IF, the report you linked is true, I would be wrong about police returning the gun, BUT it says “The gun is now in the possession of authorities, officially part of the evidence in the case.”
There is no reference to how they know this. A link to the official who supposedly said this would be helpful.
The horses mouth so to speak. We know the media lies. Trust but verify.
Oh, I dunno. If police officers handcuffed me and put me in the back of a squad car (have you ever been in one? hard plastic seat, grill in your face, doors that don’t open from the inside) and took me to the station, and I was not free to go - well, I would consider myself arrested - stopped - interfered with, even if not charged.
At which point I would read myself my rights, and get a lawyer. In a case like Zimmerman’s, medical attention and documentation.