Unwise Information?

[lpsharp88]

I currently don't own any firearms that don't have a 4473 that was filled out by me. But if I bought a Glock from someone face to face, I don't think I'd care to talk about it with people, or here on THR. On the other hand, if I was going through recently deceased grandpa's closet, and found a WWII bring back full auto Thompson, that would be another story.
Disclaimer: Grandpa did not have a WWII bring back full auto Thompson in his closet

 

[CB900F]

"This whole idea of keeping certain guns "off the books" is tin-foil hattery." You know, there's an old and well-proven saying the combat arms of just about anybody's military have: "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst". A saying that didn't come about by accident, and has an incredible amount of factual experience to back it up.

For that matter, you could look to the example of the northern Europeans, the ones that were in the former Warsau Pact. Utterly pragmatic people as a whole, forced to be so by the political circumstances under which they lived for about five decades. A surprisingly large number of them would occasionally oil their garden. Which is to say that they'd unearth their cached firearm, or arms, and pull a little PM on it or them. And that's not to say that the firearms in question never got used either. When inevitably questioned by the authorities, all knowledge was denied as it was impossible, because of course they had no firearms. Nonetheless, there were some state funerals caused by impossible firearms. Sometime an authority exceeded the ability of the populace to put up with him. There's no make-believe in that little tale either, I have personal knowledge that that sort of thing did indeed happen in one of the most restrictive political enviroments seen on earth for the last few hundreds of years.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, not a bad thing to keep in mind.

900F

 

[Neo-Luddite]

I wouldn't post about anything unlawful that I might have laying about or advise others to do so (not that I do, of course). Apart from that I wouldn't worry so much.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

the goverment taking anybodys guns is probably the last thing on my list to worry about. if they really want them, then they will simply train dogs to sniff them out just like they do with anything else they dont want you to own.

common thieves are much more of a threat at this time. i dont know why nobody has mentioned this?

 

[Sam1911]

i dont know why nobody has mentioned this?

Well, several people have. (Post 24?)

And that might be a good reason for SOME level of discretion about not posting your street address, perhaps. But honestly the amount of work required to search out someone on line who displayed a firearm and then locate their home and target them for a break-in to steal their guns seems a little bit far-fetched. Not that it couldn't easily happen, more that it seems just as likely to happen by chance than by being targeted. Unless you have an insane collection, few of us are likely to not have SOMETHING in our homes worth as much or more than a nice gun so a burglar could probably save the effort of looking for you specifically and just lift the $5,000 plasma TV you can see through your neighbor's picture window!

Regarding theft, I'm much more concerned about what I show people who are actually nearby than what some thief in Reno or Kansas City or wherever might see that I have.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Resistance is futile...they already know... if they dont know for sure... you beng on yhis site and the many others yoy browse everyday gives them a pretty solid indication....

 

[splithoof]

I think it is inherent human nature to desire some secrets to keep, and that could cover just about any object, gun-related or not. The mystique of firearms is that they can be used as deadly weapons, and for many there exists a small satisfaction in knowing that you may possess something that the government or "authorities" don't want you to have.

 

[bobinoregon]

I don't spend a lot of time worrying about the government tracking me down for a picture of a gun I posted on the internet. With all the time spent monitoring they have to know that 70% of what's posted on the internet is total bs. By the time they get around to me I'm sure the word will be out on the internet and I will have already had the tragic boating incident.

 

[larryh1108]

I fail to see the reasoning here.

If there is a government gun grabbing on you, personally, you don't want them to "find" the non-4473, pre-68, F2F purchases you have so you have all of these guns hidden away, buried in a secret vault? If you were under search of weapons for whatever reason and you kept these "unknown" guns you would be breaking the law (again).

If they came and searched and found your "cache" you would probably have these "unknown" guns mixed in with your "registered" guns and they'd grab all of them.

If there was a national "gun grab" and all guns were confiscated, like Sam said above, there would be a lot more problems than losing your "unregistered" guns.

So, to stay ahead of the "secret society of gun grabbers" you'd have to separate and bury your "unknown" weapons to dig up in the future when all guns are grabbed and you are the only one left with these now illegal guns.

I don't see the point.

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

I had thought to make the point quite clear in paragraph two of my post #27. Under direst circumstances, you still have the effective means to express your disagreement with the government. Be it that you are defending your personal self, your family, your religion, or your philosophy, if necessary the retained weapon gives you a means to do it.

I am now reminded of another old adage: There are none so blind as those who will not see.

900F

 

[browningguy]

Actually they probably have a picture of you buying the last gun you bought. Even if it wasn't in a store, they have satellites you know.

Seriously, you've been reading and posting in a shooting forum, don't you think they already have all the information there is on you? It wouldn't surprise me a bit if all the threads and log-ins to THR were being logged and checked by the goon squad.

 

[Magnuumpwr]

People posting on here should worry more about unscrupulous other people before our very corrupt government getting their guns. Even if you buy F2F with a written record or if the you know the original owner (4473 completed), your gun can still be tracked. On an after thought, Ohboycare, has anyone obtained insurance through the site? If so, is there a questionnaire asking if there are firearms in the home? Bet somewhere in there, there is!

