The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Selling guns, photos with visable serial numbers

**tyme** · September 6, 2009, 05:38 PM

I always thought the main concern with posting images of guns with SN visible was that someone might then claim that your gun was stolen from them. They can't claim to own the gun any better than you can, but it's still a they-said, you-said... If you don't have a verifiable receipt for the gun, it may cause you some grief. Unlikely but possible.

The problem with blurring numbers or text is that it doesn't have to be readable to be recoverable. All someone has to do is match the background, match the blurring algorithm, and try blurring all the digits and/or letters to see which of them is closest to each blurred character in the image.

The best way to remove details from an image is to draw over them with a solid color. (And don't save as a format that allows multiple layers unless you know ALL the layers have been sanitized.)

September 6, 2009, 05:38 PM	#6
tyme Staff Join Date: October 13, 2001 Posts: 3,355	I always thought the main concern with posting images of guns with SN visible was that someone might then claim that your gun was stolen from them. They can't claim to own the gun any better than you can, but it's still a they-said, you-said... If you don't have a verifiable receipt for the gun, it may cause you some grief. Unlikely but possible. The problem with blurring numbers or text is that it doesn't have to be readable to be recoverable. All someone has to do is match the background, match the blurring algorithm, and try blurring all the digits and/or letters to see which of them is closest to each blurred character in the image. The best way to remove details from an image is to draw over them with a solid color. (And don't save as a format that allows multiple layers unless you know ALL the layers have been sanitized.) __________________ “The egg hatched...” “...the egg hatched... and a hundred baby spiders came out...” (blade runner) “Who are you?” “A friend. I'm here to prevent you from making a mistake.” “You have no idea what I'm doing here, friend.” “In specific terms, no, but I swore an oath to protect the world...” (continuum) “It's a goal you won't understand until later. Your job is to make sure he doesn't achieve the goal.” (bsg)