A tornado blew through Putnam County, Tennessee on 3 with horrific results. At least two dozen people were killed with many more injured. In working through the cleanup effort, authorities and volunteers have found close to 50 firearms scattered about, away from their owners.
The tornado itself was classified as an EF-4, which on the scale is the second most devastating type of tornado. The highest is a level 5. The level 4 has winds going up to 166-200 mph, blowing apart buildings and launching all types of debris across a wide space of land.
You can easily see how guns that were located in people’s homes, which were not in heavy-duty extra large gun safes, could end up getting lost in the field of debris. Over 500 structures were damaged in this tornado.
The people who are finding these guns are turning them over to the police department in Putnam County. A combination of pistols, rifles, and shotguns have been turned in.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris, said in a statement that the department will do everything they can to locate the owners for each of the firearms. This is why it’s so vital that gun owners keep track of the serial number and types of guns they own. Any owner who went through the tornado and found they are missing a gun should contact the police department to hopefully recover their lost property.
If owners have the serial numbers and photographs of each of their guns, that’s even better. The police department will be able to match the owner with the lost firearms much faster.
Tennessee has a gun ownership percentage of 39.4 percent. There are almost 100,000 registered firearms in the state with a population of 6.8 million people.
