First let me give some background on this. Many years ago, a guy I knew gave me a gun. He had bought this S&W in .38 S&W caliber back in the 1930's when he came to the U.S.A. and opened a diner across the street from Fort McPherson in Atlanta. My dad would go over many days for lunch there and as a very young boy, I went to work with him a lot and got to know the owner well enough that when he closed up the diner, he gave me the pistol (I was 18 at the time). About a year later, I went in the Navy and the gun, of course, stayed behind. By the time I got out of the Navy, I was married and had a very young child so the wife didn't want the gun around (she now has her own pistols and rifles). To make a long story short (too late), ok shorter, the gun was stolen by a friend of my brother who was doing some work for my parents and the theft was not noticed for some time. To my knowledge, I don't think my dad filed a police report as I'm sure he never recorded the serial number of the gun. This occurred in the 1970's.

Now the question. A short time ago, I saw this gun for sale in a pawn shop. Even though my dad had the gun plated, I would still like to have it back since the gun was an old top break S&W Lemon Squeezer but I don't have any idea of it's actual value. Also the big problem is the gun is located in Georgia and even though I'm in the Atlanta area most of the time caring for my mother, I'm still a Florida resident. So I can't buy the gun. Any one have any ideas? Could I have an FFL in Florida contact them and try to buy it back through a Florida contact? Just wondering what options there are.

Thanks,
CW

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μολὼν λαβέ

I believe you could purchase the gun from the pawn shop and have them send it to your local gun shop / FFL. Talk to the pawn shop; they might have done this before and already know how to do it.

You can buy the gun and have the dealer send it to a dealer of your choice in Florida. Very easy to do.

Yep, its easy. The only drawback is you probably don't have a good position to negotiate a much better price. Almost all FFLs have done transfers before. The only problem being is its just good courtesy to talk to your home town FFL first. Just to be sure he's willing to do the transfer.

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Dick Burg

What is the breaking line in age of an antique?? If it is considered an antique you dont even need to do paperwork.

If it is pre-1898, it is not required to do any paperwork on it.
However, most FFL's will not allow it to go out without a 4473 or transfer to another FFL anyway. Very few dealers observe the pre-1898 rule on cartridge firearms- it's their call.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

"If it is pre-1898, it is not required to do any paperwork on it."

Actually, it is pre 1899.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

It may be listed as a Curio and Relic firearm. If it is, you can apply for a license and have it shipped directly to your house but it may be gone by then. The quickest way is to have your local FFL dealer contact the Georgia pawnshop. You may have to pay shipping fees + FFL dealer fees but you will have the gun.

To have someone who has a C&R license buy it for you may be considered a strawman purchase and may get both of you in trouble.