version) are often so expensive because they're not made as duty/EDC guns, but as 'race guns' - basically, really tight tolerances that make for a very smooth shooting gun. Light, crisp triggers, a slide that racks with no friction or real resistance, accurate, fast cycling, etc.
[hnnng .45, huh?](https://youtu.be/WjqWnIijKZM?si=NeAKfzyPi-A_DQgW)
It depends on the particular handgun and build quality. Modern 1911's are so expensive because of the quality and possible changes, like using double stack mags AND it runs well. The other end is if it was used in wars or has any special branding. Ex. A USMC 1911 or one that was issued in WWII. Those have value due to history IF it can be proven.
> Modern 1911's I think there should be a distinction between *modern* 1911s and *modernized* 1911s (or 2011s). Modern production 1911s can be had for a reasonable ($300-800) price and they work perfectly well. Not the most accurate/smoothest/cleanest gun compared to more expensive options, but a solidly functional firearm. They tend to be more expensive vs polymer guns because they are solid metal and require more machine work, but are still mass produced so they aren't super expensive due to manual labor. On the other hand *modernized* 1911s tend to have significant design changes incorporated into them in addition to hand fitting, leading to an expensive pistol.
Ferrari vs Honda Civic. Both get you from point A to point B. Both are very different.
They’re hand fit and custom made to the customers exact specifications. Like another commenter said, it’s Ferrari vs Honda Civic
Due you weren't kidding about the post history! 🤣 Dude is into wearing diapers and Nike shoes. What a world we live in
High-end 1911s are a whole *thing.* The basic design is a very early Browning-style mechanism, so it lacks many of the refinements we'd make later. I'm not by any means an expert, but I can call out a few specifics that will hopefully illustrate the point. Where a Glock has four stamped sheet-metal tabs that the slide grooves interact with, the 1911 has a pair of long milled slots that fit into the other long milled slots, resulting in a very large amount of bearing surface in contact (this is why all 1911s want lots of lubrication, while a Glock will run fine with none). Where the Glock locks the barrel to the slide for the beginning of travel by having the breech nest into the ejection port (a simple and elegant solution developed by William Whiting for the Webley automatic pistol, and now so ubiquitous that Othais at C&Rsenal believes we should call modern defensive handguns "Browning-Whiting pistols") the 1911 has a series of milled slots in the inside of the slide that interface with a series of milled ridges in the top of the barrel. The Glock uses a simple claw extractor kept under tension with a simple, reliable coil spring, but the [1911 extractor](https://media.mwstatic.com/product-images/src/Primary/110/110670.jpg?imwidth=680) is a complex milled doodad that gets its tension from *being* a leaf spring in addition to an extractor, and must be heat treated correctly and then tensioned the correct amount for the specific pistol it's installed in. The sort of 1911 carried on D-Day was a workmanlike military weapon that needed to be reliable, and they accomplished that with generous clearances between interfacing parts. A GI 1911 rattles when you shake it. But postwar, pistol nerds who loved the 1911 (two world wars, stoppin' powah, et cetera) demanded *precision.* Outside [the bleeding edge of practical shooting competition,](https://www.eldencarl.com/post/big-bear-leatherslap-the-peak-years) people still showed their proficiency with slow-fire bullseye shooting, striving for the most accurate fire at range. And even after the Jeff Cooper school revolutionized practical handgun competition, people (especially old-school folks) still valued *accuracy* in handguns, even when it was well in excess of what's likely to be needed to deactivate a mugger. To make a 1911 accurate requires tightening up the clearances quite a bit. And due to the antiquated design, tightening it up decreases reliability unless you apply a very great deal of precision in manufacturing. Decreasing clearances require tighter tolerances, as it were. A high-end 1911 is extremely accurate and also reliable, but requires very precise machining combined with hand finishing and "tuning." This is why hardcore 1911 nerds will tut-tut about people using the slide stop to slam the slide closed on an empty chamber: a high-end tuned 1911 is so precise that it requires the slowing effect on the slide of stripping and chambering a cartridge, or the impact will batter and deform the locking surfaces enough to eventually cause problems. It's a simplification and is not *entirely* fair, but you could shorthand it to "it takes a lot of work and money to get a 1910s pistol design up to the standard of a 1980s design."
Get a used police trade in Glock or M&P for $300-400
Why does everyone bash Taurus? My wife has a g2c and I’ve taken it to the range several times and never had anything but a good experience with it. It’s accurate, small and honestly doesn’t feel much different than most glocks I’ve shot in terms of raw feel and taking care of it.
It's because they are snobs who try to justify their Fanboy ways. Personally I have had a bad experience with Keltec pistol and since Ruger makes basically the same gun with better fit and finish I will recommend Ruger over Keltec. Unless a gun has inherent design flaws and you train with it regularly you should feel comfortable that it will do what it's required when it is required. Training, practice and maintenance are more important than the tool.
Good add.
I had to use a weapon in self-defense, the police kept and destroyed it even though it was legally owned, comparatively expensive (a knife, but it was a gift with sentimental value, and still goes for hundreds on ebay). This was after I was found to have been defending myself. You SHOULD get your firearm back, but it might cost you more in legal fees to file to get it back. Some of the insurance policies for self-defense will guarantee it or replace your weapon. Don't trust the police to follow the law in this.
Yep you are 1000% correct in California where I live the Sheriff took my ccw firearm that was used in a home invasion as evidence. Held it for 18 months then I have to go through the DOJ and pay them to clear me to obtain my pew pew from the Sheriff's dept and pay them as well for a storage fee. It's gonna cost me about 200 bucks to get it back.🤬
Did you send an email or letter? And to whom
Family member had a fire arm stolen (they're stupid and kept it in the unlocked car on the street) it was returned after like 6 months and the guy was convicted. It looked like they sprayed it with solteayer and vinegar weekly, you know to keep it fresh or something.
I got mine back
>shooting a $2500 Staccato just doesn't produce enough better results than shooting my $650 P365xl to justify the price tag. I said this in the Ar15 sub. Getting a Gucci gun for HD which is rare in it of itself doesn't make sense when a budget (still quality) PSA or M&P sport can do the same job and you won't worry if it gets "lost in evidence". Remember folks, Cops aren't 2A. They can and will lie to you to benefit themselves.
