Stolen pistol leads to reckless endangerment charge for Stamford man

[pa350z]

"Under a new law that went into effect Oct. 1, Jerome was charged with a misdemeanor count of unsafe storage of a gun in a motor vehicle in addition to the reckless endangerment charge. The new law makes it a crime to store a gun in a locked car if it is not also put into a safe, locked in the glove box or stored in the car’s trunk."

"Any person who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor fora first offense and a class D felony for any subsequent offense"

"Connecticut requires any person who lawfully possesses a firearm that is lost or stolen to report the loss or theft to the organized local police department for the town in which the loss or theft occurred or, if the town does not have an organized local police department, to the state police troop having jurisdiction for the town, within 72 hours of when the person discovered or should have discovered the loss or theft."

Bottomline, in CT, reporting of lost or stolen firearms is the law and punishable. The fellow followed the law and then was snared in the unattended firearm law requirements. Right, wrong, stupid laws.... this fellow may have just lost his right to ever possess a firearm unless he goes through extraordinary legal steps to get his rights back. Whenever I am in CT, I do not leave my firearm unattended.

My prediction is that CT will be used as a national model to infringe on legal arms owner's rights. Making criminals out of victims trying to do the right thing is how the right to bear arms will slowly be eroded over times.

[Krichardson]

.....sounds about right with the way that things are going.

[JenniferG]

"Under a new law that went into effect Oct. 1, Jerome was charged with a misdemeanor count of unsafe storage of a gun in a motor vehicle in addition to the reckless endangerment charge. The new law makes it a crime to store a gun in a locked car if it is not also put into a safe, locked in the glove box or stored in the car’s trunk."

"Any person who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor fora first offense and a class D felony for any subsequent offense"

"Connecticut requires any person who lawfully possesses a firearm that is lost or stolen to report the loss or theft to the organized local police department for the town in which the loss or theft occurred or, if the town does not have an organized local police department, to the state police troop having jurisdiction for the town, within 72 hours of when the person discovered or should have discovered the loss or theft."

Bottomline, in CT, reporting of lost or stolen firearms is the law and punishable. The fellow followed the law and then was snared in the unattended firearm law requirements. Right, wrong, stupid laws.... this fellow may have just lost his right to ever possess a firearm unless he goes through extraordinary legal steps to get his rights back. Whenever I am in CT, I do not leave my firearm unattended.

My prediction is that CT will be used as a national model to infringe on legal arms owner's rights. Making criminals out of victims trying to do the right thing is how the right to bear arms will slowly be eroded over times.

If they are going to charge him with other crimes if he reports his stolen gun he has a defense under the 5th Amendment about self incrimination. Oh that's right, the Constitution is no longer in effect in Connecticut or anywhere else leftist make the laws.

[unclejumbo]

What he did was stupid. With that said, there are many things that could be crimes if stupidity is the bar. I had to take a report for a purse stolen from an open convertible. She left it on the passenger seat when she went into the store.

There is one overriding theme here. Taking what is not yours is a crime. Even a bundle of money dropped on a sidewalk can't be picked up and kept lawfully. It's bad form to penalize crime victims. It's bad law to make criminals of victims, regardless of their level of stupid.

I don't support any law that singles out gun owners because that particular item is more dangerous than another. You want to make a safe storage law, make it across the board. We'll define what is and isn't proper storage for anything and we'll arrest those that don't abide by those laws and subsequently report a theft. We'll do the same with mandatory reporting requirements. If you're the victim of a crime, you must report it. To do anything else is just harassment of a group that is constantly under attack already.

[ideaman]

I like this to go the SCOTUS. When PA troopers pulled over a car for a traffic violation, the court stated they can not keep the car only enough time to deal only with traffic, broken tail etc. They can not bring a dog to check etc.

I don't believe the police had any right to go into the house, which had no bearing to the violation.

[donotknowme]

Should I stop leaving a gun in my car so that when my car gets stolen they can charge the person with stealing a gun too?

[free]

I don't believe the police had any right to go into the house, which had no bearing to the violation.

It is entirely possible he consented to a search of the house. Do we have any evidence otherwise?