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So if a serial number on a firearm manufactured in 1969 was removed in 1970, the gun was subsequently sold six times, and you are found in possession of it in 2010 ... the law says you are guilty of removing or altering the serial number. Period.
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It does seem to be a presumption of guilt.
But if the serial number was removed in 1970 (or at any time), how do you determine the gun was made in 1969?
With pre-68 guns, which never had a serial number, it is fairly simple, as those guns will not have a place where the serial number was removed/altered/defaced.
Now, consider this one; suppose the gun was made in 1950, with a serial number, and the number was removed in 1960? Legal at the time? or not?
After all, the serial number was not
required until the GCA 68, right?
I believe that even before 1968, obliterating an existing serial number was a criminal act. I'm not certain, but I think it was. What the GCA 68 did was require serial numbers on all new made firearms (along with a lot of other things).