Bad gun deal!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
bigtubby

bigtubby

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Messages
494
Location
Great state of Nevada
I purchased on 10/05/10 a used S&W M-28 took it to our local PD to register it with the seller they ran a BGC on me and ran the serial# of the gun all was good they issue a blue card. I went and sold the gun today and went to the same PD to register the gun in the new buyers name and the gun comes up stolen and they confiscate the gun the buyer leaves and I am out my gun. Apparently there was a typo on the previous blue card and they did not look at the serial # on the gun just the blue card. Is the original seller responsible for selling a stolen gun? Is the PD responsible since they said the gun was OK when I bought it or am I just S.O.L.
 
I'd say you're S.O.L. Ignorance is not an excuse, unless you are a beauracrat.(I don't know what state you're in, but this is based on my time in Tn state and local government)
ll
 
I would check further into it. One thing is to check WHEN the gun was reported stolen. It is possible that the original seller may have pulled an insurance scam and reported the weapon stolen after he sold it to you. (It happens more than you would like to think) Hopefully you still have all your paperwork. If you do then you could easily go after the original seller for selling you a stolen firearm for reimbursement. Be ready for a long drawn out process though. It's a major PITA no matter how you proceed.
 
I don't see the police department being responsible in any way. I would file a small claim against the seller that sold it to you. Are you sure it was a typo on the blue card you got with the gun and not a fake or altered card?
 
No it was a typo because the seller pointed it out to the lady doing the blue card that it had the wrong number and did not match the gun , so she just filled out another blue card with the correct serial # but did not run the new serial # so i think they are liable that is one of the reasons for registering the guns and if they are to lazy or incompetent to do there job correctly I should not have to pay for there mistake!! I am out $400.00
 
You are going to have a lot harder time suing a governmental agency than the seller. And besides, did you already purchase the gun when you registered it the first time? If you did, you would be in exactly the same situation. You would have paid the seller for the gun, the police would have your gun, and nothing would be different than now.

But, talk to a lawyer and see if they will sue the PD for you. I'll bet you have to pay the lawyer and the filing fee up front and you are going to find yourself out another $1,000 for the court/lawyer costs.

Small claims against the seller will cost you less than $100, but you can't sue the government in small claims.
 
No I was at the Pd with the seller and when the gun was cleared I gave him the money if they would have caught that the gun was stolen when I was registering it I would have left and been out nothing as I would still have my money and the original seller would be out the gun.
 
You are very lucky you did not get charged for receving stolen property. This is why you should only deal with licensed dealers.
 
File a claim with the city for the cost of the gun, and hope for the best, the worst they can do is reject it. As for an attorney at $250.00 an hour the cost to recover would be 2 -3 times the cost of the weapon.

I hate to say it but I believe you are S.O.L.
 
Fleetwood_Captain said:
You have to register guns in Nevada?
Click to expand...

Only in Clark County.

Dwrice said:
This is why you should only deal with licensed dealers.
Click to expand...

Dealers don't check out guns or sellers. They only check out the buyers. And besides, the police caught the stolen gun because of the handgun registration requirement in Clark County. So, the real answer, by using your logic, is to enact gun registration everywhere. Sound like a good solution to you?
 
Hate to say it, but you did not notice the discrepancy in s/n when you bought/registered the gun. That would have transferred all of this msery onto the seller right then and there.

I don't believe the seller knowingly sold you a stolen gun after 31 years. That gun has likely been transferred any number of times, but if done through private parties would have no occasion to "pop up".

Although someone's insurance probably paid out on this claim 31 years ago, I'm not sure you will prevail.

Bad situation all around, and I'm not trying to be smug, but that old saw "caveat emptor" still applies.

Best regards, and Happy Thanksgiving. At the end of the day, we all have much to be thankful for, and although it is difficult to see today, $400 is not the end of the world.
 
Gee...I wonder how quckly the "illegal" gun will be returned to the owner who reported it stolen?

If not - it's just a "legal" confiscation scam by Clark County.
 
Well...stay on it.

Sometimes these things occur because a Gun was actually cleared from the Books years before, but, somehow, not cleared from the National Database or watever it is.

Also, might be a Serial Number for a different Model S&W than your Revolver is, which came up as hot.


Call the Jurisdiction the Stolen Property report originated with and talk with a Firearm's related Detective, and communicate with them.


I had a similar thing happen, Revolver I got on 'Gunbroker', I registered it, and, a month later get a call from Metro ( I am in Las Vegas ) about it being of interest to them.

