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September 21, 2012, 05:41 PM | #1 |
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Question regarding transferring a gun
This may be a very dumb question but I rarely buy guns via a private sale and am hoping someone here can answer this for me. I'm thinking about buying a handgun from a guy I work with but I don't want to take any chances on the gun being stolen so I would like to get the gun transferred. My question is, in order to transfer a handgun do I have to have the last person a background check was ran on there to transfer it to me? The guy I'll be buying from bought it from someone else in a private sale so he is not the most recent person a background check was ran on for the gun. Does that matter or as long as its not flagged stolen can a gun be transferred no matter who is selling it?
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September 21, 2012, 07:33 PM | #2 |
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If you're worried about the possibility of a stolen gun, give a call to your local police department. They should be able to run the serial number of the gun, and find out if it's been reported as stolen.
Now, not to jack the thread, but a general message to my fellow shooters: The single most important thing you can do as a gun owner is to have a record of your serial numbers. It is the ONLY thing that will re-unite you with a stolen firearm if it becomes stolen. Once reported, the serial numbers of stolen guns are entered into the records system, and they NEVER are removed--unless the gun is recovered. Just saying.....
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September 21, 2012, 08:06 PM | #3 | |
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Unless Tennessee is very different from my state. By the way, most police departments will not run a serial number check for you, because it's not in connection with an official investigation and, therefore, it's technically a violation for them to access any official database for you. Some departments or officers may do that for you, but they aren't supposed to (or so I've been told on more than two occasions). |
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September 22, 2012, 01:04 PM | #4 | |
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September 22, 2012, 03:21 PM | #5 | |
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Seems to me the only way to be 100 percent certain is to either buy only new firearms, or to buy from a person you know who was the original owner. |
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September 22, 2012, 06:56 PM | #6 |
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I've purchased two firearms from private owners exactly as you described. Here in Ohio, both being residents of the same state (I haven't a clue if it's legal in TN) we wrote out a receipt/bill of sale. Check a drivers license for ID verification (if they refuse, abort the sale) and write down name, address, drivers license number, date of sale, type of gun sold/bought, the serial number, etc. Both sign it and you save your copy as long as you own the gun. If ATF knocks on your door wanting info on that gun you just bought/sold, you have a signed receipt. It's CYA! You really need to research gun selling/private owner purchases laws of TN.
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September 22, 2012, 07:03 PM | #7 | |
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It will all help keep you from being implicated in the theft, but you will still lose the gun. You can't acquire ownership of stolen property.
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September 22, 2012, 08:36 PM | #8 |
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Once again...
You can contact your local police department with the gun's serial number. Explain that you want to make sure that the firearm is not stolen before you buy it. The serial number will be checked via what we call "Triple-I" (Interstate identification Index). The check usually only takes a minute. If a gun has been stolen, AND if the serial number was included in the police report ANYWHERE in the United States, the gun will appear in the data base. It doesn't cost a penny to do it, and most departments will readily assist you in doing this.
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September 22, 2012, 11:56 PM | #9 |
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However,if the gun gets a "hit" as stolen, the department running the check will need to have the gun in hand so they can return the gun to the rightful owner, at some point in time. If they can't return the gun, they have a heap of explaining to do.
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September 23, 2012, 12:14 AM | #10 |
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If it's a guy you work with, what's the problem? They have payroll records at work, so why insult the guy? Just have him give you a bill of sale. If he was the original owner, just have him write that on the bill of sale and sign it. If not, then just have the police do a stolen gun check to protect yourself before buying.
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September 23, 2012, 07:33 AM | #11 |
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IDK about private sells, I frown on them especially a handgun
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September 23, 2012, 09:56 PM | #12 |
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Let's assume
a) you live in a state where private sales are allowed and b) it is stolen. Moral and ethical issues aside, so what? The only time the SN will be run through "the system" is if you commit a crime, as a compliant US citizen you "register" via some executive order or the ATF is going door-to-door confiscating now illegal guns. Having a stolen weapon will be small potatoes at that point. Now, addressing the moral and ethical side ... No one of decent moral character wants to be the recipient of illl-gotten booty. However, if you purchase from some one you trust and know, then you have done due diligence (as a private citizen) in researching if the gun has a clean history. YVMV |
September 23, 2012, 10:51 PM | #13 | |
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September 24, 2012, 05:11 AM | #14 | |
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A couple more might be ... an insurance claim comes to mind. Even so, the odds of purchasing a stolen gun and then having any of the reasons stated for having a gun checked have to be pretty remote. And having one checked in any of the circumstances above, losing a few hundred dollars on a purchase will be way down the list of things to worry about. A couple of assumptions in my thoughts ... the buyer is a person of decent moral character and purchases from a reasonably reliable source. If the buyer is a meth head and the seller is selling out of the window of a van as he drives by, then the odds go down significantly. |
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September 24, 2012, 01:42 PM | #15 | |
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September 24, 2012, 05:17 PM | #16 | |
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Different cities, different rules. Jim |
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September 24, 2012, 06:00 PM | #17 | |
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"It is long been a principle of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully." -- Jeff Cooper |
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September 25, 2012, 05:05 PM | #18 | |
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Jim |
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September 25, 2012, 07:49 PM | #19 |
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I can see where a misunderstanding occurred--I should have been a bit more clear.
Yes, you do have to take the firearm in and have an officer run the serial number. Yes, if the gun came back as stolen the gun would be retained. Running the firearm's serial number through III is the definitive answer. However, there is another way... There are a number of websites (such as hotgunz.com) that will tell you if a gun is in their database. It is nowhere as definitive as the Triple-I check, but at least you would be checking the serial number against a database--if that's what you're aiming to do.
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