Forgot to ad, the gun only has an MSRP of $329, so hiring an attorney is out of the question.
Send the cops and the DA a registered letter demanding the return of your property or a written statement giving their Statutory authority for refusing to do so. On the bottom of that letter put a cc: to a local attorney. Pick one out of the phone book or from a google search.
Don’t actually send a copy to the referenced attorney, just make the cops and the DA think you did.
Give them 30 days to respond. If they don’t sue them in small claims court for the value of the gun. Make sure you save a copy of the letter and the receipt from both the cops and the DA to show the judge.
That may make them cough it up. If they don’t you’ll at least get your money.
L
You wont get the gun back without a court order, which will take a lawyer.
The gun will sit in the back room for a while and then either be sold, melted down, or taken home by a cop.
You are right to be upset, but I would just let it go, you shouldn’t want to have a gun used in a crime, even if technically you have full right to get it back. You never know whether it might become a problem later on, or even if it won’t.
Be glad the guy is sitting in jail.
Just get another one, nice, brand new one.
Write a letter to them that if you don’t get the gun back in 30 days, you want the $469 (gun prices have risen over the years) back because it is your property. Also tell them the value of the property will enhance every 30 days. They have photo’s, serial number and written records of your legal purchase. They have no reason to hold onto it.