Question about used guns.......

[22_Shooter 1,560]

Pauly's thread got me thinking......

 

 

 

I used to assume that when you bought a gun from a private seller and had it transferred through your local FFL.....that they are no longer tied to the gun by serial #, since it was transferred through an FFL and a new 4473 was filled out on it in your name.

 

But then I remember reading something that said whoever bought the gun new will always be the person that pops up on a check of the serial, no matter how many times it's been transferred through an FFL and 4473.

 

 

Any info on this?

Edited November 12, 2010 by -Shooter-

[Paulyski 2,227]

Don't FFLs only need to keep records for 7 years?

 

But really...

When they do background checks for a firearm, they want to not only know your info, but the serial of the gun...

 

Nobody's gonna tell me they don't keep that shit on record for possible future use.

 

There was a shooting here in Portland a while back & the news was reporting the name of the shop that the guy bought it at within a day...

 

On a side note, my friends Hawk/Gun shop got a HUGE spike in business from the news story & sold out of all his cool guns within the week.

One customer actually called & asked him about the guns he saw in the background of the news report & asked him to hold it for an hour while he ran down to buy it.

[physicsnerd 139]

The way I understand it is this.

 

When you buy a gun new you fill out a form 4473. The paper version is held by the FFL for some period of years but the phone call check is not to be logged or if it is, for not more than two weeks or some such thing.

 

When you sell that firearm through an FFL dealer the process is repeated but again the phone call is not logged for long.

 

If a firearm needed to be traced I believe that the ATF has complete records from the manufacturer/importer to the wholesaler to the dealer and that is where the ATFs central database ends (since we do not have blanket gun registration in the US). To trace further requires more effort. The FFL at the end of the chain could be asked to produce the 4473 for that serial number. The original buyers information will be on it.

 

So in a sense, yes the original buyer's name is attached to the gun but those records are not as easily checked by a simple phone call the ATF. It can be checked but requires more legwork.

 

This is why some people want bills of sale so that if a gun they sold is later used in a crime they have proof that it was transferred to someone else.

[Stansplace 414]

Phone call? Oh, that's right, they don't do that with CCW holders in my state.

[GeorgiaPD 408]

 

If a firearm needed to be traced I believe that the ATF has complete records from the manufacturer/importer to the wholesaler to the dealer and that is where the ATFs central database ends (since we do not have blanket gun registration in the US). To trace further requires more effort. The FFL at the end of the chain could be asked to produce the 4473 for that serial number. The original buyers information will be on it.

 

So in a sense, yes the original buyer's name is attached to the gun but those records are not as easily checked by a simple phone call the ATF. It can be checked but requires more legwork.

 

This is why some people want bills of sale so that if a gun they sold is later used in a crime they have proof that it was transferred to someone else.

 

The above is very close to what has to happen in order to track a gun. The gun is found at crime scene, etc. The ATF/Coppers then contacts the manufacturer or marked importer of the gun and is told which distributor that the gun was sold to at the time. The ATF/Coppers then contacts the ditributor and is told which dealer the gun was sold to. They then go to the dealer and pull the forms with the original owners information. All of this requires time and most importantly subpoenas to produce/provide the information.

 

I have run hundreds of guns through NCIC and have never been told or informed of the owners information unless it was stolen. Stolen guns usually list the victims (owners) name in the narrative portion, reporting agency, date of theft, etc. Non stolen guns will only come back as not stolen with no other information involved.

 

The original owner will always be the first one that they come up with no matter how many times the gun was sold through a dealer.

 

There is no way to track a gun just by running the serial number. Ever notice that when you buy a gun from a dealer and he makes the call for a confirmation number that the serial number of the gun is not provided? Not required as there is no national registration for non NFA firearms.

Edited November 12, 2010 by GeorgiaPD

[22_Shooter 1,560]

Ah, thanks for the info, fellas. I've been wondering about it ever since I read that.

 

 

(GPD: Yeah, one of my roommate is an LEO and he says at his level, he only deals with being able to see if a gun is stolen or not by the serial with the basic traces that patrol does)