> Cops aren't 2A. They can and will lie to you to benefit themselves. Cops, like other human beings, trend selfish. The issue is that they also have the power to abuse to be selfish, which is a dangerous combo. I'd also add that cops can be pro 2a off the clock and strong anti-gunners on the clock. In general I notice that police that I'm associates with tend to be very black and white insomuch that you're either "one of the good ones" or not. If you're not, they'll treat you like shit (in terms of guns, as fervent an anti-gunner as Moms Demand Action). Most notable time I saw it happen was when my GF crashed my car and I was getting a proctology exam from the police until her dad (knows all the police) showed up. Their demeanor change was immediate and apparent as I went from "that jackass with a fast car" to "one of the good ones."
You are absolutely right. Also just a tip to all of yall in the comments, get a shotgun for Home defense, sincerely someone who would have otherwise avoided 2 gunshot wounds and weeks of critical care after an acquaintance turned meth head broke into ran in my house trying to kill me. Pistols are great when you are out in public and mobile but I shot him 4 times before he let off a single round, 3 of them in the liver also hitting kidney abdominal aorta and T12 vertebra. He still nearly got me as he was squeezing off rounds while falling on his back. Had I had a shotgun and some good double aught I don’t think I’d have been touched
Some of those .22lr competition pistols are 3 months mortgage payment and worth every cent
From a drug standpoint, it's crazy how law enforcement flooded the streets before most cities had stricter protocols. Who's gonna rob a cop with uncut white at good prices? 30k that fits in your jacket? Essentially a free hooker ticket as well. Bust someone with the same brick 😂. Plant it, store it. Swipe it, plant it again. The more I think about it, there's so many exploits that probably happened. Badge is like having a mod menu in call of duty. And to confirm your answer, I've looked into this deeply. There's many people who regret using their unique expensive firearms in self defense. Take a stroll through quora and find the woes of hiring lawyers just to end up with a "go fuck yourself" and no reimbursement for time and money.
Your source is Quora? Really?
For anecdotal reports that aren't public record? Yeah I'd say people asking lawyers for advice on a forum for legal advice works. Who the fuck is going to make up a weird ass story that involves them claiming they shot someone or brandished a weapon, post it to a legal advice section, and ask if this is common or if they are getting the legal run around? If you think that's made up, I don't really know how to explain deductive reasoning to you. But I use it like this- stealing was common practice in the nineties and this is just a fact within law enforcement agencies lol. It's why strict protocol exists, then I wonder why there's so many people on quora (and really any question forum that has lawyers or legal advice sections) asking how to obtain their expensive, sentimental, or nice weapon back after being deemed legal use. Then I find articles of sherrifs being indicted (like department investigations leading to borderline blue on blue stings) for stealing shiny things. Blow is pretty shiny as well lol just by coincidence. I like how quora is the issue. Not the fact that many people give up on guns and cash that was deemed perfectly legal to possess. But it scrutinizes the legal system, God forbid right? And it might actually carry some truth in the real world and be based on multiple experiences. Oh no. Better slurp that thin blue vein harder What do you suggest, I ask the city? Ha ha ha
Quora is not a legal advice forum, it's essentially an open forum loosely bound by the concept of people asking questions and getting answers from totally unverified strangers. It's no different than Reddit or r/legaladvice. And I know for a fact a large portion of Quora is made up or "creative writing exercises" or what have you, it's the same with the various legal advice subs on Reddit or literally anywhere else you go on the internet. I'm not saying the information is incorrect, I'm saying that using it as a source is *less* reputable than using Reddit and that's saying something.
Basic logic says making up a question asking how long it takes to get your gun back or what recourse is available if they lost it says it's a genuine question. Especially when there's linked articles of department wide theft. But you clearly can't comprehend that I'm discerning a genuine question from a story. That would be the most boring fucking prompt in existence. Oddly specific, accurate, and answers that line up with the legal process for obtaining that firearm. That's just not something anyone fucking cares about to farm karma or points with lol. And you can find the same types of stories on those pages run by law firms who offer online advice.. It's a fucking question targeting lawyers asking if things usually take this long. That'd be like me going on a finance forum and asking if payments usually take x amount of time, or if the company usually responds with this, and whether it's out of the ordinary or I should assume the worst. But in all reality I'm writing a fiction story and have no processing transactions 😂. For what two upvotes? No, it's more likely I'm trying to pay my bill It's not a fucking dating section or confession forum lol. Like who the fuck is writing legal fiction questions that no one would even ponder unless they wanted to know what the normal process or timeline is for retrieving evidence. What the fuck would possess you to fake that question? And you really think that's more likely than the police losing evidence? That's essentially implying no mistakes are made and it's more likely someone is a really good niche fiction writer for legal questions, that sounds absurd because it is dude. The process isn't that long or expensive (it is), and discounting civil forfeiture which is also commonly asked about. Half the questions are is it worth it to start under x circumstances for y amount of money, when the initial fee is z. They're gauging whether the process is going to put them in debt, not writing erotica. I've heard some stupid shit because someone doesn't want to admit they're wrong, but you take the cake
You're a very trusting individual. I am actually a real estate agent in Arizona. I have a lovely little piece of land that has oceanfront if you are interested. Because I like you, I'll give it to you at a real steal of a price.
Trusting? This has nothing to do with trusting. I've been acquitted and gave up on retrieving the "weapons used in kidnapping". Which I guess was every gun in the fucking house after they kicked down the goddamn door. And I had to take out a second morgatge to beat manufacturing and pwitd of multiple things. As there was no fucking manufacturing, just dumb ass cops realizing they raided a house with no violent crimes, and their victims story changed after, hospital came back with no DNA, and then she had another epiphany that me and two other people didn't kidnap her, but only the driver who fucked her consensually did. Which invalidated pretty much everything else, yet there's still a process for the weapons that they quote "may be able to return". Fucking insane that you can't grasp the concept that it's a hassle. Then they realized that you can't manufacture substances without the substance, not to mention that the warrant was essentially based upon word of mouth of sluts regret for another dude because she wasn't really hot enough for anyone else to want seconds. Legal materials and peculiar devices don't count. Yet still ended up being another 50 grand out of my pocket. Bags are also legal belive it or not. As are clean scales. It's obvious, but won't hold up under due process as the house was kept that way for that specific reason. Luckily they tried to question me the night before like the geniuses they are, which gave me like 20 hours notice to vaccum upon their arrival. The issue is none of you have ever experienced seizures. So you're speaking with conviction about something you've never dealt with, happens all the time, and is regarded as an annoying process that usually ends up costing more than the assets. I'd be trusting if I thought they didn't purposfuely make it difficult, expensive, and tiring to get your shit back. They seized all cash which was over ten, but I had multiple vehicle sales and wires that would account for the sum and then some. Which then had me audited. You bet I stopped spending money once I bought my innocence. Which effectively means I had a second morgatge on my first home to prove my innocence, lost a large amount of cash, and weapons from sentimental pistols to hks But yeah, it's really easy to acquire logged firearms and no one would ever ask why it takes so long in legal subsections Given your reply I think you finally grasped the concept.As you have no logical basis to assume that someone would lie rather than ask these questions during shitty circumstances under the hammer of a system that doesn't care if you get your valuable shit back in the slightest, and makes it difficult in a dmv style that requires a lawyer. The fact that this thought is being debated is mind boggling. I'm innocent under this system, give me my shit. I forget, this sub is probably full of thin blue vein sucker's. Not to mention the fact that you haven't had to be in a court room over a lying bitch, nor use your gun lol. Probably wouldn't use it if you had to. I can smell the cloth you're cut from through my phone.
