Originally Posted by Geno44

I don't know what the percentage of stolen guns is but say you have a modest collection of 25 guns manufactured between 1930 and 2016 with many older Smiths and Colts. A gun manufactured in 1940 may have had a bunch of previous owners and a chance to have been stolen. I would think many people with collections this size could have a stolen gun in the collection and have no idea. Private citizens do not have access to the NICS list of reported stolen guns and they should. I would never purchase a gun I thought was stolen but I don't see how it is possible to know. I would certainly want to return a stolen gun if it was in my collection. How many of us older guys have a document proving purchase of guns we bought 40 years ago? If you always buy new from a reputable dealer, you will have the paperwork. In the old days, a lot of guns were bought and sold on a handshake and still are in some locations. If I were going to ask a date question on a gun, leaving the very last digit or two would get me close enough. In 1963 in suburban Chicago, I had a Colt Huntsman 90720-c stolen in a residential burglary. It was reported and investigated with no word. Somebody probably has that gun now, some 55 years later and I doubt they know it's stolen. I do not blame anyone who doesn't want to share the whole number of a gun on the net.