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Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

Man tries to sell undocumented firearm on Facebook, gets busted

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The suspect posted this ad on Facebook, which reads: "For sale, 9-shot .380 handgun, like new, it doesn't have papers but [hasn't been used in a crime]"

The suspect posted this ad on Facebook, which reads: “For sale, 9-shot .380 handgun, like new, it doesn’t have papers but [hasn't been used in a crime] – urgent sale.”

July 25th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) A man identified by the last names Cordero Navarro has been arrested in Perez Zeledon after he tried to sell an unregistered .380 handgun through posts on Facebook.

 

After several people reported the situation to police, one officer managed to contact the seller (who had conveniently included his phone number in the ad) and agreed to meet the man in the parking lot of a shopping center.

 

The seller arrived with the gun in the back seat of his car and was quickly taken into custody after the undercover officer was able to secure the firearm.

 

The suspect had no previous criminal record at the time of his arrest.

 

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  • NorthendFool

    380 is OK in close. I guess its better than nothing. Wonder what the price was. Guns are easy to buy in CR. Kinda over priced but ya know ya gotta have one anymore.

    • disgusted

      When I took the course here. You shoot at a piece of typing paper with a black dot in the middle 6 meters away. You have 10 shots, must hit the paper 7/10. I saw about 10 “security guards” who could not do this and had to reschedule. Most hostile interactions take place within the 6 meter range. Oh this Tico again you just cannot fix stupid here.. Jeez!

      • NorthendFool

        Laser sights allowed?

        • disgusted

          Nothing in the ley 7530 that prohibits them… FYI: I bought mine in USA and went to the gun range in Pavas and they installed it for me and I learned how to use it. They said it is better getting the DOTS that are seen in low light then worry about the laser. I think they are right about that.

  • Ken Morris

    Although the seller deserves this month’s Idiot Award for trying to sell an illegal gun on Facebook–What’s next, trying to sell cocaine in the courthouse and not expecting to get busted?–it might say something about how Ticos regard their gun registration laws.

    Outside of the gun shops and ranges, I have yet to have a Tico tell me that owing a registered gun is wise, while several have told me that it’s better to own a gun illegally. They give lots of reasons, but most of them boil down to not trusting the authorities to be fair to anyone who has to use a gun. The thinking seems to be that registering a gun is only asking for trouble, and your odds of avoiding trouble are better with an unregistered gun.

    I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m watching the case (reported elsewhere) of the Tico who shot an armed robber a couple weeks ago closely in order to make uo my own mind. As reported, the shooter had both a registered gun and a carry permit–plus the robber was armed–yet the Tico still went directly to jail, for 11 days and counting at last report. Maybe there are relevant facts about the incident that haven’t been reported which justify the shooter’s incarceration, but it looks a lot like a Tico who followed all the rules and even stopped an armed robbery in progress is nevertheless being railroaded.

    I want to see how this case turns out before I form my own opinion, but it’s looking like there aren’t many practical benefits to abiding by the gun laws–although it’s still pretty damn foolish to try to sell a gun illegally on Facebook.

    • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

      Ken, would you mind sending me any links, pertinent info or likewise you have on the case you mentioned above via email ([email protected])? Surely appreciated.

    • disgusted

      Ken, It is a mixed bag to own legally or just carry without. I choose to own legally.Every 2 years have to go though finger prints, psyche test, deposit money, wait in line spend half a day getting the ID.

      The other thing you cannot carry it into a bar, most restaurants, government office buildings, hospitals, clinic and of course banks. Sometimes it seems more trouble than its worth. However, it only takes one time when you wish you were armed.

      When I bought my last pistol.It goes to armas y explosivos they fire one shot from the gun. The log the bullet and I guess put it in a locker for future. I noticed when I got back my firearm it had a spent shell..

      • Ken Morris

        The spent shell is funny.

        Out of curiosity, I googled the “science” of ballistic matching and discovered that it is bogus anyway. California considered implementing such a system, but abandoned it when tests showed that it is utterly unreliable. Just using a different brand of bullets throw the results off, as also does firing 100 rounds at the range. You end up with like 20 false positives, while the correct gun isn’t even identified as a possibility–if the shooter bothered to register it in the first place, which not many criminals do.

        I mean, maybe Tim can help us here: Has a single crime in CR ever been solved using the ballistic matching? I certainly haven’t heard of one–but I bet 20 innocent owners registered guns end up being suspects when the authorities use the matching system.

        And the hoot is they even screw up the test itself.

        This seems a typical instance of CR passing lofty laws that have next to no practical effect–except to discourage respect for and compliance with the law.

        Yeah, you know my situation (which hasn’t changed)–I remain in the legal limbo of having passed all the tests and filed all the papers only to hear nothing back for now well over a year.

        But tastes and skills etc. vary. I’m not comfortable carrying a gun and not a very good shot, so figure I’m better off with pepper spray and a machete. (When in Rome . . .) Others, probably you, are more comfortable carrying a gun and skilled at shooting, and if I were in your shoes I’d probably do my best to get the proper papers and keep them current too. I’d just hate to walk around with an illegal gun, since that poses a constant risk of arrest. However, the downsides are the false positives of the ballistic matching and that it’s not crystal whether a righteous shoot with a registered gun will keep a person out of trouble anyway.

        BTW, what are the provisions for inheriting guns? If a person in legal possession of a gun dies, his or her heirs can’t inherit it unless they go through all the tests and pay all the fees, but what if they fail the tests or aren’t eligible? Does the state confiscate the guns? Indeed, does the state hold the guns while heirs take the tests and so forth required to possess them? I don’t remember reading anything in the law about guns as part of an estate.

        My point is that the law is poorly thought through, and quite ineffectual. My impression is that most Ticos with guns inherited them informally–but not many are dumb enough to post them for sale on Facebook.

        • disgusted

          My attorney told me whoever inherits the weapon. They too would need to be certified, taking the course. However, it can be sold to another IF he/she has the correct cedula current and has less than 2 weapons max. 3. I have had so many mixed information, from Armas y explosivos .. The .380 is a smaller weapon fits easy into a front pocket. The cartilages are smaller with less power. Still I would not contest anyone with a weapon you’re going to loose.

          • Ken Morris

            My guess is that in the real world those who inherit weapons just do, without mentioning them to anyone or getting certified etc. My further guess is that in the rare instances that an heir who isn’t certified brings a weapon up, it’s sold at like 25% of value to a gun shop. It is VERY HARD to for a gun sale between private parties to work in CR–take it from me, I’ve been through it–so I bet that this is just free money for the gun shops. Actually, one effect of the law is to empower the gun shops, and the cynic in me suggests that these guys may have had a hand in writing the law, since hell they profit from it.

            I shouldn’t opine, since I truly don’t know, but I googled it a fair amount and determined that a 380 is probably OK. I think a 22 magnum probably is too. At the end of the day, it’s all statistics and a crap shoot. Big, powerful guns do more damage–if you hit the target–but aren’t a panacea. A smaller gun a person can handle is better than a bigger gun they can’t, and no gun is certain. It’s all playing the odds.

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