@casailinglady I like the wording you suggested and think I might use something along those lines. I’m also going to run it by a lawyer because I’m not focused on forbidding guests to bring weapons right now but on encouraging safety and creating a level of transparency that lessens the likelihood that I would be held accountable if something did happen. Also thanks for the suggestion about the gun safe @KKC and @Brian_R170 and any others who mentioned it. When I talked to the sheriff (who was super helpful by the way and later asked me about becoming an AirBnB host for his parents’ property - ha!), he suggested a safe as an extreme precaution too but said he probably wouldn’t go to that length. Also just to clarify, the sheriff now has the gun and is going to handle all communications with the owner once I figure out who the owner is. He ran a check and said the gun isn’t stolen but he didn’t mention the owner’s name so maybe he’s not allowed to disclose that? I’m not sure. And finally, I was also guilty of not checking the nightstand drawers which is absurd considering that I once got a sixth sense and opened up a drawer to find a ziploc bag with “Texas Tough” written on it and two “pleasure devices” in the bag. Ah, guests and their toys… I will absolutely take a minute to check all drawers more carefully and encourage my fantastic cleaner to do the same–no excuses!
I just amended my house rules to require notification of firearms and then I will cancel any guest who says they’re bringing a firearm. (Bear spray is a good idea sometimes around here.)
I thought you said the sherrif knew who the owner is- he can see the name on the registration, no? Also, just because the gun isn’t reported stolen, doesn’t necessarily mean that the owner it is registered to was your guest. It could belong to someone who loaned it to them, so even if you had the registered owner’s name, it might not correspond to any of your guests’ names.
My manager had a guest that left a shotgun behind a door in one of his other properties. The next guest found it. The first guest, when contacted, did drive back to the state to pick it up.
After that story I do open every drawer and check every closet.
I recently stayed at a high end hotel. When we opened the door to the room every drawer and cabinet in the room was open, all the pillows and cushions were pulled off the chairs and sofa. Management apologized, and told us when cleaning in between stays the cleaning crew is instructed to do that. It makes it easier for the walk thru folks not to miss anything. I had to admit, I was sure everything was clean and nothing was left behind. And we were given a nice bottle of wine because we walked into a “not ready” place.
I’m having trouble with the quote function. You mentioned Sheriff not telling you who the gun is registered to.
The gun may not be registered. I can’t speak for other areas but in NC & SC there are family guns passed down purchased long before any gun registration requirements existed. Depending the type & age of gun, there is no registration record.
I am a walking conflict.
I understand carrying a gun when hiking in an area with coyotes (the ones in the east are large pack animals), black bear, bob cat, now the occasional cougar, and the crazy people in the world.
On the other hand gun violence is ruining families & communities. Less than a mile from my home there is a small apartment complex where two shootings occurred recently. About 5 miles away, home invasion, family killed. These events were supposedly drug related.
Things must change.
On a computer, scroll down. I don’t know why this is part of an “upgrade.” On mobile I don’t know how it appears now.
Edit: picture added for clarity.
There are bears and cougars in many areas of British Columbia, especially on the coast, where I lived. No one I knew felt it was necessary to have a gun. Bear spray, sure, but why people feel they need a gun is beyond me. My friend takes her dogs for jaunts in the woods and has been alerted to cougars by them many times. The dogs freeze and start making low whining noises, so she knows it’s time to turn around and head back.
There are also crazy people in Canada, as there are in all countries, but we don’t think we need a gun to protect ourselves from them. It’s a distinctly American attitude.
It isn’t that no Canadians have guns- ranchers and farmers and hunters do. My ex, who lived out in the countryside, had a rifle, but he had never used it for anything but once to put his dying cat out of her misery. And he only had the rifle because a friend had moved out of the area and given it to him. People don’t have guns in their glove box or bedside table.
And all you have to do is look at the stats from other countries which have serious gun control to see the difference - mere handfuls of mass shootings over many years that are matched by more in any given month in the US. and much lower homicide rates. It seems to me that Americans defending their right to have guns is more about their “rights” than any actual proof that it makes them safer.