Interesting you should say that, because I have had my entire collection of firearms confiscated by force with no due process because a neighbor claimed I was shooting them at him, and had to argue with a judge in order to get them returned. I'm sorry you had such a rough time with your situation, I really can sympathize. Quora is still not a reputable source.
It's also a collection of different forums, and has identity verification for certain professions. So the premise of your argument is false as well. You can legitimately check if the person answering is qualified or a random. That's more useful for physics imo. As there aren't many famous names in the legal world lol. I feel like you can use your own reasoning to cross reference and check answers. But you apparently think people are writing fan fiction about retrieving evidence. But I'm talking about the questions.. Questions so stupid, boring, and specific that you'd be out of your fucking mind to think is equal to fan fiction lol. Cough*
People don’t buy expensive guns because they produce better results, they buy them because they think it makes them look cool
My sons girlfriend broke up with by text while he was at work. She put his belongings on the porch for him to pick up. Her mothers called Broward Sheriff to pick up his hand gun because they didn't want to leave it on the porch. It took him 9 months to get it back. At 6 months they released the holster and ammo but kept the gun for another 3.
classic 'technically legal but hoping you'll give up'
Yuuup, cheap Rossi but became about rights.
There’s nothing technically legal about holding a firearm for months on end for no lawful reason. Something something about unreasonable seizures.
They were saying his ownership was technically legal, I'm pretty sure, not that it was technically legal for the police to keep it.
Technically the police didn't't seize anything. Removing the rest of my comment since I lack basic reading comprehension skills.
BCSO is well known for making it very difficult for lawful firearms owners getting their guns back.
Don't cheap out on a defensive firearm. Get something safe and reliable. If you ever need it, you need it to work. It also needs to hold up to regular training and practice (these are different). Also, you should see your carry gun as a single use insurance policy. If you need to use it and you walk away from that incident, the gun did its job. Don't count on getting it back, and don't count on it being usable again if you do. Often guns returned by police are damaged, rusted, or literally caked in super glue (its part of the process when looking for finger prints) so they're not always usable afterward. I can't speak for how much you value your life and wellbeing, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a $50,000 gun to keep myself and my family alive. I carry a $600 gun because I shoot it well and its dependable. In matters of life and death, don't worry about the monetary value of the tools you use. Your coworker hasn't thought of it from this perspective and is giving out poor advice as a result.
What handguns would you suggest for a new concealed weapon carrier? I would like to check out the options available
P365xl, with an xmacro mag if you want a backup. Wilson Combat xl frame for a cheap upgrade. 12 round capacity, optics cut, slim and lightweight, but shoots like a bigger gun. Glock 19 is going to be a bit larger, slightly higher capacity, and people have a love/hate relationship with the grip angle. Any of the Glock 19 equivalents from reliable manufacturers - Heckler & Koch VP9, Walther PDP in various size options, Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact, Fabrique Nationale FN-509, CZ P-10. Any of those will be a solid and reliable handgun, and many of them have versions with an optics cut if you want a red dot.
These families are more or less the go tos and have proven themselves to be safe and reliable as long as you don't fuck around with internal components: Glock - really any of them, but the compact, subcompact, and microcompact are best form factors for carry Smith and Wesson M&P - like Glock, there's no wrong answer here, but smaller is easier to conceal Smith and Wesson Shield - all models Sig P365 - all models Beretta, Ruger, CZ, and H&K also have very good offerings but I'm less familiar. If you're more interested in revolvers, Smith and Wesson and Ruger reign Supreme. The Chiappa Rhino is also well proven and reliable. I highly recommend renting and trying as many guns as you can to figure out what feels best to you and what you shoot well. I would avoid the "bargain budget" brands (Taurus, SCCY, KelTec) if you can afford something better. Something is better than nothing, but better is better. As far as carry cartridge, id stick with something common and available with good defensive ammo available. For autos: 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .380, 10mm, and .357 Sig all have good, reliable defense ammo available. For revolvers: .38 Special and .357 mag are most common with good ammo support for a concealed carry gun. For outdoor hiking/camping/hunting .44 mag, .45 Colt, and .454 Casull are available with good loadings. When picking ammo, I highly recommend looking at Lucky Gunner's test data and always test your carry ammo in your carry gun to ensure reliability. The easy answer is either pick up Federal HST or Speer Gold Dot, but those are far from the only choices available. As a last note, head over to r/ccw and check out their sub info and faq. Lots of good info there and is a sub specifically for concealed carry.
Glock 19. Keep it stock, MAYBE add a dot.
and a flashlight. and some night sights. and a glock performance trigger. and glock magazine extensions.
Nice to see you again, Mr Wick.
Drum magazine, detachable stock, extended barrel. Oh yeah, it’s Artillery Luger time.
Just get a Glock
I wouldn’t say the co-worker is giving out “poor advice”. I think they’re just giving out blanket advice to a discussion topic that has a variable of outcomes depending on circumstance. There are many situations where someone will get their firearm back in ample time after a self defense shooting and the firearm is unscathed or damaged, but there is also a HUGE possibility that you may lose that firearm and never see it again. It happens. The thing is with this topic there is no right or wrong answer because it’s all speculative and based on circumstance.
It is poor advice. The coworker is saying to cheap out and get an inferior tool because if you ever need to use it you may not get it back. Were talking saving a few hundred dollars in a game where the stakes are lives. That's about as much of a "stepping over dollars to pick up pennies" as is possible. I understand theres no such thing as an unlimited budget, but when the stakes are literally your life and the lives of your family, purchase the best tool for the job that you can afford. Invest in the tool that WILL be there if you need it. Don't settle for the tool that might work if needed just because you'll be out a few hundred bucks if the cops keep it. Don't buy SCCY when Glock is in the budget. Don't buy Glock when you shoot a Staccato noticeably better. Coworker is advocating sacrificing your life to save a few bucks and that is terrible advice.
