Stolen Gun

A serial number would be a good thing.

This is a good reason to have copies of the serial numbers at a couple other locations. Robbery, fire, natural disaster or other such speed bumps of life can cause loss of these and other important papers. You should protect your self, this is a heads up for those here that think it will never happen to them. It is easy to take pictures of the firearm to document the condition and serial numbers for loss prevention and then put this information on a thumb drive or CD.
Those with the tinfoil hats you could put the serial numbers on one thumb drive and pictures on another-use a code, serial numbers in reverse, what ever works for you.
There is a friend that had a .22 rifle stolen from him where he worked. It was recovered by the local PD a couple days later. My friend did not know the model or serial number. He just told the officer "it looks just like mine". No serial numbers provided means no proof of ownership therefor not HIS stolen rifle--Stolen by a minor (no bill of sale provided by 15 YO that said he owned it-parents said he didn't). PD would not return it due to lack of proof of ownership by victim.:banghead:

You really need the serial numbers if you want to prove its your gun. Without it there's nothing you can do

If you can't prove it, it never happened... Welcome to the USA!! http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/

I keep a copy of my serial number list on my yahoo email account. Never get lost, and I can access it from almost anywhere.

Sometimes you can get lucky by going back to the place it was purchased and asking for the serial number. Lots of stores are computerized now for inventory tracking and can whip that info out for ya.

What about firearms that do not have serial numbers?

I'm talking about those old enough to not even have them, period.

How do you prove they are yours?

Murphy4570 said:

What about firearms that do not have serial numbers?

I'm talking about those old enough to not even have them, period.

How do you prove they are yours?

Click to expand...

Good question. I guess you just file a report, and if it shows up in short time at a pawn shop, it's probably yours. But - here's what I do with my firearms.

I bought the cheapest USB flash key I could find, and it happened to be one that came with a keychain cover and was a SD memory card that flipped in half and became a USB stick.

I took pictures of my guns, including serial numbers (obviously) and then put that USB key in my desk drawer at work.

Speaking of which, I'm going to grab it today at work and bring it home for an update - picked up a couple more things

Pictures will help to really identify your gun - little details, unique wood grain, anything to particularly show a firearm is yours (without a serial number on it, even).

I'm going to get another USB flash card and stick it in my safety deposit box with the same files copied onto it, as well.

+1 to stonecutter.

I keep a flash drive as well as a copy in my email and it includes picture and SNs of any item I own that might be stolen.