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Morro Bay police officer’s guns stolen

January 3, 2012

By KAREN VELIE

A Morro Bay police officer who left two guns in an unlocked vehicle parked in San Luis Obispo discovered early Friday morning someone had stolen the weapons.

Former San Luis Obispo City Councilman and Mothers Tavern owner Paul Brown left an unregistered 38 revolver and a loaded semi-automatic pistol in the center console of his personal car when he went home for the evening. At about 6 a.m., Brown reported the theft to police.

“I left my car unlocked,” Brown said. “I wish I could relive the moment.”

The Department of Justice recommends gun owners store their weapons in a safe and secure place and keep ammunition in a different location to prevent unauthorized use. In this case, the semi-automatic had a bullet in the chamber and the revolver had ammunition stored next to it.

In addition, according to California law, all firearms purchases and transfers must go through the Dealer Record of Sale process. Brown said the revolver was registered to his father, who passed away about two years ago, and he was in the process of getting the revolver registered.

“It wasn’t in my possession, it was in my car,” Brown said. “I had it because we were getting ready to transfer it into my name.”

California Penal Code requires that the person taking possession of a firearm report the transfer to the Department of Justice within 30 days.

A few years ago, Paso Robles Police Chief Lisa Solomon left her loaded semi-automatic gun in an unlocked car parked in front of her home. Atascadero police later confiscated the unregistered gun from a pair of burglary suspects and returned it to Solomon.


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DO THE SIMPLE MATH!


California hand gun transporation law.


“When being transported, handguns must be unloaded and in a locked fully enclosed container other than the glove box or any console attached to the vehicle. The trunk of a car is considered to be a locked container but a glove box or “utility box” is specifically forbidden. If one believes he or she is within a “gun-free school zone” (area surrounding 1,000 feet from the edge of school grounds which teaches any grade from kindergarten to 12th grade) then the handgun must be locked in a fully enclosed container. Failure to lock up a handgun while in a school zone is a violation of federal and state law.”


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_California


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Oh my lord! I’m agreeing with Ted! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!


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Living with a retired homicide detective I am constantly reminded that a police officers first duty when he finishes his shift is to place his firearms out of harms way (usually in the house hidden from children) and certainly not left in a vehicle. True story: When I lived in Palm springs there was a burglary in Desert Hot Springs in the mid 90’s (two unmarked handguns were stolen) only days later a 10 year old boy found one of the guns in a field near his school in Desert Hot Springs and accidently shot himself (he died) The police in Desert Hot Springs never solved the case as to how the guns came to be in the field nor did they follow up with the stolen guns. Sad huh?


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Thank You God…


This is the first blog post from Nancimeek that did NOT mention Grigger Jones!


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Well “Apathywillkillyou” aka “another poster afraid to use their REAL name” if your family had been wronged and you watched your father’s hard earned money and memory being stolen from you………telling people you and your father were not close, lying on the witness stand, etc yeah you’d be talking about him all the time to everyone. BTW it has been my internet rantings and you tube videos that have kept Jones from taking advantage of TWO OTHER families since he did what he did to us. Thanks for the mention, anyway.


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Oh Paul. You are the town Baby Huey. It’s as if you consistently sabotage your own efforts for political office.


Maybe stick to the band and buy a new bar. That seems to work for you.


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Don’t know about the Baby Huey, but, danged, that picture looks strange.


Did he go to the Lawrence Welk School of Photography to get it done?


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In this day and age especially after the Chief Soloman fiasco, most police officers I know are extremely carefull about securing their guns.


Remember back when the New Times reported on Brown’s failling to pay on a thousand dollars worth of parking tickets. I think it was in the Shredder.


He sure seems like his head is not in the game.


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Just think, if it was thousands of dollars of unpaid tax liens instead, maybe Paul could have been Sheriff? Oh wait… Paul actually went to college… nevermind.


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Brown seems to believe the rules that apply to other folks don’t apply to him.


With that kind of attitude, he should not have possession of firearms.


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And this fruitcake could have been our Mayor!!!! Could be his foolish mistake will result in various violent crimes.


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And instead SLO ended up with a mayor who is a truly dishonest fruitcake, lacks any business sense, and lied about being Vice President of Citizens for Planning Responsibly (CPR)


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Leaving two firearms unsecured in a vehicle, within short walking distance to elementary schools seems a little more serious than lying about belonging to CPR, no?