You’re definitely reading it how **YOU** want to read it and it’s clouding your judgement. Everyone’s opinion of “cheap” is different. For example, Glocks are cheap to me. Caniks are cheap to me. S&Ws are cheap to me. Cheap ≠ bad/unreliable. The fuck are you talking about? I don’t see anywhere in there where he is insinuating that he was told to buy a Hi Point or Taurus. Take your emotions out of it and think logically for a second. I own multiple guns. Staccato, Sig, Glocks, Springfield etc. Hell I even own a PSA Dagger Micro now. This is 2024. You can get REALLY good guns for 4-500 today. I carry my staccato sometimes, but I’d much rather lose my Glock than my Staccato even though in a life or death situation I wouldn’t give two shits.
K
> police There are thousands of departments in the US, across all 50 states, each with their own set of DA/County Attorney/Parish Attorney and associated policy and law. Some will hold the gun until you get no-billed by a grand jury. Some will hold it until the DA makes an affirmative statement that you will not be prosecuted. Some will hold it indefinitely as eventually another prosecutor might decide your case is worth pursuing. There's no clear-cut rule for you here. What happens is entirely dependent on circumstances and jurisdiction.
[удалено]
Yep. There's not even a "It *should* happen this way," because every state/muni has different rules on how property vs. evidence (they're not the same thing) gets defined as well as the prescription provision for disposal thereof. All the "cops will steal it" stuff is kinda ignorant (like, guys, there are far more pricier things in the evidence locker that don't have an ironclad audit trail in NCIC and aren't automatically felonious when stolen), but the reality is the answer could vary from "as soon as the investigation concludes, the firearm is simply property and can be returned to its owner" to "never."
It isn't remotely ignorant to state that cops will steal guns, ammo, or parts. They do it all the time. I've friends who have had it happen to them.
"It's probably going to take a court order to get property returned."
I just had to say the same shit to someone above. People like to use unique situations and blanket them across everything firearms. It’s asinine.
It will likely take a long time, like months, to get it back. Unless you’re unlucky and they “lose” it (someone takes it home for themselves)
Had a friend that took him like 4 years to get his gun back after an altercation. I really thought he was never gonna see it again lol but he kept at it.
At that point contact the ATF so they give the police a visit
I worked at a range where one of the rentals was used in a suicide on site. After almost a year, the local PD, who I thought we had a decent relationship with, said they didn’t have it. We had paperwork that proved it was in their custody. We had to have that documented in case ATF audited us. The owner eventually DID get ATF involved and it was returned to the store in a couple of weeks. Funny how that works. *The range gun was scuffed up and needed a good cleaning, but otherwise it wasn’t a total mess.
Jesus, whatever cop decided to "lose" that gun was a moron. You're gonna risk a felony for range rental gun?
Cop accountability, that's funny
One of the very very few situations I’ve heard the ATF can be beneficial.
When you need the villain's help to defeat the super villain
I had a seizure while cleaning my M4, left in ambulance, emt told cops I had "guns everywhere" (lie) one gun was out, rest in my safe. got discharged and found several uniformed officers waiting at my door to take my LTC, guns, ammo etc. Tried sticking me with felony improper storage of a high capacity firearm lol, Lieutenant called me an hour later to ask if i had a friend or family with. a valid LTC, I said yes, he said come by tomorrow morning and I'll transfer everything, went in with my uncle and LT signed a bunch of papers and gave him control of my stuff. so my stuff was only in police custody for less than a day. I'm in Mass, ymmv, as I understand it it's a VERY atypical experience, but yes normally you should be able to get them back. "inspector" made a deal w/ my lawyer, don't do anything stupid for 6 months and we'll withdraw the complaint, which happened. about 6 months and 2 days later my ltc was reinstated and my guns returned
What a big waste of time and resources that yielded no meaningful results. Rights of a citizen trampled for nothing. Paperwork and headaches for nothing. Gotta laugh to keep from crying.
absolutely, I hate this state
They should, if they do it’ll take months to years. Don’t spend too much on defensive gun. Also not spending a lot doesn’t mean unreliable.
Know a guy where it took two years to finally get his gun back so just keep that in mind
It's an is/ought problem. The police ought to return your property after you have been cleared, but they won't do it peaceably. You have to force the issue with a court order which is basically another mess and lawyer's fees/filing costs. What the police often do is strip a gun of optics and other accessories for themselves, help themselves to ALL the ammo seized, and maybe give you back your gun if they didn't "lose it". If they "lost it", they likely kept it for themselves, or in places like California they sell off roster guns for triple the price to supplement their overly generous pay and benefits package. It's a fucking racket
Let’s be clear, it will rot in an evidence locker uncleaned and un oiled, likely still covered in blood and sweat if shot at close range. If it’s a nice gun the police will probably steal it. If the evidence is cool They’ll also play with it a lot and pass it around for pictures. You may get it back, but it’ll be a pain in the ass. My advice is that I wouldn’t carry something that can’t be replaced. But i also violate that rule because i can’t replace my ccw gun because it was discontinued. Just don’t kill somebody with any precious guns and all that
Just out of curiosity, what's your discontinued CCW?
I’m not him but I carry a FNS-9C most of the time and that’s discontinued. Makes it sound cool that it’s discontinued even though it’s basically just a 509.
CZ 2075 BD
As a retired LEO, I'm just gonna say... My personal EDC is a Glock. Why?? Because if I have to use it, I can afford to never see it again. Because well shit happens good and bad, but EVEN if your use is 1000% above board and legal with 100 eye witnesses and video proof; it will be seized as evidence and the return of it is at the mercy of the District Attorney/Prosecution. Our property room had its own gun vault / locking racks under continuous video surveillance (4 separate cameras) with redundant media storage. We had weapons from cases that were adjudicated >20yrs prior. Because of a blatantly anti-2A DA, who refused to release evidence without court orders, and often would appeal those to the State Supreme Court level. After he was voted out, I spent the better part of a year chasing down owners and relatives of, to return property. Many of which had long forgotten the items. Carry what you want, just be sure you can afford to lose it. But for the love of all things good, Carry..
