[czgunner]

It's kind of funny, I got a letter from the Vancouver(WA) police department evidence room stating that they have my Taurus .38 that was found and turned in to them. According to their database, I am the owner of the revolver. Strange because I traded it in to a local gun shop about a year ago, and they informed me it sold the same week!
I called the detective, and told them the story. They are looking in to the gun shop, which incidently has moved twice and gone out of business.

 

[sheepdog]

Sounds like the shopowner didn't do much paperwork. In Tx. the local PD wouldn't know it was yours, unless you bought it as a part of a multiple handgun sale, in which they'd get a copy...when I sell one to a shop, I make them write me out a receipt to cover me...same with an individual...

 

[deputy125]

Its a case of following a paper trail.
Taurus is contacted with serial# and asked where it went when it left the factory. taurus says it weent to a wholesaler on xx/zz/year

That wholesaler is then contacted and told hey you were shipped a taurus with serial number ##### on x/zz/Year from taurus--whaere is it. Wholesaler will check their records and find that it went to AAA gunshop on xx/zz/year.

AAA shop contacted and told Wholesaler sent them taurus ##### on xx/zz/year and what happened to it. A lot of shops do not keep computerized records. AAA shop will check their master book for the date that the taurus was received from the wholesaler. on the same line will also be who they sold the taurus to. This is the info that AAA gives the batf and the batf relays to the PD.

Now you are contacted and asked about the taurus. You sold the taurus back to the shop on xx/zz/year.

Now they go back to the gunshop and check to see if a taurus was received from you on xx/zz/year. Sure enough there it is the same gun but under a more recent date entered in the book and on the same line will be who they sold it to. A lot of shops will not computerize their records and perfer to stay with the "bound book" only.

 

[Snuffy]

well you could end up getting the weapon for free. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[sheepdog]

I wouldn't have it back...not being to prove I sold it to that extinct gun shop might bring a problem...like a bad wife who took off and stayed gone that long...don't know what she's been doin' and don't want her baggage in my house.....

 

[EddieF]

good point, Sheepdog. My first reaction was, 'hey, maybe they'll give it back to him!' But the fact that it was 'found,' who knows. Could have been bought from the gun shop, used in a crime and dumped in a dumpster or something.

 

[Snuffy]

well sheepdog, I think it would be safe to have the gun back. Just get a slip from the police saying it was returned to you on this date.
As far as a bad wife well the is another post for sure.

 

[czgunner]

The detective didn't offer to return it to me, and this is the liberal northwest, so I doubt I'll ever see it again.

 

[deputy125]

Well, you told him you traded it back to the shop and the shop sold it again. The most recent legit owner that bought it from the shop might want it back.

In LE for a lot of years. Amazing how many folks do not record the serial #'s to their guns and keep them in a safe place "just in case". I've taken legit stolen gun reports and a lot of owners don;t even remember the brand or model gun. Ususally i'll get something like " it was a black gun with black grips and it was a 38".
Thats it---nothing else is known by the owner. Then i'll ask where and when did you buy it? They will say xyz gun shop and then have trouble remembering when they bought it. 1994? or was it 1992?(in fairness, a lot of these folks are not gun enthusists, just a house gun is all they wanted)

So i go to that xyz gun shop (who does not have computerized record keeping) and ask them to check their bound book from 1992 thru 1994 for all 38's that they have entered and see if one of them was sold to my complainant. If i get lucky, they will find it. Many times they will gladly expand the search an additional year or two. They will usually find it--about a year off from when they thought they had bought it. From there we can then identify the gun further and obtain the make, model, caliber, and serial#. Then a entry can be made into the national database to report the gun as stolen.

Lots of folks depend or think that a gunshop will keep these records on hand for whenever they need it. But sometimes a shop owner sells out to someone else. The orginal owner of the shop then sends his books in to ATF as the new shop owner takes over and starts his own set of books. End result for me then is a dead-end.
From what a FFL told me, these "retired books" go into some atf wharehouse and may set there for years upon years.

Best thing that folks can do is write down their serial#'s along with make, model, and description and put it in the safety deposit box or some other secure place "just in case".

 

[Snuffy]

deputy125,
That is a good idea I have it here at the house but I can scan and print a copy for the lock box. As a matter of fact I'll do it today. Thanks again

 

[deputy125]

Always been a believer in Murphy's Law.
The worst "non-violent" burglary case i worked, the teens broke into a house while the owners were away for the weekend. They got what they wanted and then got paranoid about fingerprints--so--they decided the best thing to do was to burn down the house to destroy the evidence. This is rare but since then i've kept one inventory at the house and another in the deposit box just in case.

 

[ratgunner]

Glad to hear they still got caught.

 

[Ron Honner]

When a dealer closes and goes out of business, sells out, or dies, the 4473s and the bound books go to the ATF "Out of business" address, who then microfilm all of the records. I don't know if they still microfilm or scan them nowdays.

I have been called in three ATF searches on guns in thirty years. The last one was only two months ago. I sold a SP-101 in March of 1996 to an individual that was attending USD just 23 miles east of us. I received a call from a gal from ATF in either VA or WVA. I faxed her a copy of the 4473 AND another sheet that had a copy of both the buyer's driver's license and his South Dakota handgun permit. She was thrilled that I had all of that info. It did not take me two or three minutes to find the info because she had the year and the month that I received the gun from the Ruger distributor. When "accurate" dates are supplied, finding who I sold it to is fast and easy.

 

[jimbo1096]

I have taken a digital picture of each gun with a 3 by 5 index card next to it showing the pertinet information, model type ser# etc. I print hard copies and burn the pics to a couple copies on CD. I even sent one cd copy to my sister out of town. Every so often I add or update the cd-rw master and make new copies. In fact it needs to be updated again pretty soon.

 

[Snuffy]

jimbo,
you have the best idea and its a sound way of doing things. But dang men its really ashame that our world has come to this. I can remember a time when doors were never locked we didn't know what keys were for. When I was a kid Police Officer's didn't have to wear body armor. No one wanted to shoot a a Police Officer or Deputy. Our world world has changed.