Turned out it was stolen in like 1989 or whatever it was in Florida...long story long, I stayed on it, requested copys of germain info, requested they double-check and so on, and, in the end, found out the case was long since cleared, and the Revolver cleared, but some info was not cleared from the database, so, with persistence, I got my Revolver back...took a few months all tolled.


Good luck!
 
Hate to say it, but you did not notice the discrepancy in s/n when you bought/registered the gun. That would have transferred all of this msery onto the seller right then and there.

Yes we told the lady it was the wrong serial # but she did not run the correct one or it would have been caught at the time I was transferring the gun into my name.
 
bigtubby said:
No it was a typo because the seller pointed it out to the lady doing the blue card that it had the wrong number and did not match the gun , so she just filled out another blue card with the correct serial # but did not run the new serial # so i think they are liable that is one of the reasons for registering the guns and if they are to lazy or incompetent to do there job correctly I should not have to pay for there mistake!! I am out $400.00
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear about this, please be persistent with them. If these employees can't even do their simple jobs correctly, why are they even there at all? What's the point?
 
I'm not a lawyer, I don't play one on TV, and didn't stay at the Holiday Inn Express last night either, but the last I knew, the only way you can sue a government is if they agree to allow you to sue.

If they offer a system of a arbitrator in your area where you can represent yourself in an action against the seller you bought from originally, perhaps you have a chance to get your money back from him without excessive costs to you. Going the small claims route likely will require you to get a lawyer, that may well cost you more than the money you'd recover (if the case is decided in your favor).

I wish you luck, but I'd say you're likely eating this loss.
 
I would contact the original seller and ask for my money back.

I am a dealer, and had a lady sell me a gun from her late husband's estate.
It was a rifle, not registered here in Maryland. I sold it to another customer,
and the gun was later discovered stolen on an ATF audit. My buyer received a
visit from the state police, who confiscated the rifle.

I contacted the original seller, and we negotiated each of us paying half
of the buyer's money that I refunded to him. She wasn't real happy about
it, but she did send me a check as she promised.

The real shame of it is that the gun had been reported stolen almost 20 years
ago. I seriously doubt that the victim of the theft has received his rifle back.

You never know...the person who sold you the gun may have a conscience.
 
I think I would take Oyeboten's advise . You have no claim I can see to ask the seller to take responsibility - he did everything right at the point of sale.

The clerk should have caught the problem but that is a dead end street to hold them accountable. Your best bet is to continue to pursue the return of the gun to you by following up on the original case and hope it closed in a manner that allows the gun to be returned to you. (my 2 cents)
 
Weigh the Cost and Move On

A few years back I bought an antique revolver that was advertised as like new condition and the pics looked good. The jerk that was selling it had several high end guns listed, so I bought it. It was an 1880s vintage S&W, that had been beautifully engraved, silver plated by Doug Turnbull, and had a set of carved elephant ivory grips that were probably $1000 by themself. When the gun came in, the rear of the base pin was broken off in the cylinder and was binding. The guy I bought it from would not accept returns and accused me of breaking the gun.

Repairs on the gun cost me $600 and required a new cylinder and base pin (not easy to find), that had to be sent to the original engraver and then to Turnbull to be plated.

The engraver told me the gun was broken when he originally engraved it and the previous owner knew it. He had told the engraver he was never going to shoot it. He was going to showcase a collection with it.

To make matters worse, he took the gun off of Guns America like the sale did not go through them and basically cheated them out of their commission. I filed a complaint with Guns America and was told they did not get involved with transactions that are disputed???

I had enough to go to court and get a judgement, but, I would have had to travel roughly 900 miles into another state, hire an attorney, take off work, eat the travel expense and lodging. In the end I would have spent more than the $600 it cost me to make the gun right.

I had a happy ending ~ sold it and broke even.

Lessons learned:

1. Eventually you will get burned if you buy and sell enough ~ it happens, but I have had some good experiences

2. Feedback is critical

3. If it is too good a deal to believe ~ it probably is

4. For high end items get a credible 3rd party involved and have the item inspected. If they are not willing to do that you got a red flag.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Need help for serial number search
Replies
4
Views
2K
marymac
M
F
  • Locked
Stolen at gun show?
2
Replies
46
Views
3K
Don Gwinn
D
W
  • Locked
Firearm buying advice for a Permanent Resident (green card)
2
Replies
39
Views
12K
esquare
E
Gordon
  • Locked
Does the original owner (title holder) still own the gun if it's been stolen?
Replies
24
Views
2K
Blackhawk
B
B
  • Locked
FFL Gun Transfer Log Questions
Replies
3
Views
603
Car Knocker
C
Back
Top