They are both losers. There, happy?


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According to the gun nuts, we should all be safer now that two more guns are in the hands of the public.


I’m actually concerned about Mr. Brown who has had a lot of personal turmoil in his life in the last couple years. . I hope he and those around him consider this a wake-up call.


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Perhaps a few concerned citizens will turn up at the next MB council meeting to express their concerns about the MBPD’s loser-vision approach to recruiting police officers.


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Opppps…..


Well at least he didn’t make up some condescending LIE about why he was above the law and didn’t have to register the gun he inherited. The thing that was so irritating about Solomon was how she tried to give us all a load of BS. Mistakes happen and I’m sure he does wish he could relive the moment when he forgot to lock the car or better yet, remove the guns. We’ve all been forgetful at one time or another and we all procrastinate at times. Like I said, at least he admitted to both and said he was sorry. I can accept that.


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Cindy,


“We’ve all been forgetful at one time or another and we all procrastinate at times.”


Damn it, I procrastinated and forgot to bring my jacket in from my unlocked car to the inside of my house, and therefore it was stolen! Cindy my dear, procrastination of leaving TWO LOADED GUNS in one’s car in a neighborhood is just a little bit different, wouldn’t you say? You pass this action off as if it was nothing! LOL


“Like I said, at least he admitted to both and said he was sorry. I can accept that.”


Oh, and since Mr. Brown said he was sorry, you can accept that and it’s now okay? Isn’t that just so sweet of you? Kiss, kiss! Albeit, that if Paul reads your comment, he’ll feel so much better!


Since those TWO LOADED GUNS were made easily accessible, could you accept the fact that the robber of said guns could possibly use them in a crime, and of which the wrongdoer robbed or killed with the guns that he had stolen? Could you accept that, and girlie smooches to this situation as well? There is a myriad of different and drastic options ot this situaion. Your logic is pathetic! :(


Cindy, your logic is as inept in this case as it is in your assumed knowledge of bible verses! LOL


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Yes of course, he said he was sorry so it is all okay. I wonder if he will be sorry if one of his fellow cops gets shot in the face with one of his stolen guns? I wonder how sorry he will be if one of his guns are used to murder, rob, or rape one of our citizens. The only reason this idiot is sorry is because the story hit the media and good ole Karen called him for a little chit chat. It is not a mistake, it is a careless disregard for the safety of the entire public by someone who should know better. For all we know that unregistered gun is riding to school in some kids sponge bob lunch pail, carried by the 10 year old down the block who was pulling unlocked car doors for spare change.


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Good grief, talk about running around like chicken little. I hope everybody isn’t as crazy about all the things in life that “could happen” as you are. Life must really suck for you. People looking to shoot a cop in the face or rape somebody at gunpoint aren’t going to do it just because they managed to get their hands on a gun. I can guarantee you that they will get a gun if they want one and do it. Do you really believe for one second that because someone got THAT GUN that they will now committed a crime that they wouldn’t have committed otherwise? Chill out.


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Whatever would happen to the average citizen for this act should be what happens to him. His badge should not influence the outcome in ANY way.


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I don’t think anything would happen to an average citizen for leaving their gun in their car. Unloaded of course unless they have a special permit. The difference is that the average citizen doesn’t generally forget that they have a gun in their car because carrying a gun isn’t second nature for us, when we have it in our possession, we’re usually fully aware of it. Likewise, inheriting a registered gun from a deceased family member isn’t the same as purchasing an unregistered gun and never (for 12 years) seeing to it that it does get registered. A gun that was legally registered to a deceased family member can be easily traced. It’s not so much that the gun is unregistered as it is that the family member didn’t change the name on it in a timely fashion. It’s probably a small fine for procrastinating with the name change.


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@Cindy: “A gun that was legally registered to a deceased family member can be easily traced”


Explain to me how it can be traced if it is unregistered? What am I missing?


Isn’t the real issue here that that he was terribly irresponsible.


Hopefully the guns will be recovered before someone is hurt


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The gun is registered, it’s registered in his fathers name. The father passed away and officer Brown took charge of the gun but failed to re-register it in his name. That is the difference here, the gun isn’t some unregistered piece of iron that could be used as a throw down.


