The thread about regretting selling guns made me think about this. I find myself not trusting buying used guns from private parties due to something that happened to me a few years ago. What happened was I went to a shop in Nashville and tried to buy a used Colt Commander. When the clerk ran the background check on me the system came back saying that the gun's serial number was marked as stolen. That alone isn't a big deal I guess. I just bought something else and the owner gave me a free magazine for my trouble.
Since I bought a different gun I was still there when the cops arrived to pick up the Colt Commander and I heard their conversation. Apparently the store had taken it on trade from a regular customer who had bought it from a guy at a gunshow. The owner said that he ran the number when he took the trade and it came up clean. The officer then told him that even though it was clean when he took it on trade he was still out of luck as far as the price of it goes unless he can talk the customer that traded it into paying him for it. What this made me realize was if I had bought that gun before the owner realized it was stolen I would have been the one out that money on it even though I came across it completely legally.
After that situation I sold the only used gun I owned at the time and have not purchased a used gun since. I know I am in the extreme side when it comes to this, but does anyone else feel uneasy about buying a used gun from a private party due to situations like this?
Since I bought a different gun I was still there when the cops arrived to pick up the Colt Commander and I heard their conversation. Apparently the store had taken it on trade from a regular customer who had bought it from a guy at a gunshow. The owner said that he ran the number when he took the trade and it came up clean. The officer then told him that even though it was clean when he took it on trade he was still out of luck as far as the price of it goes unless he can talk the customer that traded it into paying him for it. What this made me realize was if I had bought that gun before the owner realized it was stolen I would have been the one out that money on it even though I came across it completely legally.
After that situation I sold the only used gun I owned at the time and have not purchased a used gun since. I know I am in the extreme side when it comes to this, but does anyone else feel uneasy about buying a used gun from a private party due to situations like this?