Cops always act like it is a such a hassle to get a search warrant . I know many judges and none of them have ever refused a search warrant request . In this age of communication it takes minutes and an ounce of judgment .
“I know many judges and none of them have ever refused a search warrant request .”
Perhaps this is because police have learned what they need to bring in order to make an acceptable request. The observation that no requests have been turned down in your jurisdiction tells us nothing pro or con regarding the reasonableness of the explanation given in this jurisdiction for why a search warrant was not requested.
>>The owner, he said, was not clear about who among the group of about eight men inside the store actually took the weapon.<<
One search warrant or eight?
Have you ever heard of Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure?
The cops didn’t have enough information, IMO, to make a decision as to who had the gun or where it was being kept.