does your gunshop check if the used guns being traded in are stolen?

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roval

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i have assumed that buying used guns from a gunshop that the firearms serial numbers have been checked to see that they are not stolen. I have bought several used guns over the years all from a gunshop as i assumed that this was the case. I have always kept my receipts and a photocopy of the receipt(so less likely to fade). i got to ask the owner of the gunshop about it and he said they can't check it as there's a large volume of firearms to go through and he is not aware of any gunshop that can do it. he did say, since they keep the records, it protects the one buying the firearm if it becomes an issue. i don't know about compensation for the purchase cost if the firearm is surrendered.

how will this become an issue? i don't know but i remember a previous post on this forum where a "bought as new firearm" from a lgs had been reported as stolen. i can't recall what incident lead to this
 
I don't know of any pawn shop that checks serial numbers. My LGS doesn't but they are a pawn & gun. Mostly they sell new guns and not the junk most pawn shops sell.
 
If it's deemed to be stolen by the police, then you lose the firearm. You don't get, and are not entitled under the law, any fiscal compensation.

This is how it works for any stolen item.

And if you bought the firearm at a gun shop, there's a record of the transaction via the Form 4473 they have to retain anyway.
 
I asked my LGS if he checks. He said the P,D sends him a list and he tries to check too besides. I asked because i been there when folks sell him guns. And they don't show on his site for a few days. He also said regular customers he don't bother checking. It's mostly those who sell to him. And never been in his shop.
 
I can't speak for every city or county, but some do check pawn shop firearms serial numbers voluntarily, as well as other serialized items. The shop would forward a list of items and serial numbers weekly to the department at my former department. It works out for the store, as they aren't selling stolen items, and the sellers had to show ID when they sold. The detectives would look through the list trying to match up items.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
If it's deemed to be stolen by the police, then you lose the firearm. You don't get, and are not entitled under the law, any fiscal compensation.

This is how it works for any stolen item.

And if you bought the firearm at a gun shop, there's a record of the transaction via the Form 4473 they have to retain anyway.
Click to expand...

what happens if you buy a gun from a private sale without a 4473? Is the receipt is enough to protect you from being accused as a fence or a thief? i have only done one trade with an individual but he was a LGS regular. one of those old guys that buys new guns every few weeks so i have no concerns regarding that trade. knew him as a regular over 5 yrs. . he wanted my sig 227 and i wanted his sig 220 . We did an informal handwritten receipt attesting to the trade.
 
Years ago I had my Type 2 FFL (Pawn Broker). I would usually get a list of serial numbers from stolen firearms. I would always check the serial numbers of guns brought in to see if the serial number was on the list of stolen guns.

I also would get a call from law enforcement agencies and a list sent to me of stolen guns to be on the look out for. My pawn shop was in a small town about an hour from several large cities. A lot of times the thieves would bring stolen items to small shops like mine instead of risking getting caught by taking stuff to pawn shops in the big cities. So I was always on the look out for stolen firearms.

One nice thing about a Type 2 FFL is the FFL can do a NICS background check on people when they pawn a firearm, this is in addition of doing the NICS check and 4473 when the person gets their firearms out of pawn. And if I had a gut feeling and/or the person bringing in guns looked shady or nervous, then I would make them fill out a 4473 before I would accept the firearms as collateral. 9 times out of 10, if the guns were hot, the person(s) would get really nervous and leave with the firearms. That is when I would call the local sheriff's office with a vehicle description, plate numbers, and a description of the person(s). A few stolen firearms were recovered when I did this.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
If it's deemed to be stolen by the police, then you lose the firearm. You don't get, and are not entitled under the law, any fiscal compensation.

This is how it works for any stolen item.

And if you bought the firearm at a gun shop, there's a record of the transaction via the Form 4473 they have to retain anyway.
Click to expand...

I purchased a used firearm from a gun shop that had been stolen from a different gun shop. The firearm was confiscated, and the thief ordered to pay restitution to me. I am not certain I got what I paid for the firearm, but most of it.

I suspect every case is different, and from my experience, gun shops are not able to confirm whether a firearm was stolen. I later bought the stolen firearm from the proper shop, after it was returned following the trial. I own a stolen firearm, It's legal now, but if I trade it at a gun shop, and you buy it, will there be a record of it being stolen? If I carry it, am I carrying a stolen gun? Would there be a way to check? Is there a way to prove it is clean now?
 
That was me that bought a brand new in the box stolen firearm from a FFL dealer. I had bought it 17 years previously so i no longer remembered the dealer or had any paperwork on it. Turns out it had been stolen new from another FFL two years previously and was still NIB when purchased in 2005. I was arrested, charged, and jailed even though it been stolen 19 years prior and i had no criminal record at all and a valid concealed permit. The numbers were ran on it at a license check where we were hassled simply because we were motorcycle riders and apparently one cop thought all Harley riders were world class criminals LOL. It sounds unbelievable and i know some here did not believe it but it happened. There is no guarantee anyone would not be charged if they wound up in possession of a stolen gun so by all means go to the local SO and have it ran just to be sure. My case was dismissed at a pre-trial hearing without having to retain an attorney but an ordinary person without the knowledge i had(used to have a FFL), could possibly have gone to prison over that or at the very least been out several thousand dollars on a defense attorney. It was in Webster County MS and i'm more than happy to name the agency that put me through this. The gun dealers and pawnshops are under no obligation to check for numbers, at least not in my state(MS). Since then any firearms that i had not had the numbers ran previously that i carry, i went to the local pawn shop and pawned them for a day and then went back and got a copy of the 4473 and pawn ticket. They do run numbers as a matter of course on anything they take in.
 