When I hear people advocating for teachers to carry guns as some solution to school shootings, it reminds me of an article I once read that was about traffic problems. The writer said, “Building more highways to accommodate increasing numbers of vehicles is like loosening your belt to cure obesity.”
The underlying problem isn’t being addressed.
while you are wiping down the handle of the bedside table drawer you open the drawer.
I also do the same with the lamp, wipe down the spot where it’s touched, and check the bulb is ok.
clearly, your cleaners are NOT wiping down handles!
That’s one of the last things I do after cleaning my Airbnb space- walk through with bleach or Lysol wipes or paper towels and alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, and wipe all high touch surfaces- toilet handle, faucets, doorknobs, light switches. I did that from the time I started hosting, nothing to do with Covid. Only takes a few minutes.
And I really don’t have much choice in my land of dust and dead bugs but to stand on a chair to clean the high shelf in the closet and such, so I would never miss something left on a shelf.
Of course, handguns aren’t really useful against some bears. I would never have a handgun as a bear gun. .44 Magnum carbine is the ideal bear protection weapon, because you can fire it from the hip Chuck Connors style if you have to (I have done this with a Winchester .30-30, and the 44’s extra kick might make that difficult). The only way to kill a charging bear at close range is to shoot it in the back of the throat for an instant brain stem kill.
I suspect it’s paranoia in general, but even if not, only an airhead would leave a firearm unattended unless it was better hidden than that. I can’t imagine driving off and forgetting it.
Good on the OP for letting police deal with it. If you get a lot of gun owners please consider a gun safe where you can easily change the combo but the guest can’t.
Oh, I have a steel trap memory for all kinds of useless stuff. Like I’ve never forgotten the name of any movie I’ve seen. But can I remember someone’s name who just introduced themselves 4 minutes ago? Or what item I just went upstairs to get? Nope.
That’s a grocery store’s store brand for sandwich bags and garbage bags.
I am a local cohost for several properties in what I will call Town A and Town B. I had an incident in which a guest texted me about 24 hours after he checked out of a property in Town A saying that he left a toiletry bag in the dresser and could I mail it back. He said he was happy to compensate me for both postage and time, and he had been a friendly, well behaved guest, so I was happy to do so. I went the next day to pick up the gray canvas “toiletry bag”. It was partially unzipped and I could see the contents - Turns out it was a handgun! I know nothing of guns but was fairly certain I couldn’t just pop that in the mail. (I later found out from a friend in law enforcement that it would have been a federal offense. Sheesh.) I stupidly put it in my car and took it home to Town B to figure out what to do with it. I called the PD of Town B and they said they could not come get it because it had been found in Town A, so wasn’t in their jurisdiction. I called the PD of Town A, and they wouldn’t come get it because it was now in Town B. They told me to “put it in my trunk” and drive it over to them. By now I knew that this wasn’t legal but the police were instructing me to do it. Anyway, I drove very carefully and took it to the police. They told me it was not loaded and had no ammunition. Phew. I texted the guest to tell them that his gun was now safely with the Town A Police Dept. I never notified AIrBnb about it - that didn’t even occur to me at the time. I had already left a nice review for him, and he for me. But I was pretty furious that he had asked me to do something that could have gotten me arrested and in a boatload of legal trouble. Did he think I wasn’t going to check what was in his “toiletry bag” out of concern for his privacy? Maybe. And I am thinking, “who leaves their hand gun in a rental??” Now I know my guest isn’t the only one.
What country is this in?
all the evidence is it makes them un-safer. What other country has guns as the number one cause of child deaths - entirely preventable
The United States - a suburban area of Northern California to be more precise.
Canadians quite enjoy reading newspaper accounts of American gun owners who seem to actually believe that the U.S. second amendment is international law, and it not only gives them the right to carry guns into Canada, but to lie about it to Canadian customs inspectors.
Some of these guys (and they pretty well ALL are guys) get off lightly by only having their guns confiscated… those with extra dollops of attitude also lose their vehicles or boats.
What makes it enjoyable to you?
Inappropriate sense of entitlement being slapped down.
If it wasn’t human nature to enjoy seeing bad guys and arrogant jerks get their comeuppence, 90% of movies, TV shows, and books out there wouldn’t exist.