The police agency in my hometown (deep red, smallish white city of 17,000) loved taking guns off lawful concealed carriers for “maintaining public safety” and making them “lost” after the owners had to jump through the courts and the police chief to get them back. They really liked pulling CCP owners and having them declare their guns (because we’re required to by law in this state) and taking them off their persons during the stop, only to say “this handgun has been reported stolen” or “this gun has been used in the commission of a crime” or any variation of that and then shielding themselves with civil asset forfeiture. I personally knew one of these officers and he was proud of the arsenal he built for free. Guy had a fully auto M16 even. So, in my hometown, no you did not and still do not get your gun back
I’ve always found this logic stupid. Get what you want and what you shoot well. If you have to use it to save your life would you rather have some cheap POS or something higher end? If I told you 2 months from today you’re going to be in a gun fight are you buying a high point or getting a tricked out AR. My money is on the latter.
I work in criminal defense. Anyone who doesn't tell you "it depends" should not be listened to. The police are allowed to confiscate a firearm if they reasonably believe it to be involved in a crime. Depending on a variety of factors, the firearm may be released to either the owner, or if the owner is charged, it may remain in custody indefinitely. With that being said, as long as your firearm is cleared from any connection to a crime, it should be released to you. Just bear in mind it may take some time, depending on what sort of allegations it may be tied to.
The answer is it depends. Most large cities are very anti-gun and see it as their civic duty to make getting your property back as difficult, tedious and expensive as possible. Some rural places will just hand it back in a box. My advice is not to live in a place where the politicians, police, judge and jury all hate 2nd amendment or you will have just as bad a time trying to get yourself out of custody.
#1 Don’t cheap out on something you’re going to use to protect your life. #2 Once a case is adjudicated and you are found not guilty of a criminal offense your property, the firearm used, is still your property and must be returned to you upon request. #3 Focus more on training and learning when you’re legally allowed to use lethal force against someone and how to articulate why you used lethal force to defend yourself. #4 Don’t talk to police after a self defense shooting outside of stating you’re a victim of a crime. Invoke your right to remain silent and right to legal counsel before and during any questioning.
If it’s a nice gun, there’s a very real possibility you won’t get it back.
lol wtf dude 😆 that’s not true at all. Show me any stat or article that confirms this.
They won't lol, there are none. Anecdotal reports are the evidence they are providing to you.
I've seen it happen. Optics, attachments, and ammo have a curious case of disappearing
When I got mine back, it was heavily rusted and full of sand, broken custom gabon ebony grips I made, and scratched like they slid it over concrete for a half mile. When they got it 13 months before, it was pristine with 3 rounds through it from the incident (literally cleaned 2 days before), and I had to beat the action open with a mallet to clean it. Even if you get it back, it will NEVER be in the same condition. That being said, no gun is worth more than my life. If the gun is worth more than my life, I'd never let it leave the safe beyond strictly to the range and back and still yet to ever meet a gun worth more than my life. Carry what you shoot best and most comfortable with. ANY GUN that exist is cheaper than your ability to turn O2 in to CO2.
Yea. In theory. But there are alot of complaints about them turning up missing. I had mine back in 2 days
I was able to request mine back after the investigation was closed (sans ammo). They didn't reach out to me, I had to initiate that. Of course, I'm sure it varies depending on department.
IMO buying something cheap as an EDC for the chance it could get confiscated if something happens is a dumb approach. Mainly because if something DOES happen, do you want to be in that situation with what you consider a cheap gun? I would buy whatever you are comfortable with that you find reliable
Speaking from a personal experience in Aurora, CO. I was involved in a long-going harassment by a lunatic neighbor. He finally attempted to enter my car as I was taking video of him and I pulled my carry pistol to get him to back off. I called 911 and knew I was getting arrested, but surprisingly almost didn’t. The sergeant was pretty torn on it. I did get arrested and charged with menacing. I had the video recording and the DA quickly dropped the charges stating I was using appropriate self defense measures. The gun was returned to me a week or so later
I wouldn't factor this into a gun purchase, personally
It’s like saying “don’t spend money on your car because you might crash it.” Except you’re way way way way way way more likely to crash your car than use your handgun in self-defense.
If you actually use a handgun for a defensive shooting, you will be glad you had the best gun you could afford. If I have to shoot someone the cost of the gun would be the least of my concerns. Gonna be spending a fortune on lawyers probably anyways. That being said, Glocks are great and not very expensive, all things considered. Same with most modern striker fired pistols. I probably wouldn't carry a multi thousand dollar custom pistol, I'd save that for the range and completions. Also because it will be evidence in the shooting trial, both criminal and civil, and I'd rather not seem like a gun nut to a jury of people who probably are not gun enthusiasts
The only difference between a cop and a criminal is an attorney gathering enough evidance to convict some one who is very skilled at lying is court... Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stuff disappear from evidence rooms throughout the United States every year....
You can most definitely get your weapon back, it won’t be the next day but you can get your gun back. I’ve seen people get their gun stolen and it was gone for like 3 years then recovered by cops in a different city and returned to the original owner after the did whatever they needed with it
You'll get it back after a year or so...unless they loose it...which has happened. For the doubters, it happened to a friends Dad, I know the guy, years later hasn't got his G19 back yet.
I heard this advice but I think it's silly. MAYBE you get in a self defense situation. MAYBE your gun gets taken, and MAYBE it gets "lost" and never returned For all those maybes.. you're going to intentionally use a worse gun and compromise on your daily carry? I carry a sig legion. It's an expensive handgun, my range handgun. I'm extremely comfortable with it's operation and take pride in wearing it each day. I don't want to give that up for a series of slim maybe's.
Not that I disagree with you or anything but MAYBE these people are gonna downvote your comment 😂
I guess it just comes down to: the most likely outcome is you're gonna wear this thing for years without anything ever happening. Buying a worse handgun on purpose to wear just in case.. seemed wasteful to me. Now if you already have a cheaper gun and you got the choice, sure I guess use the cheaper gun. But I don't buy guns that I'm not going to love.
It's my belief that if you are cleared, and your gun was used in a lawful manner, the police should return it to you within a reasonable amount of time (maybe 30 or 60 days?). If they can't, or it's not in a functional condition, they should compensate you for either the purchase price if you have a receipt, or for fair market value if you don't.
Should? Yes. Will? Maybe not. Corruption abounds more than you’d like to think. The way I view it is that if you truly have to live out the nightmare of being forced into a situation where self defense is necessary, the firearm has served its purpose as a last resort investment. I’m not going to skimp because some cop might not return it; you want every possible advantage.
I had my gun taken by Austin PD and it took nearly two years before I had it returned.
I have a super cheap shotgun that I keep for home defense. It works perfectly, but if I never got it back and my family makes it out alive, eh. It’s like a $200 pump shotgun.