Copies of all pawn tickets went to the local PD, so I was never too concerned about buying a stolen weapon. If something turned out to be stolen, the shop had copied the driver's license/ID and the PD reimbursed the pawn shop with a special fund that was replenished when the thief was sentenced.
 
Anything traded in or sold has to be kept in the back and cannot be sold for 2 weeks. The store can't check to see that it is stolen, but this gives LE a couple of weeks to check for any stolen property before it gets resold.
 
jmr40 said:
Anything traded in or sold has to be kept in the back and cannot be sold for 2 weeks. The store can't check to see that it is stolen, but this gives LE a couple of weeks to check for any stolen property before it gets resold.
Click to expand...

Not every shop does this. I have been in a shop and watched someone trade in a gun and then I bought it as soon as it was logged in the book. It is possible I was assuming some risk by doing this.

The pawn I worked at in the 00s did. Every gun that came in on pawn or trade was not for sale for a few days. All they did was run the serials with the local PD. That was it.
 
roval said:
i have assumed that buying used guns from a gunshop that the firearms serial numbers have been checked to see that they are not stolen. I have bought several used guns over the years all from a gunshop as i assumed that this was the case. I have always kept my receipts and a photocopy of the receipt(so less likely to fade). i got to ask the owner of the gunshop about it and he said they can't check it as there's a large volume of firearms to go through and he is not aware of any gunshop that can do it. he did say, since they keep the records, it protects the one buying the firearm if it becomes an issue. i don't know about compensation for the purchase cost if the firearm is surrendered.

how will this become an issue? i don't know but i remember a previous post on this forum where a "bought as new firearm" from a lgs had been reported as stolen. i can't recall what incident lead to this
Click to expand...
The department I worked at had a street crimes unit they made the rounds of the pawn shops every month checked serial numbers on firearms, cars, tv sets, and high end tools.
 
roval said:
what happens if you buy a gun from a private sale without a 4473? Is the receipt is enough to protect you from being accused as a fence or a thief? i have only done one trade with an individual but he was a LGS regular. one of those old guys that buys new guns every few weeks so i have no concerns regarding that trade. knew him as a regular over 5 yrs. . he wanted my sig 227 and i wanted his sig 220 . We did an informal handwritten receipt attesting to the trade.
Click to expand...

People quite often think a receipt is some kind of magical shield which "proves" something. It doesn't. Anybody can make up a receipt, for one.

There's more to a criminal investigation than just being in possession of a stolen item.
 
Rifles & shotguns not checked for stolen. The police recover/take the stolen guns, even guns already sold at retail. The new owner not happy when police take it. (Unhappy customer will call dealer :cuss:)

The money the dealer & new owner paid, may never be recovered. No gun, no money.

If lucky, a plea bargain may include restitution for the guns.
A smart dealer will add the cost of test firing & cleaning to the total cost of restitution. This way a profit is made for all the dealers involvement. (Doesnt matter if test fired or cleaned, add it anyway) :)
 
243winxb said:
Rifles & shotguns not checked for stolen. The police recover/take the stolen guns, even guns already sold at retail. The new owner not happy when police take it. (Unhappy customer will call dealer :cuss:)

The money the dealer & new owner paid, may never be recovered. No gun, no money.

If lucky, a plea bargain may include restitution for the guns.
A smart dealer will add the cost of test firing & cleaning to the total cost of restitution. This way a profit is made for all the dealers involvement. (Doesnt matter if test fired or cleaned, add it anyway) :)
Click to expand...

The police will confiscate the firearm from the customer, not the money paid to the retailer. How the gun shop deals with having taken a customer's money and provided a firearm the customer cannot retain will define my relationship, and the good/ill will I can communicate with anyone I speak with regarding the gun shop and its policies.
 
Not sure if my favorite local store actively checks serial numbers but they do hold used guns they buy for two weeks before selling. They took in a Webley mkVI and I saw it a day or two after they bought it because the owner knew I was looking for a Webley but I had to wait nearly two weeks before I could pick it up based on their policy.
 
crestoncowboy said:
In the couple cases I've seen, guns from flea markets in both cases i believe....LE gave the possessor the option of surrendering the guns and walking away, or going to court.
Click to expand...
They didn't give davethedog the chance. He had a stolen gun, the state sanctioned criminals in charge tried to throw the book at him, figured they could rack it up as an easy gun conviction and didn't care if he would spend the rest of his life in jail.
 
The LGS that I have bought several guns from has a 30-day hold. They put it on any gun brought in that they buy from a seller before it is put up for general sale. This policy was an issue with the CZ75BD I recently bought; I had to wait 6 days for the hun to clear internally before starting the paperwork and the 10-day State waiting period.

Stay safe.
 
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