Worst lines you've heard from gun sellers?

[jmace57]

When I was 23, I had been thinking about getting a 1911 for a while. The day Ronald Reagan got shot I went to the gun shop to look at them. The person there fed my fears saying they were expecting a phone call "any minute" from the Feds telling them they couldn't sell handguns any more.

I was such an idiot, I believed him. I ended up buying a brand new Colt 1911. I kept it for about 5 or 6 years and sold it for what I paid for it. I regretted it soon after...and still do.

 

[Ryanxia]

The person there fed my fears saying they were expecting a phone call "any minute" from the Feds telling them they couldn't sell handguns any more.

I was such an idiot, I believed him.

Taking advice from a supposedly educated person in an area you are not so well educated isn't being an idiot. We all rely on other people and while it's more and more common to get wrong answers we can't know everything ourselves, especially when starting out in a new hobby.

 

[sarge83]

At one point, for example, if the defacement wasn't performed by you (as in, say, a stolen gun that was recovered and returned to you), then this was allowed based on the level of defacement, and so forth. And the gun was allowed to be re-serialized...either by restoring the serial number or assigning a new, unique serial number.

Then, as I progressed through my research, it seems to me that I recall another ATF ruling in which it flat out wasn't acceptable at all, including re-serializing the firearm. And you simply couldn't legally own it.

Here is a link to one ATF ruling:

http://s940.photobucket.com/user/Gun...?sort=3&page=1

In this ruling, the ATF has essentially ruled that if there was no finding that the owner was not at fault, the firearm could be restamped with a new serial number issued by the ATF. And I believe a record of the applicable documentation is supposed to be retained.


But in the end, I think your assessment of thus guy's "number 25" is probably correct, given what all you observed. I certainly wouldn't tough it with a ten foot pole.

The ATF is kind of like the IRS, they make up law and policy as they go to suit the situation and CYA their stupidity and mistakes.