Nazir Al-Mujaahid, in case you missed it, is the Aldi shopper and licensed CCW holder – Wisconsin’s first – who stopped an armed robbery in Milwaukee by shooting the dude who was – allegedly – waving a rifle around. And although he’s been cleared of any wrongdoing, the MPD still have his gun and holster. As you’d expect, Wisconsin Carry isn’t happy about it. JSonline.com quotes Nik Clark, WCI’s prez: “WCI believes that these acts by the Milwaukee Police Department represent violations to law-abiding citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed right to be free from illegal seizures of their private property and their constitutionally recognized right to keep and bear arms.”
The gun, of course, is being held as evidence in the case against the failed stick-up man. The article states that “Hundreds of gun owners go to court in Milwaukee County each year to ask a judge to order their weapons returned to them.” Whether the MPD operates differently or is any more confiscatory than any other big city coperations, though, isn’t clear. But WCI seems to think so.
The department “appears to have a practice of concocting baseless reasons to seize any and all guns they come across in the city – even when those guns have never been used in connection with a crime,” the release states.
This is a good example of why not to carry an expensive firearm. I think it’s better to have a matching set of two $500 pistols than one worth $1000.
You may also want to have three pistols (or more) at any one time in your safe. If one is confiscated, you still have two, one for carry and one for home/backup.
That’s why I have seven.
+1
Any chance you guys could info my wife of such things? I obviously need some more.
On your own pal, mine is from Japan where nobody has guns…
… teen.
…hundred.
“Enough Guns” is one MORE than you already have…… Word.
Tis a good start! 🙂
That would mean I need four because I GO AKIMBO!!!
You mean 8
backup AKIMBO!!
That’s nothing. I know this guy who is an ex-cop and informed me that last time he renewed his home owners insurance he had to take an inventory of his guns and came back with 50 and most of those are pistols.
The gun, of course, is being held as evidence in the case against the failed stick-up man
Evidence of what, that he got shot?
Well, yeah, arguably, though it’s a stretch. The robber fled after being shot, presumably with a bullet in him, which bullet can be traced back to the gun, to prove that the guy they arrested was the robber and not just some poor victim who got shot by someone else. In other words, the gun is not evidence of a crime, but evidence that links the perp to the crime…..Um hmmm.
Yeup. And you never know: the perp’s defense attorney may require the gun in court for some reason, and if it got returned before all appeals are exhausted, the perforated robber’s shyster may have something to say about it.
Thus even when agencies are very proactive about returning guns, it may be a couple of years until all the appeals are exhausted. Far better to inconvenience the gun’s owner than to let the @)#(#@* walk.
THIS is why I will never buy a Wilson Combat or any other inordinately priced firearm for CC. In fact, the only reason I have a Walther PPS right now is because I managed to buy it for $450 out the door.
It is, without a doubt, the best gun-related deal I’ve found in my life (unless you count the service Smith & Wesson M&P I picked up for $325 out the door, but the previous owner saw fit to grind down the beaver tail and [for reasons beyond me] the picatinny rail).
Lightly-used Glock 19 service pistol with tritium sights and 3 15rd mags: $369 + tax.
I believe gtdist.com had a whole slew of similar-condition Glock 23s for closer to $329, though I didn’t inspect them too closely.. I think you had to go in person though, not offered on their intarweb site..
It is sadly ironic how a gun that’s carried and handled the most by a citizen will be certainly seized after it is used in self defense.
Even in jurisdictions where guns are not considered taboo, procedure dictates that any firearm used in a case be seized until the case(s) associated with it are resolved. Even if the citizen is cleared individually, the use of the firearm means it may be considered evidence against the felon in the latter’s trial, which is what seems to be the case here.
The safest thought with any firearm carried for self defense is to consider it forfeit once the police take it into custody.Even when the charges are dropped or the Grand Jury brings a No-Bill, the police will be loathe to return any firearm to its original owner. Stories of police departments obstructing return of weapons on pain of court order are around. Assuming a citizen can strong arm the police into releasing their weapon, it will have spent months if not years in some dusty, moldy basement under the police station devoid of maintenance or care. Unless the weapon in question is a Glock, count on it being all but a rusty pile of nothing when its handed back.
Insofar as not carrying an ‘expensive’ firearm, I believe this is a well intentioned thought that goes in the wrong direction. For a majority of us if we do need to draw down simply revealing the firearm will be enough to deter attack, and in the supremely unlikely event that rounds need to be fired losing the weapon is the least of one’s worries at that juncture.Carrying a Sigma because one is scared of police seizing their Kimber is like taking cabs everywhere because one is scared of totaling their car.
In the event I happen to be involved in one of those supremely unlikely events and the authorities deny return of my weapon, Ill let the obstructionist fuzz scrap my carry piece and buy another one or carry another weapon in my collection . I completely understand the principle of fighting for the cause of righteousness and against government abuse, but spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer over a period of months or years to have a rusted hulk returned to me that I cannot carry anyway is Pyrrhic victory territory. You may have the resources and inclination to go a different path, and for that I would wish good luck and low legal fees.
I actually think you are realistic. I think once a gun is used in a DGU, you might as well kiss it good-bye.
I think for a defensive weapon, it is best to purchase a good weapon, but one that is not ornate and a range trophy.