 

[hso]

You said it yourself -

straining at gnats

 

[Warp]

We kick this question around sometimes and the responses tend to be mixed.

On the one hand folks don't want to admit to anything and fear the government.

On the other hand, folks who say, "You're participating here on a firearms-enthusiast site and your credit card receipts are full of gun, parts, ammo, gunpowder, and other related purchases, and you're an NRA member, and you subscribe to three gun magazines, and belong to a gun club, and, and and... who are you kidding?"

Those folks tend to say that gun ownership is not a crime -- be loud, be proud -- and that the only way to keep the confiscators at bay is to fight hard and loudly now. Once there's some lawful way to confiscate guns, and find them by searching out what someone talked about on an internet forum, we're either completely lost anyway, or there's a shooting war going on and it no longer matters.

This ^


As if things will be different if the government finds out I have 6 handguns and not just 4, or 6 rifles instead of only 3.

Really?

I also don't feel like hiding. Owning firearms of all types, ammo, body armour, 'tactical' vests NFA items, whatever...THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY.

Hiding and pretending like it's something to be kept hush-hush is wrong, IMO

 

[gbw]

SAM 1911: Just having a policy of secrecy in general probably won't be enough on its own to do you or your gun any good.

It could do some good to the extent that it may preserve options that derive from a secret gun, if and when the time comes. What those options are, and whether or not they'd be of any value would be a separate thread.

 

[TennJed]

Just in case anyone is listening I want to avoid any confusion. Even though my name is Tennjed I live in MS. So if you are coming for my guns, please do not harass a innocent Jed in Tennessee. Turn south at Memphis.

DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT COULD HEAR ME BETTER IF I USED ALL CAPS????

 

[LT.Diver]

I always just tell the truth. My last gun was a full auto, belt fed machine gun that I made in my basement out of parts left over from my old meth lab.
The suppressor was made from the muffler of the car Ted Kennedy drove when he had his little problem in the river.
The stock was hand carved from a piece of Kenyan walnut that I got from a lumber yard in Obama's home town.
I don't see how any of this information would be of the slightest use to our wonderful government.

 

[tarosean]

Quite frankly, if you've got a pre-GCA68 firearm that there's probably, or certainly, no Federal record of, there's no need to tell the world about it these days. If you just purchased a modern firearm face-to-face, you've broken the paper trail, provided you didn't sign anything with the seller. Why create the possibility that the record can be picked up through your own actions on the internet?

If you picked it up via an online ad.. they already know...

I would imagine that there are very very few of us that have never filled out a 4473...

 

[Field Tester]

I'm not going to give an opinion either way, but I am going to give a piece of advice.

Turn off and detele your GPS info on pictures taken with smart phones and cameras. This information is only two mouse clicks away to find and easily can be put into Google Maps to find your address. Heck, I can even tell you which picture the room was taken in.

Going further, of those that take pictures of your children and other spaces in your house, I can take that GPS data and build a 3d model of your home and map everything out.

It's just easier, smarter and safer to turn the GPS option off in the pictures or delete the data after.

 

[KingMedicine]

Bragging is fine, in all honesty, I trade so much so often that rarely would it stay in the safe. whoopity do, ssomeone knows what I used to own and sold....

 

[Blue Line]

even our own BB here has a copy of a Bill of Sale to use during transactions. We do it to ourselves.

 

[AethelstanAegen]

even our own BB here has a copy of a Bill of Sale to use during transactions.

A Bill of Sale is just common sense. I won't sell to someone that won't fill one out.

Regarding theft, I'm much more concerned about what I show people who are actually nearby than what some thief in Reno or Kansas City or wherever might see that I have.

That's my thinking as well. Someone would have to sort through every profile here to try and identify which ones were actually close to them and were worth robbing. The vast majority of criminals are pretty damn lazy and there are much more marketable/valuable items (that are much harder to track) in most homes.

 

[Warp]

FWIW, I've sold firearms face to face and never used a bill of sale or recorded buyer information.

Verified same-state of residence, no reason to believe they are a prohibited person (and no reason to believe they might be up to no good)...SOLD, have a nice day.

And agreed on worrying about locals for theft, not people on message forums. Lots more work to identify who is who, what they have, where they live, etc, on boards than in person. Possible sure, but more difficult. And then you'd have to actually be nearby or make a trip.

I'd be more concerned about people who see you at the local range or gun shop, that you talk to, hear you talk, talk to people you've talked to, see you coming from/going to the range, whatever.

 

[Hunterdad]

I've got a buddy who refuses to go on any gun related websites in fear the gov't would find out he owns guns. Meanwhile, he has a pistol permit, registered NFA guns and 20+ long guns he's bought from FFL's. He's an idiot

 

[jungle]

This always gives me a chuckle, the worry that "they" are going to come for a few piddly guns when they manage to take up to 50% of everything you earn for your entire life.

Try to keep your eye on the ball.