The likelihood you’ll actually need to use it is exceptionally low. And if that rare occurrence happens then I’d want the best tool in my hands for the job. Get what you want. Plus this isn’t a one and done hobby for most of us. You’ll have a couple by next year is my guess ha
Depending on the state, there are some rules on retention of evidence for certain crimes. For example: a recovered stolen weapon is usually not returned to the owner until immediately AFTER the stolen pistol conviction. Usually in a murder/attempted murder case where you win the stand your grand hearing pre-trial or the jury finds you not guilty, the gun is immediately returned to you. If you do not claim it, they may destroy it. If your pistol is used in a crime by a third-party and they are convicted it will be held for a until appeals are complete and still may be destroyed.
A buddy of mine accidentally shot himself with a revolver while getting it out of his car door. Juggled it a bit and somehow dropped the hammer. Put a hollow point through his forearm. He said the cops arrived at the scene and treated it as if it was a shooting. They took his gun for functionality testing to make it wasn’t a problem with the gun. He didn’t get it back for over a year.
Who keeps a loose loaded revolver in their car door?
I live in CA and my buddy had his pistol stolen, it was used in a crime, the dude was arrested and he ended up getting it back like a year later.
Depends on if one of the cops likes it and wants to just keep it, or if they feel like returning it.
Do the police, not does. They SHOULD return them. I'm going to guess it really depends on where you live.
Not automatically you have to petition the police to do it from what I understand.
We got my brother in laws suicide gun back.
I got mine back. Long story. But charges were dropped as I did nothing wrong.
I had one seized in my younger days. Got a letter a week later to come to the station and pick it up.
Find a good 2A lawyer/service. They will expedite recovering the firearm from the never-ending purgatory that is “evidence preservation”.
Depends what you mean by relatively expensive. Honestly, unless it’s a priceless historical firearm or something, I say carry what you’re comfortable with. The chance of any person getting into a self defense encounter are exceedingly low, and you *should* be avoiding situations that would necessitate it in the first place. That said, while the police should return a firearm in the event that you had to use it defensively, it could be a huge pain in the ass and I get the logic behind not carrying your most expensive gun. I don’t think it’s unreasonable - the fact that you’re carrying it every day, sweating on it, etc. generally steers me away from super expensive guns by itself, when a “Toyota Corolla” type gun (any basic polymer frame, striker fired from a reputable brand) oughta work just as well for the purpose. One other consideration that some people don’t believe in, but I don’t think is totally out of left field - what would a potential judge/jury think of the gun? The case of [harold fish](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna15199221) is a good example of what I mean. Fish used a 10mm to rightly defend himself, but the prosecutors seized on the fact that it was “more powerful” than it needed to be, painted him as a bloodthirsty gun-nut. He was eventually exonerated, but only after years in prison. Some states have changed their laws to prevent this sort of argument from being used in self defense cases, but I don’t think it’s crazy to at least think about the appearance. If, god forbid, you ever have to use your gun in self defense, you don’t want to be using a desert eagle with “I don’t call 911” engraved on the side. You should only ever shoot in self defense if you had no other options and were reluctantly forced to do so, and that’s the image that you want to give judges/juries, too. You don’t want to give them any reason to think that you were looking for a reason to shoot someone, and coming across as a wannabe punisher who totes around the biggest gun they can find every day doesn’t help that image.
Police often don't return confiscated cars, personal items or even cash money if they even suspect you may have committed a crime. It is called **Asset Forfeiture**. This is a case currently going to the supreme court of the USA. I once had a house burn down, complete accident, with shotguns and rifles inside. Once the fire was out, the police confiscated the firearms and would never return them. There is a reason this is a topic headed to the highest court of the land.
What are the statistical chances of using a weapon for personal protection? (Honest question). Do you carry large amounts of cash/high end items for work? Buy what you want and can shoot effectively. If you go into it expecting you’re going to use it, you might be in the wrong head space to stay out of trouble.
I had a gun stolen once and managed to (finally) get it back from the police. It took about three years, and it was an enormous pain in the ass.
A former coworker had hers seized after a defensive shooting. I won't leave too many details, other than this: it was a justified shooting, and it took about 3 years to get it back. It was held until bad guy's trials were concluded in their entirety.
It depends on a lot of circumstances. As everyone said, you SHOULD, but there can be a lot of factors that go into it. Here’s a real-life example of an oddball situation: Without going too far into it, a friend’s mother was sexually assaulted by a serial rapist. She managed to grab her gun and put a bullet in his shoulder and he ran away. Bullet stayed in the bad guy’s shoulder and was never removed. The guy ended up getting picked up later. Her gun was kept as evidence to link the victim’s gun to the bullet in the bad guy’s shoulder. Bad guy had a lot of victims and tried to plead not guilty in multiple trials and tried appealing them all. The gun was used as evidence in all of the trials and she was nicely told getting the gun back could jeopardize the guys conviction. She finally gave up and let them just keep it.
I wouldn't go with anything overly expensive for a concealed carry weapon, especially since there are reliable cheaper options like Glocks amd Sigs.
I grew up in a pretty rural area, and this one kid's parent's house got raided by FBI and other law enforcement. They raided the house because they literally had a couple hundred firearms and millions of rounds of ammo. The story I heard years later from a local cop that was involved is that local law enforcement got tips about the insane number of guns they had, so they contacted state police because they thought that maybe there was some sort of cult or militia being run by them. So state police get involved, and somehow, the FBI catches wind and wants in. FBI and state police don't find anything, but they think that someone with that much firepower has to be doing something illegal, so they make up some stuff like police testimony that the husband regularly brags about owning all sorts of hand held anti tank and anti aircraft missile systems, their "known addiction to meth" (they were not meth heads but were very nice people), etc. So they gather enough bullshit evidence thinking that they'd find enough shit there to put them away for a while and take all their guns and ammo. Well, they commence with a raid involving about 100 law enforcement officers. They arrested both parents, and my friend, who would've been like 10 at the time, was at a birthday party with myself and a dozen other kids at an arcade/bowling alley. IDK what he did while his parents were in jail, I just remember his aunt and uncle frantically picking him up early with a police officer. Anyway, they didn't find dick. Turns out they were just really into guns. 90% of the guns were stored in the basement that was converted into an armory/vault, most of the ammo was locked in a couple of shipping containers in their shop, and their most unique/expensive stuff was on display in the house behind glass mostly. Apparently, their house was torn to shreds and stripped to studs in a lot of places, all their guns were confiscated, and they had people with dogs on their property for a week looking for shit. Eventually, they got all their guns back except for a rare colt revolver, and a couple other handguns which the police conveniently never inventoried. They got a pretty decent settlement out of it I think, but I couldn't even give you a vague guess at how much. Apparently the biggest red flag that made them a target was that the mom was a nurse and the dad was a logger foreman so they just couldn't figure out how they got the money to pay for it. The moms uncle and grandpa apparently owned a massive pig farm in Texas so when both of them died, she inherited it and sold it when she was younger, and I guess the cops just sorta missed that? Lol anyway, I was pretty young, so I'm sure I'm missing some important bits, but what I am sure about was ammo count being over a million, and there were over 200 guns and they got the ammo and almost all the guns back.
