serial number scratched off

[Zoogster]

I am not a lawyer but it seems that if the serial # is still legible or can be rendered legible then it really is no a problem.

Unless some authorities make the case that one's intent was to remove it and they just failed in that attempt.

Most serial numbers can in fact be deciphered through forensics even if they are filed off. Some agencies like the BATF even specialise in it.


If you resurfaced and polished it and then etched the serial number in better, or engraved it a little more and it is the appropriate unaltered number there should not be a problem, and it won't appear someone tried to remove it.

If you pursue this as a legal issue the firearm will likely be confiscated as evidence (especialy since it is in fact the case), and they may or may not return it at a later date citing the "removed" serial number as a reason.

I hope the choices you make work out for the best.

 

[zxcvbob]

Call a gunsmith; don't try to do it yourself. (I think the process involves a different chemical, maybe ammonium persulfate?) I agree that if the numbers are still legible you may not have to do anything, but try to find out from an expert.

 

[Quoheleth]

You've gotten lots of "it could be" this & this, or that & that, or "d" none of the above.

FWIW, in Texas, you are legally obligated to keep firearms out of the reach of others who should not have access to your weapons. I forget the exact verbiage, but that's the gist of it. If I have my pistol (or rifle or shotgun) where my kid can get to it, or my neighbor's kid when he's over playing [note: I do not], I am legally liable for any and all damage that may be done, including being tried for all sorts of firearms problems (i.e. failure to properly store).

This could all be nasty; it could be nothing. My 2 cents, call the kids's parents and get them in the loop. The kid STOLE your property; he might be kin, but firearms theft is a big problem. If his "crew," "posse," "homies," or whatever got ahold of it and futrher made a mess (i.e. used it feloniously) this is big. The parents NEED TO KNOW...NOW.

Lawyers, cops, etc. your call - parents YES!!!

Q

 

[El Tejon]

DK, call an attorney (that knows something about firearms law, may not be the guy who did mom's will or got you out of a lease) Monday morning, first thing.

Please do not put it off.

 

[Zoogster]

FWIW, in Texas, you are legally obligated to keep firearms out of the reach of others who should not have access to your weapons. I forget the exact verbiage, but that's the gist of it.

Yes several jurisdictions have laws in place about allowing access to a firearm.
If someone broke into your home and obtained it that is one thing. However if someone allowed to be in your home obtains a firearm and commits a crime with it that often makes you criminaly guilty of something as well. The severity depends on the location (and perhaps the crime.)
Some more anti states require storing firearms with locks etc for example, and would be much more punishing to someone who not only didn't store it in a locked safe or with trigger locks etc, but allowed someone (a minor?) to obtain it and commit a crime with it.
However even some firearm friendly states have criminal penalties if a minor was given access to a firearm and commited a crime with it.

Contacting the police and telling your story may in fact be a confession to criminal acts. If you wish to pursue legal matters further, learning the relevant law through an attorney would be the first step.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Illinois has such an access law, but it isn't triggered unless the minor harms someone or otherwise misuses the gun (illegally). It sounds like Texas doesn't work that way. The serial number doesn't sound like the real issue at all; if the numbers are legible, a gunsmith can just etch them over or engrave them.

The big problem is that the gun was out of your control and something bad happened. You don't know yet how bad it was. You need a lawyer.

 

[RP88]

the grandson is 16. Under pretty much any federal guideline, he is considered to have capacity for his actions since he is over the age of 13. However, if you get caught with the gun before seeking legal advice or the like, then you could get blamed for it.

 

[Big Boomer]

It is possible that the reason the gun had the serial numbers ground off is that it was used in a crime while in his possession, or lent to someone and used in a crime. This is my guess as to what happened.

If someone got whacked by that pistol I'd worry more about the felony of scratching off the serial number. Don't know what to do about how to find out if it had been.

Serials are able to be restored after grinding them off, the stamp leaves microscopic traces left deep in the metal. They CAN pull them back up unless you weld over it and regrind the surface.

 

[novaDAK]

I guess this is the only time I've ever felt that pistol registration could be useful in any way. If only you could remember the serial number, it seems like you could just re-etch the number and say you were doing a "melt down" on the pistol to remove sharp edges.

OTOH, if there was no Gun Control Act of 1968 then we wouldn't have to worry about serial numbers to begin with. We could deal with the PEOPLE instead. Seriously. Kid steals your gun, and when you get it back, with the S/N scratched off, YOU GO TO PRISON. Because right now I don't think there's any proof of the kid having it (even though I completely believe you) but right now the kid can just deny the whole thing if he wanted.
I am not a lawyer and I don't want anything bad to happen to a victimized person (you).

 

[BigBadJohn]

Tough situation there, I don't know what I would do. Without knowing if something actually happened with it , bringing a lawyer in could ruin the kid's life, never mind the tension it could cause in your family. How long do you think it was he had it?

 

[sacp81170a]

bringing a lawyer in could ruin the kid's life,

Not bringing a lawyer in could ruin DK's life. It seems to me that there's a lesson to be learned here, and the one who needs to learn it is the kid. I hate to say it, but he's a juvenile right now. If he gets tagged for a crime, it will likely be probation and maybe some counseling, but I can't even speculate on that. That's what the attorney is for. Who wants to lose the right to possess firearms for life over something an out of control child has done? I understand family loyalty, but sometimes tough love is the kind that's needed.

 

[unspellable]

Serial number etc

A pistol which has had the serial number tampered with is radioactive. The fact that it was out of your possesion for some time and you have no reliable knowledge of what happened to it during that time takes it beyond merely radioactive. It's lawyer time.

 

[86thecat]

If this situation happened to me there is no way I would risk a felony charge to help a knucklehead kid cover his a**. I'd lawyer up and let the chips fall where they may. If his mom expects you to enable her boy as a delinquent well- there's the door. Also I would be very careful about what I posted on a public forum, some bad luck and it could become a matter of record.

 

[Jim K]

Let's consider that a gun with ground off serial number is contraband under Federal law. Let's then look at how to handle another form of contraband.

Let's say you find 20 kilos of heroin in your garage, stashed there by your no-good cousin. Do you: 1) discuss it at length on the internet, 2) decide it is OK as long as you didn't put it there, 3) sell it on the street, 4) call a friend who once flunked out of law school, 5) call DEA and ask if there is a legal way you can sell it and keep the money, 6) peddle it at the local college, or 7) pour it on the lawn for fertilizer?

What do YOU think you would do? Call a lawyer, NOW, then together you turn it over to the police.

So do the same with the gun.

Jim