Police in Florida are asking owners of S&W Sigma .40
pistols (Purchased in 2004-2005) to call them so they can check out your weapon. Evidently someone has killed four women with the same gun.
I bought mine new from a local gun store last year, in 2009 and haven't fired it yet.
It occurred to me that if I had purchased my Sigma in the 04-05 time frame why would I call the police to come take it away for testing?
If I had purchased it new back then and it was still unfired I'd have to be a stone-wall idiot to let them come to my house, be under suspicion and have them take it away for an undetermined period and who knows what condition it would be in if and when it was returned.
Helping the police is something I normally believe in but for them to just make an announcement that you should let them have your gun is a pretty dopey idea.
If someone has that gun and has killed someone he is not going to turn it in for testing unless he is totally stupid so this whole excercise is going to be a big waste of money and police manhours.
Does anyone know how long the police would hold an innocent weapon in a case like this. Does it become evidence that they would keep until after the case is closed?
That is a tough choice. If the pistol is a collectable weapon and it is unfired then I can see where you would not want to devalue it and also entrust it to a unknown person who could possible mar the finish when handling it. Is it a very rare pistol? If so process of elimination could be one way to go at if the production numbers are low enough. It sounds like they have no other good leads otherwise I don't think they would be asking something like this.
The one that was used in the killings was probably dropped into the Atlantic ocean the minute the police released this request. How many times do we have to tell you that criminals, by their very nature do not and will not respect laws?
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What cracks me up is do they think the person responcible for the murder will actually bring there gun in for testing? That has got to be the most retarded thing I have ever heard.
Florida is an amazing state when it comes to this stuff, after being a crime victim there I can tell you the system there has no clue about the criminal mindset..
scary!
Just makes good headlines. Thats all its good for. The police obviously have no clue so they are making something up to make it look like they are doing something. But as said its worthless.
Of course they are making a data base of who has handguns.
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It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
Years ago, here in Iowa, we had what is known as the Drake Diner murders. A man came in to the diner, held them up and after getting the money, shot two workers for no reason. the only clues were the spent casings. The police figured out the weapon of the bad guy was a .50cal Desert Eagle. They immediately went looking for all the owners of one of these pistols and found everyone in this country that owned one. Everyone was accounted for except one that had been stolen in Washington State.
The owner of that pistol had a daughter who had a friend that was suspected of stealing the pistol but could not be proved. This friend had recently moved to Des Moines, Iowa and was now in a gang. Further investigation proved this friend had been showing off this .50cal Desert Eagle to some friends, not too far from the Drake Diner, and had fired a round off in their house. The police went to the house and recovered the embedded bullet from the wall of the house and tied it to the murders.
The person was convicted of the double murder, even though the pistol has never been found.
The bad guys name is Joseph White, Jr.. He did the murders as a gang initiation. He is doing two life sentences. His father, Joseph White , Sr. shot two police officers here back in the 70's one night using a stolen revolver and stolen ammunition(after being released from prison) and himself was killed by one of the wounded officers with one shot through the back as he ran away. I was there and saw the entrance and exit wounds. Joseph White, Jr has 4 cousins who are also in prison for murder, another uncle who was in prison for murder and his mother was shot in a drive-by.
Gang trouble in Des Moines went way down after putting these c***suckers in prison for life. I digress but I hate cop killers and this family and I know them well.
The point is they solved the crime by tracing the firearm used. There were only about 50 of these pistols in the U.S. at the time of the murders
You are correct in assuming the pistol used in the crime will not be turned in or not even be found, now that the word is out that the cops are looking for it. Then again, criminals are some of the stupidest people.
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Exactly what I was thinking Rambo. If this pistol is rare enough then the ones that don't show up wil then be the new leads in the investigation. Constitutionally not really the legal way to do it but if it is the only was to catch a scumbag murderer I do not have a problem with it. That only work though if the pistol is rare like the 50 cal desert eagle was.
I'm still wondering how long the police would hold your gun hostage after they checked it out and put your name on a list forever as being the owner of a S&W Sigma .40.
How much do you want to bet their next question would be "Do you have any other guns?"
The next day their would be a headline saying "Cache of Weapons" found and no mention it was a .22 pump or lever action.
The Daytona PD had better look up Florida law regarding what they are doing...................................
Yea, the chief is from somewhere up north, and hasn't a clue bout Florida law this is just a stunt to make it look good for the papers here, got nothing but respect for law enforcement but they can only do so much with their hands tied
considering people who had thier guns confiscated dure'in katrina are still waiting for thiers to be given back and all the police need do is to say your weapon is being used for investigative purposes i highly doubt you'll ever see your again as well. at least until the case is closed....if ever.
Just seems pretty foolish to me and a waste of Police time as well as tax payer money. What good is it going to do to test fire all the Sigmas that are owned by law abiding citizens? Next question, do they really think the person or persons responsible for the murder are going to show up at the police station with the murder weapon and turn it in to be tested?
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There ain't no fix for stupid! 