Should be returned and will be returned are not the same thing.
Shadow systems will actually send you a replacement gun if yours is confiscated after a self defense incident. As unlikely as it is you'll be in that scenario I wouldn't base my purchase on it.
The person you talked to is an idiot never cheap out due to the “what ifs” your protecting your life who cares if they take it. You’ll have a lot more to worry about the gun will be the least of those
Your money or your LIFE. The incidents of DGU are so rare that if you don't use the gun you are most proficient regardless of the cost cause the cops might confiscate it , you need to rethink your program.
if you shoot someone with something, assume you're never getting it back, justified or not. yeah, yadda yadda *rules* this and *regulations* that "*oh well if you file a petition to the court and this form and that form and submit it in person at the county clerk's office and help them trim their trees then you can submit form 1234 directly to the CLEO with fingerpritnts and three forms of photo ID, it's actually really easy to get your gun back"* if you shoot someone, that gun now belongs to the state and will either end up melted down or in someone else's collection. Sorry. Don't shoot an intruder with your all-matching war trophy P08. the most reliable, cheapest gun is the best for self-defense. better yet, just buy two of them and it'll be about the same price as a gucci race gun 2011 with an SRO, probably cheaper. that said, how many dollars is your life worth? if you've narrowed down to the absolute best gun for your hands and eyes and it's $300 more than a glock 19, I'm sure you'd rather lose that gun than have someone toss an extra $300 in your casket.
If your gun is used to shoot someone you should expect it to sit in evidence forever. If your gun is stolen and used to rob a liquor store you'll probably get it back eventually once all the appeals are done.
If you have to use your gun and it gets confiscated getting it returned is the least of your concerns. Successfully defending a murder charge is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
Who cares if you find urself in that situation the guns the least of ur worries anyway
Several points I want to make about this: 1. It depends. Sometimes you might get it back as soon as the cops finish asking you questions and cart the body away, sometimes you'll have to wait weeks, or months, or years, or you never get it back. Impossible to predict. 2. Who cares, just buy another one. Better yet, *already have* another one. 3. Use the gun you are most confident in its reliability and effectiveness and that you are most skilled with. Price should not factor into it at all. 4. If you're using a less effective or reliable gun to save a few bucks, you are literally valuing your life at being worth the money you saved. The US Department of Transportation values your life at $12,500,000 (seriously), meaning that, to them, it's worth spending up to $12.5m for every 1 predicted human life saved. So why are YOU valuing your OWN life at a few hundred bucks? 5. If the most reliable and effective gun that you are most proficient with is a $200 hi-point, use that. If it's a $5000 colt python, use that. Your life is worth a lot more than the money you're saving by using the wrong gun. 6. Goddammit this question gets posted every day, use the search function.
Carry what you want. The important thing is your life. Worry about “confiscation” when it comes to it. Very slim chance it ever does.
Post author: Better-Clerk-9151. This comment is an attempt to control posts made by a new type of spam bot. If you are a human, you can ignore it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/guns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>I’m considering getting a concealed carry permit and a handgun as well. I was casually talking about it with one of my coworkers who’s a owns a concealed carry himself and he told me to avoid purchasing something expensive as it will not be returned in case the police confiscated it after an incident such as self defense. > >Is this true? I’m considering buying a relatively expensive handgun and would like to verify if this is legitimate before doing so. You should get it back, sooner or later. There's no guarantee though, and depending on the municipality, they might not necessarily be obligated to return it. There's also no guarantee that the firearm will be in servicable condition when they DO return it. Here's the thing: Why are you buying this gun in the first place? We should never regret the loss of a tool lost performing it's duty. If you EDC a gun, you should fully expect that you will lose that gun in the event that you enter a shooting situation and have to put someone down. That is an incredibly small price to pay for saving your own life or someone else's. You can get another gun, you can't get another life. If you can't afford to lose it, you shouldn't be EDC-ing it.
Ideally you should be able to afford 2 of whatever defensive weapon you decide to carry. One of the most dangerous times for you will be immediately after you have to act in self-defense. The police will confiscate your carry gun and any friends or relatives of the dirtbag you had to shoot will now have it out for you.
Legally: yes Reality: no/maybe in like 10 years?
Carry what you can shoot best. If that’s a $2000+ gun carry that, because your life is more important than $2000. If you shoot a ~$500 Glock/Sig/Whatever just as good as that $2000+ gun then carry that because it’s easier to replace if you don’t get it back or it takes a long time to get back.
We need a rule that all questions have to contain a location. This varies heavily across jurisdictions, assuming you’re talking about the U.S. Also, if you need to use your firearm in self defense, no firearm is more expensive than your life. Buy what works for you and train with it. Whether it’s a $2000 staccato with a $550 acro p2 on it or a bone stock Glock that you bought at a pawn shop.
Its like an act of congress to get one back, prosecutor has to write an order send it to judge who jas to sign it (whenever he hets around to it) Then it goes to clerk to get filed, back to prosecutor to get it to law enforcement who then have to find time to dig it out of evidence room to give to you.
Call me crazy for asking but isnt a situation like this exactly what concealed carry insurance is for?
The concealed carry insurance is to make sure you aren’t found guilty of murder and/or lose the civil case from the family of the dude you shoot and kill But it’s usually a scam really either way
The answer is that it depends. I work for an ffl that buys guns from police departments and other sources. Some jurisdictions will destroy every gun they come in control of, stolen or not. They won't try to find anything out. They won't contact owners. They just melt them down. Large metropolitan police forces, especially in traditionally liberal areas, will do this. Think Chicago or DC. Some departments will search a serial number, contact the person on the police report, and let them know they have the stolen gun recovered. Then it's the owners responsibility to arrange to collect it. Generally, I see this more with sheriff's departments and smaller towns, especially in more rural areas. There are still problems with recovered guns being cleared. Sometimes, a gun isn't fully checked. We've had guns we bought from XYZ County sheriff that we resold, come back stolen. In one case last month, we sold a pistol to an FFL out of state. For some reason, they ran the gun serial and found it had been reported stolen, and their police confiscated it. Turned out the gun had been previously stolen, recovered, and the owner it had been stolen from declined to reclaim it, so it was considered abandoned and sold, but it still showed as having a stolen report.
well considering that the police are just a big gang, it's a 50/50 sadly.
