I made a major mistake once in my life and registered a handgun. I was a young Staff Sargent, transfered to Las Vegas. During my inbrefing we were told that if we owned a handgun we were required to register it with the city of Las Vegas. So being a good NCO I followed the requirement and registered it with the city police department. They also took my picture and finger printed me.
Five years and one divorce later I was living on Luke AFB in Glendale Arizona. Someone broke into my house and stole the gun. I reported it to the OSI. A couple of months later Glendale police showed up on my doorstep with AF Security Police in tow. I was arrested and charged with murder. I was taken to the police station, finger printed, stripped, searched, photographed, and locked up. Around 10 AM the following day, they rousted me out to go before a judge. When we got to the court house a public defender was appointed to defend me. Up to that point they had refused to let me make a call or to notify anyone, saying it had already been taken care of. There was my First Sargent and Commander (Not the administrative Commander but the BCE Full Bird Colonel) in the court room.
Prosecution claimed that a handgun registered in my name had been used to kill a man in Las Vegas. They found my finger prints all over the gun. They claimed that I had driven to Las Vegas, shot this guy, and driven back to Glendale over the weekend. They felt I had planned it because I had reported the gun stolen just weeks before I went to kill this guy as a cover. They were asking the judge to process paperwork to extradite me back to Las Vegas, where I could stand trila for murder. My public defender had not said anything. At this point Col. Johnston stood identified himself and asked to address the court. The judge recognized him so the Col asked when was this supposed to have happened. Prosecution gave the time of the murder, 11:45 PM the previous Saturday Night. And the location, parking lot North Town Grocery Store, North Las Vegas Blvd. Col Johnston then told the judge that they had the wrong person, he personally could vouch for my whereabouts from 4 PM Saturday afternoon till 4 AM Sunday morning. The Colonel and I had been working an emergency together, side by side, and that I worked weekends. The judge released me to the Colonels custody. A week later I was notified that all charges were dismissed.
Lesson Learned! Never, Never, Never, Register a gun. Period. And thank God those two F-15s collided, and set off an incident that put the entire US Air Force on alert world wide to keep the Colonel there with me all night.