This has been bothering me for a while

A

Antique Wheels

Inactive
Hello everybody, I am new to the Firing Line and to Firearms in General. I have a question that has been bothering me for quite a while and I was hoping you guys would shed some light on.

Why when some/most people post information on there firearm they "X" out some of the Serial Number?

I am sure there is a sensible explanation but it has eluded me.

Thank You,
 
Why when some/most people post information on there firearm they "X" out some of the Serial Number?
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There are those who believe that a bad guy could modify a firearm with your serial number and use it in a crime.

It may have happened to someone, somewhere but it is definitely more of an internet threat than a real threat.

Even if it did happen and the police showed up at your house all you'd have to do is produce the real gun as proof.

Personally, I don't worry about it in the least:

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A worse possible problem is a prankster filing a stolen gun report under a false name, and your next interaction with cops happens at gunpoint (theirs).
 
I think it is mostly based on paranoia, they are afraid they will have their guns registered in the secret government data base at the UN or something. Your serial number is of no use except to collectors, no one is gonna put your serial number on their gun, and make it look real. That is just stupid. And no one is gonna try to claim your gun is theirs, they are fishing in the dark with that idea. Now if you were a purveyer of hot gats, I suppose it would be good for business to cover them up.
 
People on internet forums often like to remain anonymous as possible.. myself included. While it's not a huge risk it only takes a second to photoshop off the serial number.
 
People on internet forums often like to remain anonymous as possible.. myself included.
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How, exactly, does having the serial number of your gun visible decrease your "anonymity"? I'm pretty confident no one can track me with that number, especially since the only people who can even connect it to me are the employees at our local sheriffs department and the state police.
 
I'm not paranoid but everything you put on the net is forever and available for anybody to read. Remaining anonymous can't hurt you but not doing so could ruin your life. Why take a chance. Under the radar is the best place to fly.
 
There are those who believe it's none of anyone's business what guns they own, much less knowing the serial number of them. I agree.
 
Why disquise serial number?

Welcome to the forum, Antique Wheels. (Do you prefer to be called your full moniker, or a contraction like "Antique" or "Wheels"?, or just "Teek", perhaps?)

I have wondered the same thing about serial numbers. But it never bothered me too much.

1) Because other people do it. Must be some reason I may not understand, but I will do it too.

2) General caution. Better safe than sorry. I don't know what inconvenience having a serial number floating out there might cause, but it costs little or nothing to "X" it out.

3) Same sort of reason you might blot out the license plate on your car in a picture posted online. General privacy.

4) Specific paranoia. I don't want anyone being able to connect any particular gun to me. The "jack-booted thugs" of the BATFE are combing these forums creating a defacto registration database anticipating the day they will come to my door with a list of guns I own demanding confiscation of my guns AND my aluminum foil hat.

That last one is far-fetched, as it violates federal law specifically telling BATFE not to create such a database. ATF would never break the law. And I don't have a foil hat (some people wear them to prevent mind control). It doesn't work, anyway.

On the other hand, there is the student (Mr. Wahlberg) at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) who, after a Communication 140 class assignment to make a report on a “relevant issue in the media”, chose the Virginia Tech shootings. His presentation on October 3, 2008 posited that if students and/or professors had legal guns on their persons in 2007, the death toll in the Virginia Tech shooting spree could have been much lower. Later on, he was called down to the the campus police offices and interviewed. One of the things that disturbed Wahlberg was that the campus police had a list of all the firearms he owned. I doubt he will ever list a serial number in a post.

http://therecorderonline.net/2009/02/24/professor-called-police-after-student-presentation/
or paste this into your web browser
therecorderonline.net/2009/02/24/professor-called-police-after-student-presentation/
and
renewamerica.us/columns/huston/090306

Lost Sheep
 
serial #

"peetzakilla-There are those who believe that a bad guy could modify a firearm with your serial number and use it in a crime.
It may have happened to someone, somewhere but it is definitely more of an internet threat than a real threat.
Even if it did happen and the police showed up at your house all you'd have to do is produce the real gun as proof.
Personally, I don't worry about it in the least:"
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does any body know of any time that this has happened? I have heard stories of a friend of a friend, or I heard some say a guy they knew told them.

anybody??:confused:
 
I just don't care to post addresses, liscence plates, socials, bank accounts, salaries, or credit card numbers on the net. Modern prudence I guess, has nothing to do with guns.
 
Photoshop can be reversed

If you really want to maintain the serial number cover, you need to do more than photoshop it. There is software that will reverse the software "blur." Put some tape over it or photoshop it, print it, then scan the print. I for one don't go to that effort.
 
Covering serial numbers is not limited to guns, lots of images of expensive items often cover part of the serial number, usually the last few digits. sometimes the first part of the number can provide information on manufacturing dates and specific models that are useful for evaluating value, but you seldom need the whole number. So you might say that your Alto Sax number 45678XXX was a real find.

As far as blocking the number use a solid color block then flatten the image. No undoing that with software.
 
"This has been bothering me for a while."

:eek:

"Wash the effected area,apply Neosporin and cover with a sterile bandage."
 
How, exactly, does having the serial number of your gun visible decrease your "anonymity"? I'm pretty confident no one can track me with that number, especially since the only people who can even connect it to me are the employees at our local sheriffs department and the state police.
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It's one less piece of information people can have about me. Then can know "there's this guy in Minnesota with a Kimber" Or there's this guy in Minnesota with a Kimber S/N xxxx." No particular ryme or paranoia to it for me, just rather not have the serial number broadcast.

Far as reversing the effect (or edit)... I usually put a black bar over it then migrate it over to a single layer image. This way there's no layer that can be erased and allow the s/n to be seen.

I do this for the same reason I tear up all my mail before throwing it away.
 
As far as blocking the number use a solid color block then flatten the image. No undoing that with software.
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That's not always the case. If the image is saved in a layered format it can be undone.
 
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