Agreed. In today’s legal climate, one has to be careful. I intend to win the DGU and later any possible attack by an opportunistic and unethical prosecutor. Certain types of custom work and engravings are out. Getting a customized trigger action is one thing. Having engraved a military type combat arms slogan on a handgun is probably not a good idea in today’s PC climate.
I guess it takes a while for the drone bees to get the message from the queen bee that policy has changed.
From the Cops won’t return gun story, this is apparently the fourth time he has had to use the courts to have a firearm returned and has been successful in two of the cases. Given that he has a clean enough record to get the CCW permit a few weeks prior to the Aldi store robbery, I have to wonder about the MPD attitude towards legally armed citizens in general.
300 dollar carry gun. No heirlooms. Cheap enough to replace/
How embarrassing. The Milwaukee po-po actually wants to return the gun, but one of their officers already sold it.
Sounds like standard operating procedure.
Five years ago the PD needed to hang on to one of mine, an upgraded S&W 1911. When I went to pick it up at the appropriate time, they tried to buy it from me. Next time they get a Glock.
I’m not moving. After reading the other comments I conclude my PD is exceptionally honest. IDPA shooters, but honest.
I wonder, if he had used his car to foil the robbery, would the police have taken that into evidence?
If that’s the case, he’s lucky he used a firearm. If he’d tackled and subdued the guy while unarmed, they’d have taken him in and locked him up.
Reminds me of the scene from the show Everybody Hates Chris where Chris’ dad (a cab driver) takes a guy to Vegas for a few grand, but when they get there, the passenger takes the dad hostage when the popo show up. But after the BG is in custody, they tackle the dad and arrest him too.
Chris’ dad: “I guess you officers are gonna have to take all this money as evidence.”
*Cops tackle and cuff him”
Narrator: “No! They need to take YOU as evidence!”
I had a handgun taken as evidence once, in 2000 or 2001, never to be seen again. When I asked the detective when I’d get it back he laughed and said sorry but it will be evidence for years and it will probably be lost before it can be returned. He told me how to apply for compensation for it, and I got a check for the retail cost of a new one. That was fine with me since I was going to sell it anyway and I bought a better gun. Most places the police have to compensate you if they need your personal property for a criminal investigation as long as you did not commit the crime. (Usually called a victims compensation fund or similar) They probably usually won’t tell you about it, so ask.
That is a handy piece of information I hope I never have to use.
Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up on the victims comp fund. But your contact’s opinion doesn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy in regards to their argument about needing to keep the firearm for evidence, if their evidence locker is so poorly run that they ‘lose’ firearms over a period of time…..
Carry a Glock or XD-they are easily replaceable and you don’t get attached to them.
I’d hate to lose my Nickel Python or Colt SAA 38 Special because of DGU.
You have a Nickel Python?! Maybe you should like have one of your good friends here at TTAG hold onto it for you. Just to be safe.
yeah, I’m planning to get something cheap but reliable after I get my CCW permit. Probably a little 38 or a taurus mallenium pro.
Would hate to lose my H&K P-30 or Browning HP practical to the cops where they’ll sit in evidence for who knows how long without being cleaned.
Be really pissed if I finally got the gun back and the barrel was pitted.
“Carry a Glock or XD-they are easily replaceable and you don’t get attached to them.”
That is the biggest crock I’ve heard in awhile….
Seriously, my EDC is an XD and it is the pistol I am most attached to. The 1911 is next, and the rest of them are a big pile of MEH. It’s not that I don’t like them, and I almost certainly wouldn’t sell them, but I’m just not at all attached to them.
Lol, I don’t know about everyone else but I’m attached at the hip to my Glock… 🙂
I’m attached to my XDm that I carry daily as well, but they’re still making them, so I could get one that works like it. I’d miss it, because it wouldn’t be the one that I’d had all that time, but it would be the same kind of gun.
Mayor Tom Barrett is a MAIG member and Chief Flynn was Boston PD. No surprises here.
He’ll never get his gun back. MPD can’t stand the competition.
In the perspective that MPD is violating citizen’s rights, that’s nothing new. It isn’t right, but it isn’t as if those in positions of power haven’t been using them to work over those who aren’t since the dawn of time. Again, it doesn’t make it right.
When it comes to self defense firearms, I’ve always seen them as “one time use” items.
If my g19 saves my life once, and I never get it back….that’s fine. I’ll buy a new one.
What I won’t do is carry an expensive pistol when the glock does the same job cheaper. Plus, having a run of the mill, generic gun will likely make its return to you easier for those who tend to “keep” rare guns for themselves. It isn’t as if a cop in the evidence locker hasn’t seen 10000 glock 19 pistols. He probably hasn’t seen that many colt python revolvers, or Les Baer 1911s……temptation is greater when the value is greater or harder to find the item.
Again, I believe that this is bull. However I must also work within the real world. If that means I lose my gun if it saves my life……..then I’ll just keep carrying a glock. Cheap to replace, nothing special about it and I can get it anywhere.
My carry will be Ruger .38 LCR or Bersa Thunder .380, both with laser sights, LCR XS std. sight. If lost to police would replace LCR with .357 LCR, would replace Bersa with higher caliber. My dad’s Colt Mustang Government model .380 has sentimental value, seldom used, cleaned/lubed regularly. Left it to me on instructions to my brother, who did estate distribution. Other weapons, no attachment to them, might sell a few to upgrade.