some gun shop questions

U

UltimaSE

New member
1 serious and 1 partly ranting.

1. Is it illegal to give someone the serial numbers for a gun so the customer can check the gun?

2. is it just me or is the quality of customer service for most gun shops pretty bad now? This includes being hung up on when asking for a serial number.

Thanks in advance,
UltimaSE
 
I can't believe that giving the serial number out can be illegal. A car dealer will give you the VIN on the car he has available so you can check it out, give it to your insurance company, and have a way to verify that he has the car he told you about.
 
What is your reason for wanting the serial number? Is it a used gun and you want a friendly LEO to run the number to ensure it is not stolen?
 
bruels,

yes it's would be a used gun.

There's two reasons.

1. to possibly have a leo here to run the serial numbers for me to check if it's clean. I know it probably is but hey it can't hurt.

2. I'm specifically looking for a firearm that had some problems with it's earlier runs. One of my friends told me to get the serial number of any that I am interested in and check to see if I can find if the gun is of the later runs.

UltimaSE
 
Ultima:

Just find out beforehand from your buddy what the cutoff is on the serial number for the later runs. Then go in to the gun store, look at the gun, read the serial number, and compare it to the cutoff that your buddy told you. Problem solved.

Regarding concern about the gun being stolen, I don't understand why you are worrying about that. You are legally purchasing it from an FFL. In the highly unlikely event that it was 1) stolen and 2) tracked down to you, the worst that could happen is that it would be siezed and returned to the rightful owner. Just keep your paperwork to be able to prove that you purchased it from a licensed dealer.

Jared
 
Running the serial number of a used gun isn't a bad idea. A cousin of mine got to spend the night in jail, had to cough up bail money, etc. because of a stolen gun he had legally purchased. He was in a pretty serious traffic accident - they found the gun in the glove box and arrested him at the hospital. The officer tried to write him up for DUI because he was "disoriented" after the wreck. Of course, he was disoriented - he was bleeding profusely and had a mild concussion (the hospital did a blood test & got him out of that one).

My advice: Find another shop, and tell them why.
 
Went thru something similar when I picked up my Makarov at Bob's Bang Room in Showlow AZ...guy is a complete idiot. First he claimed that he needed more info that the gun came to him from a remailer with no return address and no info just my name on a slip of paper in the box...after a couple of weeks of this b.s., I asked to see the firearm and if i could get the serail # from it. he ignored the request 2x's. Then I contacted the ATF ib Pheonix and got him straightened out-so I get the box home-the sellers name is on two places on the front/top of the box, also listed on an inside flap AND it was on the sheet of paper signed as a bill of sale with my name and address on it. Go figure.

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Satanta, the Whitebear
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A used gun you buy from a dealer will not be stolen (if the dealer follows the law.)

When the dealer takes a gun in as a pawn, or he buys it, he must report the serial number of the gun, and other particulars about the weapon, and the identity of the seller/pawner, to the local PD. The local PD runs the serial number to make sure the gun is not stolen, and also makes an entry in the FBI computer that the gun has been sold or pawned to the dealer. Then, if the real owner reports the gun stolen at a later time, when it's entered as stolen, the FBI computer will indicate that the gun has been pawned or purchased by said dealer.

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"Anyone feel like saluting the flag which the strutting ATF and FBI gleefully raised over the smoldering crematorium of Waco, back in April of ‘93?" -Vin Suprynowicz
 
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