Reporting Lost Stolen Firearms: Questions and Answers

What will the legislation do?

It requires the owner of a firearm to report its theft or loss to police within 24 hours of when the owner knew or should have known of the loss/theft. It also authorizes the state police to maintain a record of all guns reported lost or stolen.

Why is requiring the reporting of lost and stolen guns necessary?

In Pennsylvania in 2006, guns were used in 563 homicides, 5,981 aggravated assaults, and 8,907 robberies.¹ Most gun violence is committed by people who cannot lawfully purchase or possess guns. These criminals rely on straw purchasers to buy the guns from licensed gun dealers and then sell them on the illegal street market, to convicted felons and violent youth. Law enforcement officials report that when a "crime gun" is successfully traced back to the last person who legally owned it, that person frequently claims the gun was lost or stolen, even if they never reported it at the time. Since there is no requirement for reporting stolen or lost guns, no prosecution is possible, and the straw purchasers feeding the illegal market go unpunished.

Won't straw purchasers just report their guns were stolen?

A straw purchaser might report a couple of guns as stolen, but if every few weeks someone filed a report that his guns were lost or stolen, he would fast become the target of a police investigation. No person breaking the law is going to bring that kind of attention and scrutiny to his operation.

What happens when you report a lost or stolen firearm?

This report will set in motion a nation-wide effort to recover the firearm. The gun's description and serial number will be entered into the National Crime Information Center's computer stolen-gun file, and will be checked by any officer encountering a suspicious gun. The report will hasten the identification of the thief or subsequent illegal possessor, and will allow the prompt return of the gun to its rightful owner. In a recent case, a gun stolen from Pennsylvania was later used to kill a police officer in Ohio, and because the lawful owner voluntarily reported it stolen, that helped identify the killer.²

Isn't the lawful gun owner likely to get tripped up by this law and have to pay a fine or go to court?

Conscientious gun owners keep track of their guns and ensure their guns are stored in a safe place. Such owners call the police when their guns are lost or stolen because they will want to file an insurance claim, they will want to get the gun back if it's recovered, and because they do not want their gun to end up in the wrong hands. These responsible gun owners will not be affected by this law.

Gun owners have complained they have so many guns they can't keep track of them or they live in rural areas where people don't lock their doors. Doesn't this just burden that gun owner? All gun owners have an obligation to safely store their guns. Failure to safeguard firearms appropriately may not only cause guns to fall into criminals' hands, but into the hands of the impulsive, disturbed teenager next door who could harm himself or others.

What if a gun owner stores the gun in his hunting cabin and returns after a three-week absence to find the gun stolen?

The owner would report the loss at that time because that is when he should have known the gun was stolen.

What if a gun is stolen but the owner didn't know it had been taken?

Wouldn't the police come to the door if the gun was used in a crime and the owner be subject to arrest? If a person's gun is used in a crime, the police will come to the last lawful owner with or without this law. If the gun is used in a crime and traced back to this owner, and the owner has reported the gun stolen or lost, they will likely not be subject to an additional investigation. With or without a reporting law on the books, any crime gun that wasn't reported stolen will cause the last lawful owner to be scrutinized. However, as long as the facts support what the lawful owner says, this law will not cause any law abiding gun owner to be prosecuted.

Who supports the reporting of lost and stolen firearms?

96% of Pennsylvania residents statewide and 70% of gun owners surveyed support it. Law enforcement agencies including the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association support it,³ as do a dozen individual mayors, and the statewide Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities. Also supporting the legislation is a coalition called Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns (PATH), which includes CeaseFire PA and organizations such as the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Presbytery of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Pennsylvania Million Mom March, and many other community and faith groups from across the Commonwealth. In fact, most people are shocked to learn that this law does not already exist.

What can we do to help this law get on the books?

Call, visit or write your state senator and representative, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, and share this information with your friends, families and neighbors, More information and downloadable action kits are available at www.handgunsanity.org, a website CeaseFire PA maintains to achieve this sensible goal.

To download a copy of this document, click here.

1 Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reports, accessed 12/3/07 2 Police: Man stole gun later used to kill cop, Indiana Gazette , November 4, 2007 3 Statewide poll conducted by Lake Research Partners , Feb. 26-March 4, 2007