Had to deal with the cops tonight

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jtyson

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My aunt brought a gun to me today that belonged to her late boyfriend. She's having to return all his property to his family and they asked about his gun. She was amazed by how huge it was, and knowing I was a revolver junky wanted to show me it. S&W 460 2.5". I went to look over the gun and guess what?....Serial number had been filed clean off. Her late boyfriend was not a great man and had been a drunk and drug addict in the past, so who knows where he got this gun.

Needless to say, I called the ATF immediately and surprisingly got an answer even at 11:00pm EST. They told me to call the local police immediately and have them come get it.

Admittedly I was rather concerned about them assuming she or I had filed the number off, but I took the chance that they'd be smart enough to understand that if we had done it, we probably wouldn't be calling it in. Either way, I'd never dealt with anything like that before.

I never could understand why someone, criminal or otherwise would file the serial number off on a gun. If it was stolen, obviously that is a crime. Filed off, still a felony.
 
Hopefully, they didn't give you much trouble.

As for filing off the serial number... If I'm not mistaken it happens for one of two reasons. The man is a felon and cannot legally own a gun. So the straw purchaser files off the serial number so the if the felon commits a crime with said gun it cannot be directly traced back to him. The second reason would be if a person committed a crime with said gun and were to throw it away after the crime and the police found it they would be able to trace the purchaser back to him via the serial number, so you file it off to stop that from happening.


However, in today's day and age we can use acid to recover filed off serial numbers, so it makes that practice obsolete. When a serial number is stamped the metal underneath is compressed. By pouring acid over the compressed metal parts of the gun it reveals the serial number again.

Although, and I was sure about the other things but not so much this, if you melt that metal underneath the numbers or alter it they can;t recover the numbers. However, thats just me thinking.
 
The other Smiths I've had have the serial # under the grips too. I didn't check the gun to see if that was filed off too, but I figured there would be some way for them to figure it out. I kind of assume it was stolen because of the type of guy that my aunt's boyfriend was. If I'm right, I hope that they're able to figure it out and get it back to the original owner.

I hadn't thought about the straw purchase theory. I guess I just can't imagine why anyone would be stupid enough to purchase a gun for someone that can't legally own one.

The officers were nice about it. They actually didn't know where to look for the serial number so I had to show them and they were both rather surprised that it had been shaved off. I guess they probably don't get many things like that turned in.

I decided to google the gun to see more about it. Looks like it was a S&W 460ES. Apparently shoots 460, 454, 45LC and with an adapter 45acp. That would be a pretty cool gun to own. I may have to try and find one for myself!
 
I think you did the right thing. His family might disagree with me, but legally you did the right thing. The gun was probably hot.
 
According to someone who was tasked with recovering such information, they didn't worry much when someone tried to 'file off a serial number', it's too easy to recall it.

No need to discuss how to obliterate a serial number effectively. That's not what we do at TFL.
 
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guns are lost, stolen, sold to private parties, traded, given as gifts, etc... all the time, is the original owner still responsible for the gun being used in a crime? Of course not!!

Unless the original owner specifically made the purchase with the intent to transfer it to someone intent on using it in a crime.

When I was younger I remember reading the news paper classified section under "guns" to see if there was anything that I wanted. You wont find that today.

registration and tracking does no good except if the gun recovered from a crime is returned to the original owner. Even then, that does not mean the original owner was the last legal owner, it could have been sold, traded, gifted many times over before it was used in a crime
 
Ya did the right thing.

registration and tracking does no good except if the gun recovered from a crime is returned to the original owner
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Never a good thing 'registration'... However if your gun is stolen, being able to tell the police the serial # can be a good thing. Big difference there.... Freedom wise...
 
Never a good thing 'registration'... However if your gun is stolen, being able to tell the police the serial # can be a good thing. Big difference there.... Freedom wise...
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you're right, I worded it the wrong way. I meant to say serial numbers are good to have on guns for tracking by the owner (or historical reasons) or if they are stolen. BUT should never be in the hands of the govt.
 
Whenever I make a direct sale of a gun the purchaser must show photo ID and sign a bill of sale attesting that he/she is someone who can legally own a firearm. The serial number and all the purchaser's info is always recorded on the bill of sale, which goes on file so I am covered if that gun is ever used in a crime. I would never engage in a paperless transaction with firearms either as a buyer or seller. And I would never knowingly take possession of a firearm with a filed off serial number. But that's just me.
 
I never could understand why someone, criminal or otherwise would file the serial number off on a gun. If it was stolen, obviously that is a crime. Filed off, still a felony.
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maybe not dealing with the brightest of individuals, here, that did that.
 
You did the right thing. If the boyfriend's family disagrees . . they can go to the PD who picked it up and pitch a complaint . . . and maybe explain why he was in possession of an illegal handgun. You helped your aunt out as well . . . if she had kept it and it was ever discovered, she'd have a lot of explaining to do.
 
If I was your aunt boy friend or his family, I'd set down and let you explain to me why you took it upon yourself to give me gun away. You are pubically slamming the man yet, don't even know if he was able to own the gun. He may very well not have known the number was filed off. Believe it or not, most people buy guns because they are cool. Not every one Not allowed to own guns are bad people either.

Keep your nose in your business. Unless you know the circumstance.
 
The original poster mentioned dealing with the property of a "late boyfriend". I take that to mean, now deceased boyfriend.

The gun in the state described, isn't supposed to be owned by anyone. The original poster did the right thing.
 
I think some folks are missing the point here. Once the OP came into possession of the gun he had no choice but to turn it in or possibly face federal charges himself. It is illegal to POSSESS any firearm with the serial number removed. And that is not a little bit of a no-no, but a federal felony and potentially a ticket to ten years in Club Fed, plus a big fine.

Sure, he didn't remove the numbers, but the law is written to assume guilt on the part of the person possessing the gun at the time the crime is discovered; that is done since obviously everyone is going to point the finger at someone else. It is the same as being caught with drugs; saying they belong to so-and-so doesn't work.

The OP not only did the right thing, he did the only thing possible to protect himself.

Jim
 
The other Smiths I've had have the serial # under the grips too. I didn't check the gun to see if that was filed off too,
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Are you referring to the grips or grip frame? The serial number stamped on the underside of the grip frame is the legally recognized serial number.
If you're referring to the numbers on the crane cut-out being filed off, not all S&W's have the extra SN stamped there. The assembly and inspector number as well as the model number is stamped there.

Jim
 
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