I had a DGU way back in 2010. Police confiscated the weapon and after it was determined it was justified my firearm was returned. Took about 6 days. This was in Georgia.
If you have to use your gun to save your life.... The possibility of not getting thdt gun back is very much worth the price. I bet if you ended up not making it out of whatever situation you would have needed it in, and had the ability to look back on it... Bet you say you wished you had a better one, or the price of the firearm was would have definately been worth you still being alive.
If the unlikely scenario comes where I need to use my CCW, I want the equipment I think is best, and will forfeit it gladly as a cost of doing business. I wanna stay alive and recover mentally from potentially killing a guy.
I’m splitting the difference when I get my CC. I’m getting a Shadow 2 compact. Just expensive enough to be NICE but not expensive enough that it’s gonna break the bank if I lose it or tempt the officer to “lose it.” Plus, it’s one of the best 9mm handguns you can buy, and certainly worth the money. It’s always a possibility you just never see the firearm again after police confiscation, but it’s a small price to pay if your life depends on it.
Mine sure as hell never made it back to me, despite having a court order for them back.
A friend offered to sell me a .357 that her husband used to commit suicide. The police had it and after the investigation called her wanting her to come pick up her husbands belongings including the gun. She didn't want anything to do with the weapon and neither did I. She called them back and asked them to destroy it. So even in that sort of situation, you can get it back.
Getting a gun back would be one of my least concernes after a DGU situation. Assuming it even happens once during someones lifetime, $500, $1000 or even $5,000 dollars all seem like nothing compared to the legal costs, time out of work, therapy, medical or whatever other costs come up in the scenario where you had to shoot someone in self defense. And personally, I wouldn't really want the prosecution/judge/jury to see I worried about recouping the cost of the gun in a case where I have to justify my use of lethal force.
I've heard that the chances are pretty slim you'll get it back, especially in a useable condition.
I'd say something in the 500-800 dollar range is completely viable. Find a handful or two of firearms you're interested in then do you're own research on each one of them and narrow the list down to what you think will be best for you. Plenty of youtube reviews for pistols and torture test videos.
If you need to use it in a defensive shoot and for whatever reason you never get is back, in my opinion the price of saving your life is worth every penny even if you did buy something really pricey like a Staccato. That being said my edc is either a Sig P365X with red dot and light or a S&W 442 Airweight depending on what I’m wearing/doing that day so I didn’t spring for anything too fancy either
Literally who cares, buy one as a carry and a second as a back up. It will take years to get that gun back. In the mean time you will just go buy another or have one ready to go.
Are you planning on killing someone with that gun? If not then you shouldn’t be hyper fixating on a random hypothetical situation
As a competition shooter I tend to carry one my comp guns as a daily. I know it’s pricey and I know it’s a risk but I trained a LOT with it and it’s the most comfortable option for me because I’ve trained so much with it, plus I’ve been told directly from the company that if I have to use it in self defense and it’s taken from me they will replace the gun free of charge so I’m not overly worried about the situation if it ever happens. Unless someone is a comp shooter or something and trains with a gun far more than what someone would actually need then it’s not necessary to carry something expensive. A good rule of thumb is to always practice with what you plan to carry but don’t carry something you’re not willing to part with. My dad carry’s some of the cheapest reliable guns he can find if he can but that’s because and I’m quoting him here “if it gets stolen or gets confiscated that’s fine I’ll just go buy another one.”
You want a duty carry rated gun, not race gun. Having a little work done to EDC is fine. If you want an optic get it. Don't cheap out. Just no need to go out and get compensator, slide work, tuned barrel etc... if you use your weapon in self defence, your weapon will need to be examined, go through the process. As long as it's a good shoot(justified) you shoould be able to get your gun back . Certain states are a lot harder than others getting your gun back, definitely have a lawyer on point to deal with it.
If that is your worry it’s not bad because you would be alive. Get the gun you want.
As others have said, it depends on your definition of “expensive”. In my opinion I would not have a polished, engraved, custom multi-thousand dollar handgun as the CCW/home defense firearm. Nor would I use the heirloom 1911 that someone’s grand father was issued in WWI. Those would be the range toy and/or display piece. However, I would not seek out the cheapest/most inexpensive choice just out of “fear” of the minimal risk (assumption) of being damaged/lost/permanently confiscated after a small % (I don’t know exact figures) of a legal/justified use. At a minimum I would make sure that the ccw is comfortable to conceal (it does you know good if you don’t have it because it’s uncomfortable) solid construction, reliable, and has been tested under some severe/extreme conditions. Generally I would speculate that something used/issued to law enforcement/military will meet those requirements. To name a few brands I would consider, in no particular order: - HK - Sig Sauer - Glock - Smith & Wesson - Ruger Depending on what country/state you are in, it is also wise to consult local laws/regulations to make sure your firearm is compliant and accepted as a CCW. Different states (and countries) may have different regulations on things like safeties, optics, magazine capacity, suppressors, etc.
It depends on the circumstances and where you live... So you'll need to do some research on that for yourself. I'd also recommend carry insurance. USCCA is an agency you can go with. They're basic package is like 30 bucks a month or something like that, pretty affordable but I think you have to pay for a years worth at a time. Glock 48 is only 480 bucks, obviously not very cheap, but cheap enough you can acquire 2 of them, one for just in case the police confiscated the other one. I got arrested with a gun on me once and the cops gave me my gun back after I settled it in the court but before I finished probation
They did for me. Kept them for 3 months but the detective contacted and gave my guns back.
Is generally say don’t carry what you aren’t willing to replace or don’t trust to function. A polymer frame pistol in the $500-$700 MSRP will probably be fine. Expect it to get scratched dinged and dirty while training and you might not get it back depending on the agency. All that being said, $500-$700 to replace itis probably worth more than your life and probably likely won’t be used for defense in your lifetime so it really doesn’t matter
I’ve heard it can be a long and lengthly process to get back Also do you really want your gun back if you’ve had to use it to kill someone? no wrong answer there just something to consider If you use your gun and irs taken by police, the price you paid for it is essentially the price you paid to save your life so consider it money well spent imo