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Poor logic.


Elder Brown passes away. Do you think other police agencies can psycically intuit that the gun registered to Elder Brown is now in the possession of Junior Brown? Or that there is even a Junior Brown?


I think you are as unwilling for Brown to be held accountable for his actions as he is.


Really, other police agencies are supposed to spend THEIR resources to trace ownership of a gun because Officer “Lawrence Welk” Brown is such a loser that, even as a member of another police department, he couldn’t be bothered to register his father’s gun into his own name?


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“Poor logic. Elder Brown passes away. Do you think other police agencies can psycically intuit that the gun registered to Elder Brown is now in the possession of Junior Brown? Or that there is even a Junior Brown?”


YES – and the reason why is because as soon as the gun was stolen Junior Brown filed a report , informing them that the gun that is registered to his father (who is now deceased) was in his possession and has now been stolen. It can be identified.


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also, I don’t understand why people are being so cruel and intolerant towards him. I haven’t heard where he has ever done anything to hurt anyone. Yes I heard his x-wife charged him with DV but I also heard that it was BS, she had no injuries.


He owned Mother’s Tavern, he ran for SLOCC and he became a LEO, sounds like a fine background to me. Why can’t he be human first? Like I said, who has he intentionally harmed? I’d rather have a forgetful cop on the streets than a bully or hot head or liar or somebody who thinks they have something to prove.


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Cindy,


“I don’t think anything would happen to an average citizen for leaving their gun in their car.”


WHAT?! Cindy, once again your assertions abound! LOL To school you once again, please read California’s hand gun transportation laws! You’re welcome. Geeeez Louise Cindy, when are you actually going to use FACTS to back up your claims???!!!!


“When being transported, handguns must be unloaded and in a locked fully enclosed container other than the glove box or any console attached to the vehicle. The trunk of a car is considered to be a locked container but a glove box or “utility box” is specifically forbidden. If one believes he or she is within a “gun-free school zone” (area surrounding 1,000 feet from the edge of school grounds which teaches any grade from kindergarten to 12th grade) then the handgun must be locked in a fully enclosed container. Failure to lock up a handgun while in a school zone is a violation of federal and state law.”


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_California


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Ted, I don’t believe that law applies to Police Officers.

I thinks they can carry and or transport weapons that are fully loaded.


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NOT LEFT EXPOSED IN AN UNLOCKED CAR!


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It was no mistake that the guns were loaded. Cindy, you brush this off as if he had squirt guns or perhaps BB guns. These are very dangerous weapons that now are in the wrong hands, although apparently they were in the wrong hands before they were stolen.


Just another example of why we need gun control. Cop or not this guy is not competent to own firearms. This idiot didn’t even have the commonsense to take the bullets out of a ‘SEMI AUTOMATIC’ when transporting the thing, not that the 38 is chump change.


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Typo: “this idiot didn’t even have the commonsense to take the bullets out when transporting the thing”

Officers have “right” to carry, and transport personal weapons ‘locked and loaded”…

His Offence is that he didn’t “conceal carry” them; instead left them in his vehicle.


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But he ‘supposedly’ was transporting the guns to register them, they should have been unloaded and in the trunk. Regardless, having a firearm, especially a semi auto. loaded basicly in the open and unattended is irresponsible and just plain stupid, a cop should shouldn’t be above that. As far as him carrying the guns, I would hate to think that anyone even an off duty cop would be carrying a loaded 38 AND loaded semi auto.. I would say that’s a bit of an over kill and I feel that would be very weird. There is no excuse for carrying or having TWO loaded high caliber guns in his car or on his person.


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How would gun control have stopped this from happening?


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I don’t think using Brown’s loserness is a reason to deprive others of one of their constitutional rights.


I’m an old-school, ninja liberal, and I like ALL of my constitutional rights to remain in place, even the ones I don’t exercise very often.


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Why are you making so many excuses for this guy? This is very strange. What is the deal?


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Absolutely incredible !

The vapid white-washing and mutual butt-covering by the wingnuts is apocryphal !


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Yeah, right. I was “getting ready” to pay for that item as the robber walked out of the store with contraband hidden under his jacket. Once again, these public servants who we pay big money to are supposed to be a little more responsible than this with a loaded gun. Hopefully no one will get killed with one of those.


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