Buck
05-11-10, 03:54
50025001
If it could talk, we might not want to know what story a .45-caliber handgun stolen nearly 40 years ago has to tell. At least one of those stories would involve an L.A. gang and the Los Angeles Police Department. This morning, a Remington .45-pistol stolen from Dr.Warren Schafer's Clackamas-area home was returned to the 90-year-old retired dentist and Medical Teams International volunteer. "Well, I kind of wish it could talk,'' Schafer said.
The .45 caliber handgun.The handgun was one of 11 firearms stolen from Schafer's home on Oct. 27, 1970, along with other items valued at around $3,000. Schafer said it was the second time the guns had been stolen. One of eight rifles stolen that day ( a .303 Enfield) was returned about 10 years ago (recovered in Las Vegas, perhaps a story that will stay in Vegas), but the remaining seven rifles and two shotguns are still out there somewhere. Each year, Schafer receives a letter from law enforcement asking him if he wants to keep the stolen guns' serial numbers on a list of stolen guns. "I tell them, "Hell yes!' -- it doesn't cost me a thing, and see, it works,'' he said. Lt. Gregg Hastings, spokesman for the Oregon State Police, said his agency heard from LAPD detectives on April 12 that one of their gang detectives had recovered the .45-caliber pistol.
"Well, I guess that's it,'' Schafer told Oregon State Police officials who turned over the pistol to Schafer this morning. "The serial numbers match, so it must be mine." Known as the M1911A1, it served as the U.S. military's official sidearm for about 80 years. "This is basically the same gun, but a little fancier,'' Schafer said. "It's a much nicer gun to look at."
If it could talk, we might not want to know what story a .45-caliber handgun stolen nearly 40 years ago has to tell. At least one of those stories would involve an L.A. gang and the Los Angeles Police Department. This morning, a Remington .45-pistol stolen from Dr.Warren Schafer's Clackamas-area home was returned to the 90-year-old retired dentist and Medical Teams International volunteer. "Well, I kind of wish it could talk,'' Schafer said.
The .45 caliber handgun.The handgun was one of 11 firearms stolen from Schafer's home on Oct. 27, 1970, along with other items valued at around $3,000. Schafer said it was the second time the guns had been stolen. One of eight rifles stolen that day ( a .303 Enfield) was returned about 10 years ago (recovered in Las Vegas, perhaps a story that will stay in Vegas), but the remaining seven rifles and two shotguns are still out there somewhere. Each year, Schafer receives a letter from law enforcement asking him if he wants to keep the stolen guns' serial numbers on a list of stolen guns. "I tell them, "Hell yes!' -- it doesn't cost me a thing, and see, it works,'' he said. Lt. Gregg Hastings, spokesman for the Oregon State Police, said his agency heard from LAPD detectives on April 12 that one of their gang detectives had recovered the .45-caliber pistol.
"Well, I guess that's it,'' Schafer told Oregon State Police officials who turned over the pistol to Schafer this morning. "The serial numbers match, so it must be mine." Known as the M1911A1, it served as the U.S. military's official sidearm for about 80 years. "This is basically the same gun, but a little fancier,'' Schafer said. "It's a much nicer gun to look at."