Houston Ballistics Lab SLOW!!!

[MechAg94]

If the crime lab is not part of the Sheriff's office, he can't tell you not to call them. I would call just to try to back up the officers claim that your gun is there and remains unprocessed. IMO, don't just contact that officer. Call everyone and bug them.

And get another gun as soon as you can afford to.

[Topbuilder]

When my 226 Navy was stolen from my gun safe and recovered within a day or two under the seat of a car driven by a couple of young criminals in the parking lot of one of the high schools at 3 AM or so, San Diego PD kept it for ballistics testing and evidence. The perps were charged with a variety of crimes, and eventually pleaded guilty to at least some of those. My pistol remained in custody. I had been given the name and number of a detective who was handling the cases. I called repeatedly, got various explanations for further delay.

In California, to receive a firearm from the government and other situations, you must obtain and present a Certificate of Eligibility for which you apply and pay a fee to the state Department of Justice. Presumably, a background check is run to make sure you are still a good citizen, no criminal, domestic, mental health etc. problems, eligible under state law to possess a firearm. These are good for 30 days. I went through several waiting to get my pistol back.

This detective was almost never available. He rotated through various shifts and stations, went on several vacations. Finally, after weeks of leaving messages, hurried phone calls of excuses, I told him my latest COE was expiring, again, and he told me I could come to police headquarters and pick up the pistol. This was one of the strangest experiences of my life. I was treated with all the enthusiasm and good faith of cats being given a bath. It seemed extremely distasteful to the PD employees to be doing this.

The red dot sight was gone, but I picked up a couple of extra magazines. I forget how long all this was, but I believe it was a bit more than 6 months.

" I was treated with all the enthusiasm and good faith of cats being given a bath."

[zimmerdesignz]

If the crime lab is not part of the Sheriff's office, he can't tell you not to call them. I would call just to try to back up the officers claim that your gun is there and remains unprocessed. IMO, don't just contact that officer. Call everyone and bug them.

And get another gun as soon as you can afford to.

They said since I was not the Officer they could not release any information

[Rpenn57]

General question - Is it worth buying a cheap gun for defense, in the slight chance that I'd have to use it? Aren't we suppose to be using a gun that we trust with our life? I would hate for my good gun to be "tied up" in the legal system and not have it.

[zimmerdesignz]

General question - Is it worth buying a cheap gun for defense, in the slight chance that I'd have to use it? Aren't we suppose to be using a gun that we trust with our life? I would hate for my good gun to be "tied up" in the legal system and not have it.

Exactly and they already tried to come in once.

[suthdj]

General question - Is it worth buying a cheap gun for defense, in the slight chance that I'd have to use it? Aren't we suppose to be using a gun that we trust with our life? I would hate for my good gun to be "tied up" in the legal system and not have it.

No, but it is a good excuse to buy a gun anyway.

[Rpenn57]

I'll use that excuse on the wife next time!

[Soccerdad1995]

General question - Is it worth buying a cheap gun for defense, in the slight chance that I'd have to use it? Aren't we suppose to be using a gun that we trust with our life? I would hate for my good gun to be "tied up" in the legal system and not have it.

Here are my personal thoughts on the matter.

I will only use a quality gun that I can trust with my life. This does not need to be overly expensive, however. A used Glock can be found for around $450 to $500, including a serviceable holster. There are other reliable options at an even lower price point. I will also never own just one gun for several reasons including the reason posted in this thread. If you are even more risk averse, then another step would be to never keep all your guns at one location. Having a spare gun with a friend in a nearby town might be helpful in some cases.

I am assuming that most everyone on this board has found a way to buy at least one good gun, accessories, mags, and some ammo given that this is a board for discussing LTC topics. But I also understand that another $500 investment might be a bit painful for some folks. I will say that if you have invested $1,000 in your defensive weapons, you might well be better off buying two weapons at $500 each, or two $350 guns instead of one for $700. I will also say that if you truly view the availability of a reliable weapon as a necessity, and you can only afford one gun, then you can't afford non-necessities like cable TV, etc.

[crazy2medic]

I use to work for a doctor, part of my job was to get insurance companies to authorizes medications for patients that they really didn't want to pay for. I learned to "climb the ladder" start at the first rung the person that is typically your most available, then ask for the supervisor or boss, and just keep going up until until they get tired of hearing from you, it's basically harassmenst but since the cause is just, the property is yours and they are beauracracy, so good luck stay at em!

[zimmerdesignz]

I have a call in to the Sergeant but he has not return my call yet.

[tomtexan]

When my 226 Navy was stolen from my gun safe and recovered within a day or two under the seat of a car driven by a couple of young criminals in the parking lot of one of the high schools at 3 AM or so, San Diego PD kept it for ballistics testing and evidence. The perps were charged with a variety of crimes, and eventually pleaded guilty to at least some of those. My pistol remained in custody. I had been given the name and number of a detective who was handling the cases. I called repeatedly, got various explanations for further delay.

In California, to receive a firearm from the government and other situations, you must obtain and present a Certificate of Eligibility for which you apply and pay a fee to the state Department of Justice. Presumably, a background check is run to make sure you are still a good citizen, no criminal, domestic, mental health etc. problems, eligible under state law to possess a firearm. These are good for 30 days. I went through several waiting to get my pistol back.

This detective was almost never available. He rotated through various shifts and stations, went on several vacations. Finally, after weeks of leaving messages, hurried phone calls of excuses, I told him my latest COE was expiring, again, and he told me I could come to police headquarters and pick up the pistol. This was one of the strangest experiences of my life. I was treated with all the enthusiasm and good faith of cats being given a bath. It seemed extremely distasteful to the PD employees to be doing this.

The red dot sight was gone, but I picked up a couple of extra magazines. I forget how long all this was, but I believe it was a bit more than 6 months.

" I was treated with all the enthusiasm and good faith of cats being given a bath."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1aKAnAmsSk

[zimmerdesignz]

Latest. I called the Lab. They wouldn't tell me anything but also sounded really confused. I called the Sergeant again. I insisted he call the Lab and speak to the person I did. My gun, that I shot has been waiting on DNA tests this whole time. The original officer checked the wrong box. The Sergeant canceled that and had it sent over to ballistics. So over 3 months waiting to get it back and it wasn't even being tested. I'm a little frustrated to say the least.