Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Orinda police after an MP5 semi-automatic rifle, ammunition, and a police vest were stolen from an agent’s car.
Investigators said the 10 mm rifle was lawfully stored in the vehicle.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact the Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600. For any other tips, call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message or email: tips@so.cccounty.us.
What is the definition of “lawfully stored?” Unless law enforcement follows the same advice they give the general public – don’t leave any valuables in your car, it was foolish to leave these things in his vehicle. I don’t leave anything in my car, valuable or not. It might get stolen.
Wait. Was this an MP5, which is a submachine gun (full auto with short barrel, firing (low power) pistol ammo), or something else? Article says “semi-automatic” which is *NOT* a machine gun (and not an MP5). There is a semi-automatic variant of the MP5, the HK94, which is legal for civilian use in most states.
More broadly, I think it is a waste of police / FBI resources to focus so much on a single weapon in the wild. Taxpayer money is being spent solely to avoid a potential “Fast & Furious” style embarrassment if the gun ends up being used in a crime. I’d prefer my tax dollars be used on fighting crime, not avoiding embarrassment.
We hear you. Going with description offered by sheriff, describing gun as a “MP5 semi-automatic rifle,” which we understand is a contradiction of sorts. Without a picture of the weapon itself or a more specific description of its configuration we are left with that.
Lawfully stored for a pistol means it was locked in the trunk or in a locked box in the cabin. I don’t know what the laws are for sub machine guns.
Thanks, Larry. Yes, from our contact with local, state, and federal police agencies who do carry these weapons we thought they needed to be stored in reinforced, lockable gun safes in the trunk of their car. As always, we bow to additional input from LEOs following this site.
In California, arcane details about seemingly-similar guns (having little or nothing to do with lethality or prevalence in use by criminals) are the difference between 100% legal and “go to jail felony.” It’s a bit disconcerting, therefore, that the Sheriff is using imprecise language.
I hope the guy who broke into my car reads this story and feels bad that while he was stealing my Dionne Warwick 8-track cassette somebody else was stealing something way cooler.
@Tom: M’kay, putting that one down for “Comment of the Week” candidacy…
When did this theft occur and where?
Our information is that the theft occurred sometime between 6 p.m. on Jan. 8 and 10 a.m. on Jan. 9 somewhere in Orinda. Officials say the rifle was an H&K (Heckler & Koch) 10mm MP5. Three ammunition magazines and a ballistic vest were also taken.
I’ll admit that I stole one or two magazines as a kid, but they were more of the naughty picture kind than the ammo kind. #TimesHaveChanged
What does lawfully stored mean? In a locked car or in a locked box inside the car?
I hope some minimum-wage clerk doesn’t find himself looking down the barrel of that thing in a 7-Eleven late one night. I hope they find it soon.
Re: semi-auto vs. “submachine gun” – the 10mm version of the MP5 developed for the FBI reportedly had semi-auto only and select-fire versions. Possible that the stolen MP5 was a semi-auto only version, or also possible that the sheriff’s spokesperson was misinformed by the FBI or misspoke. Unfortunate and embarrassing either way.
Weapons discipline boys. Weapons discipline.
There are enough guns on our streets without law enforcement providing more – and better – weapons.