You never know what you’ll find on the trail in Colorado, and sometimes, items that are found should be handled with care.
According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, a woman was hiking in an unincorporated part of the county in recent days when she found a small lock box. Curious and unable to open the lockbox on-site, she decided to take it home to see if she could get into it.
Eventually, she managed to open the lockbox up, discovering a 9mm handgun and two loaded magazines inside.
She opted to turn her discovery into a sheriff’s deputy, who was able to book it into evidence for safe keeping.
Given that it’s illegal to keep a found gun in nearly every scenario, the woman did the right thing by turning it in. Should someone remove a potentially lost item from the trail? Maybe not – it’s generally better to bring it to the trailhead or put it in an obvious spot near where it was found so that someone returning to find a lost item will be able to easily locate it. Granted, it can be a case-by-case scenario – leave no trace, after all.