Serial number on gun different than gun...

[AZ Heat]

A friend of mine just bought a Kel Tec P32 from a private party. He was carrying it on his belt when some cops showed up to get some information about a previous roommate. The cops were really cool and starting discussing guns with him (AZ is pretty gun friendly). Then one cop asks if my buddy wants to see something interesting. My buddy says ok. The cop then asks to run a check on the serial number on his P32 to see its history. My buddy is nervous but the cop says that because it is voluntary, there is no worries and nothing will happen, even if its stolen. So my buddy lets him run the serial number. It comes back stolen from a different state, and as a different gun and caliber. Of course the cop just smiles and tells my buddy to take it easy and to be careful who he buys guns from.

My question is, how does something like this happen when a gun's serial number is all of a sudden for another gun model and caliber (.38)?

 

[steveno]

only buy guns from somebody you know. I would say the cops let your buddy off very easy to say the least as they could have taken the gun and your buddy couldn't do a thing about it

 

[spin180]

With so many different manufacturers and models of guns, it is quite conceivable that a serial number might overlap here and there. The makers don't exactly collaborate and coordinate the assigning of serial numbers.

Still, even if each manufacturer has their own method for assigning serial numbers, as time passes and the numbering progresses & methods change, and a pistol made by one company several years ago could very well end up with the same serial as another made recently.

That's one of the reasons that in order to enter a gun as stolen into the NCIC system that the make, model/type and caliber are required along with the serial number.

 

[isp2605]

Serial numbers are not unique. It's not at all unusual to get several hits on the same serial number. Then you have to eliminate based on make and then caliber.

 

[Tierhog]

One of my duties when I was a comm ofc for the local PD was to run pawned guns through the computer. I got false hits all the time. Its very important to make sure that the make and caliber matches as well. In five years I only had 1 gun that was truly stolen. (yes its a small town)

On the other hand, when a police officer tells you that its OK because you volunteered to do it so nothing will happen, red flags should be flying. Either he is lying or he's stupid, or worse, he thinks you're stupid, either way that means trouble.

 

[nbkky71]

Interesting story...

I must admit, the part about "its OK because you volunteered to do it" did sound fishy to me.

It sounds like a play on words equating to waiving your right to an attorney.

I think that safest course of action would be to politely say no thank you. I like to keep my guns out of the public's eye. Only the close friends & shooting buddies know what's in my safe.

 

[whm1974]

I think that safest course of action would be to politely say no thank you. I like to keep my guns out of the public's eye. Only the close friends & shooting buddies know what's in my safe.

This is a good idea. Also never volunteer anything to the police.

-Bill

 

[digitalpaladin10]

I didn't know the KelTec .32 could transform into other calibers.

Sounds like a false positive.

 

[unspellable]

Serial Numbers

This is a very serious problem with Lugers. Most people, especially cops, don't know how to read the serial numbers on them. Take as an example a standard German Army issue Luger. First, the chamber date, whether in clear or coded, is the first part of the serial number. Most people do not realize this. Second, the serial number on the frame may have from 1 to 5 digits and may run from 1 to 10000. This may or may not be followed by a letter. The letter, or noted lack there of, is part of the serial number.

The center part of the serial number, which a lot of people take to be the complete number allows for only 10000 pieces. This is a pistol of which at least two million copies were made. The central number will repeat many times. The central number plus the letter will also repeat many times. Especially when they started over with each year's run. So 1916 10 a, 1916 10, 1917 10, and 1917 10 a are four different pieces, all of which will probably show up in a police record as simply serial number 10.

 

[Jim K]

After the passage of GCA 68, which mandated serial numbers on all guns, (then) ATTD required makers to use serial numbers that were unique to a specific gun. Prior to that, the serial number was unique only within a model and sometimes duplicated even then. Colt, for example, might start a new model with #1, duplicating a half dozen other model series, or continue serial numbers from one model to another. You can see the problems that would arise when police don't know a specific model or the gun is not even marked with a model.

The new scheme resulted in those strange serial numbers like 2K4023 or 101-56789. So a police officer initiating a trace needs only the manufacturer's name and the serial number; he does not need to care about caliber or model name/number.

But a duplicate can still exist if the manufacturer does not comply, or if the trace has the wrong manufacturer.

I don't think I would have "volunteered" to provide the police that information. If the gun had been stolen, without question, what would the cop have done? Even if he believed your friend to be innocent, his sworn duty would have been to at least seize the gun so it could be returned to its rightful owner (would you want anything else?) and investigate to find the person who sold the gun to your friend.

I admit to a problem of conscience on this sort of thing. I would not like to own a gun that had been stolen; it would not be right, legally or morally. Still, I don't fully trust police under those circumstances. Too many guns seized as "stolen" have ended up in the cop's private collection.

Jim