How to remove a gun record from State Police department?

[Beck]

I get the OP's concern. These days I would worry if I lived in a state like Maryland. What we should be mindful of is that we want to prevent our front doors being kicked in by SWAT or ATF if a gun we no longer own is used in a vicious crime. Them finding our bloodstained paperwork after we are dead from police gunfire won't bring us back from the dead.

Does that sound like paranoia? Well, yesterday's paranoia is today's reality for gun owners in certain states.

Absolutely keep contacting State PD until they get you to the right department to update their records. I've gone through all kinds of hell in the healthcare system because their records are a freaking mess. Different situation for me, not gun related, but an example of how one can come close to death's door from red tape and poor record keeping, which is par for the course when dealing with institutions.

None of my firearms are on record, except possibly one I bought within the last couple years. It's a bolt gun. Nothing "scary."

My state is turning bad for gun owners. I'll likely move to Missouri or Iowa to stay free. Or to Texas for our last stand.

 

[efeng9622]

I just want to keep a completed record for myself , I think that keeping a sales contract and buyer email confirmation are not good enough, at least I don't have any document from the FFL dealer, if this gun shows up in a crime scene sometime late , I don't know if these two documents can let me not involved , but anyway I think I already did all I can, I don't have to concern it now.

 

[CapnMac]

There's a possibility that MD never bothered to enact a procedure for removing records from the system. So, none actually exists.

Given the typical knowledge legislators have about how people actually own firearms, that seems entirely possible.
But, it would help, immensely, if someone with deeper knowledge of MD law (and, especially, the legislative history on this statute) could chime in.

 

[chaim]

When I've sold guns to a private party (long guns before we had to go through an FFL, handguns when we were able to do the transfer through the MD State Police barracks) I always made two copies of the bill of sale. One for the buyer, and one for my records.

You have mentioned it a few times, of course the FFL isn't giving you a receipt for the gun, he didn't buy it from you. They may give you a receipt for the transfer fee (probably will) that might or might not list the gun. If you only wrote one bill of sale and handed it off to the buyer, ask them to scan it and send it to you, if they don't, print the email they sent you.

My understanding is that what you are trying to do isn't possible. Once a gun is in MD's registry, it is in the registry. However, you will just be one data point in the chain. The dealer will probably have the transaction in the book they keep for the ATF, so be sure you remember who the dealer was. The State Police will have done a background check and registered the gun in the new buyer's name (if a hand gun or "regulated firearm" which I assume it is since you talk about the 7 day waiting period). You should be fine even if something happens (disclaimer: IANAL, nor am I a cop).

I used to keep records of sales religiously in case a gun I used to own is ever used in a crime. I still do when I can. However, I've been a renter since I moved out of my parents house and I've moved many times in the last couple decades. Unfortunately, some records have been lost in moves (I no longer allow the movers to put important papers on the truck but rather move them in my car). Other handwritten bills of sale have had the ink fade and aren't readable. Again though, I'm going to be one data point of many. If a handgun, any dealers I've sold or traded to will have it in their ATF books, any buyer would have done a State Police background check and registration. Even the long guns, they may trace to me originally, but that as the only evidence would seem to be far below the "beyond a reasonable doubt" threshold after I state that I sold it and give whatever info I may still have, I may be a temporary target of investigation which would suck, but the cops would probably move on (again IANAL or a cop).

Like already mentioned in this thread, make a spreadsheet, I've done it and I'm working on updating it. It will be useful if there is a fire or theft and you need an insurance claim if you have a list, serial number, and know the rough value of your firearms (especially if you have a collection). For those I've sold, I'm now giving as specific a description of the disposition as I can (sold to so and so on X date, sold to X FFL on X date, sold to X FFL roughly within this time frame, sold to private individual in this time frame other info lost, etc.). I may also add a digital photo of each to prove condition (though, that seems like a lot of time and effort for something that I hopefully never need, and I'm not sure that it will really do more than a verbal description of condition so I'm not moving quickly). I'm keeping mine on a portable hard drive and on a flash drive I keep on my key chain so it shouldn't ever be lost.


TL/DR:
Bottom line, you likely won't be able to get your name off the registry. You may be the first point of contact in an investigation, but you won't be where they finish. Have as much info as you reasonably can about the disposition of guns you sold, keep a record in an electronic format you will always be able to access (in a flash drive you always have on you, in the cloud, stored off site and backed up at home, etc.).