A woman in Detroit yesterday called police to report her minivan had been stolen. This in itself isn't a major issue and might not be a surprise to
hear she had been told to call back during business hours. She was calling at 6:30am and they open normal offices, apparently, at 8. However, there
was a twist to her minivan issue that makes the 'Sorry, call back later...' worth noting and talking about.
“I have a gun under my car seat, and when I called the police department to explain this to them and try to have them help… they didn’t give
me any attention. They told me I had to wait until 8 o’clock to call back. What if someone gets shot with this? What if a child gets this in his
hand? I’m responsible, and I just can’t have that on my conscience,” Guyton told WWJ’s Terri Lee.
Guyton, who has a CCW permit for her 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, said she’s disappointed in how her call was handled, especially with all the talk
about guns surrounding the city’s recently released crime statistics for 2012 — numbers which show the highest murder rate in the city in nearly
20 years.
Source - CBS News -
Detroit
I would think they'd be a little more interested by the fact she had this loaded weapon under her seat when it was stolen. She makes a good point
about this being far more a stolen gun call, still quite fresh to be reporting for something to be done about in the interest of public safety than
any technical report for insurance on a stolen vehicle.
There is a whole additional topic within the story here about people leaving their firearms in their vehicles to BE stolen in the first place. Given
this was the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning and at an apartment building, I can't help but wonder if she makes a habit of leaving it in there
'just in case' or if this was an unusual event. It's possible she left it there this one time out of respect for someone else inside. If not, I'd
say her permit status needs to be reviewed for her lack of ability to maintain physical control over the firearm she is permitted and responsible for
keeping
within her control at all times.
Regardless of why it came to be there, what does it say in a city that has suffered drastic cuts in public safety as well as city services across all
levels to be told even a stolen firearm call doesn't rate more than calling back to file a report when officers are in the business offices to take
it?
