Dodged a bullet!

[mikerjf]

Over the years I’ve sold a few guns, those I didn’t like for one reason or another. Sometimes to a dealer and sometimes private party, which was legal here. But last year a new state law requires background checks for private sales too.

So when I decided I wasn’t going to keep a G26 I’d never warmed up to (great gun but hated the short butt and how it met my palm) I grumbled about having to sell it to a dealer at a lower price than a private sale would have netted.

But whattaya do? So late last Oct I traded it to my LGS on something I liked better.

Last Friday I get a voicemail from a detective halfway across the country saying it was used in a double homicide in December!

Really glad I sold it to a dealer!!!

 

[Alk8944]

But if you had sold it to an individual with a background check by a dealer odds are very great it would not have been involved in the homicide!

 

[madmikeb]

My step brother had a M29 many years ago and sold it and a few years later he got word that it had been used in a crime. I don't remember what the crime was at this point, I'm thinking maybe a robbery, but it could have been something worse, this was probably over 40 years ago. He was glad he traded it back to a dealer too.

Unless it's someone I know personally, I trade mine at a dealer and take the loss rather then run the risk of it coming back to haunt me.

 

[sodacan]

That narrative is my reason for transferring and/or shipping only through an FFL, even C&R eligible guns.

 

[mikerjf]

But if you had sold it to an individual with a background check by a dealer odds are very great it would not have been involved in the homicide!

Probably if I’d done exactly what I did the week before or the week after, it wouldn’t have either. But it’s always a wakeup when lightning strikes “nearby”.

 

[ken158]

That narrative is my reason for transferring and/or shipping only through an FFL, even C&R eligible guns.

Curious why you think lesser of a C&R FFL holder?

 

[Old cop]

Many years ago I sold a gun through an FFL run by a fellow cop. A few months later I got a visit from ATF b/c the gun turned up in a traffic stop in another jurisdiction. It pays to do the right thing.

 

[walnutred]

I buy so few firearms from dealers I find it interesting that the firearm was traced back to you. If there was a document trail showing you had legally sold the firearm why would a detective bother calling you about the firearm anyway? Unless you were the last person to own it before the crime, which doesn't sound like is the case. .

 

[mikerjf]

I assume they tracked the s/n from Glock to the distributor, to the shop I bought it from. It was brand new.

 

[Dave Baird]

We've discussed this before, and many were not so pleasant with me. But, especially in these days, it is safer all around to go through an FFL.
Glad the OP did and all was fine.

 

[03hemi]

Sell? Never!

 

[robertrwalsh]

Sometimes breadcrumbs are better. Or at least safer.

 

[glenwolde]

I buy so few firearms from dealers I find it interesting that the firearm was traced back to you. If there was a document trail showing you had legally sold the firearm why would a detective bother calling you about the firearm anyway? Unless you were the last person to own it before the crime, which doesn't sound like is the case. .

The only trail they have is from the manufacturer to the distributor to the dealer to the original purchaser. From there on there's a trail but they have to track it down manually. The 4473 information does not go into a database. That information stays at the dealer.

I got a call from the ATF a couple of decades ago while they were tracing a 6" nickel model 57 I had purchased new from an LGS. The ATF is no fun at all and they didn't offer up any information on why they were tracing it.

 

[neorebel]

Hmmmm

Funny you should mention this, I won't own a WWII German firearm for the reasons you've mentioned. I don't know exactly why it bugs me but I would bet I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Just bad vibes.

I had a Gen 2 Glock 19 I purchased from a friend of mine and later put in on consignment at a LGS.

When they sold it, it came up stolen lol. Well, I was a LEO so I called San Francisco PD and found it had been stolen from my buddy and it had been returned to him. They forgot to take it out of the system lol.

It was sold then but the LGS owner and I had a good laugh out of it.

 

[alwslate]

Won't own a WWII German firearm? One of my WWII German firearms is most likely a battlefield pickup. It is a Luger with fine pitting overall but in perfect shooting condition with no import marks. I bought it from the daughter of a deceased WWII vet. I am happy to own it. Wish it could talk. I also have several WWII well used Mauser 98Ks. No doubt they have spilled blood. Pieces of history.

 

[neorebel]

Yea, it's just me buddy.

I love to collect old pocket watches and vintage watches, I wish they could talk.

 

[murphydog]

Even with a private party transaction, I think it is wise to have a bill of sale with copies to the buyer and seller, and a digital photo of the buyer's ID.

 

[LVSteve]

Funny you should mention this, I won't own a WWII German firearm for the reasons you've mentioned. I don't know exactly why it bugs me but I would bet I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Just bad vibes.

I always remember that it wasn't the gun that killed somebody, it was the guy pulling the trigger.

 

[sodacan]

Curious why you think lesser of a C&R FFL holder?

Because it creates a paper trail between both FFL's, and when the FFL runs the gun through his books it is no longer mine. I know that C&R licenses are legitimate, but I'm still selling to an individual unknown to me.

 

[stu1ritter]

Many years ago when I had a type 01 FFL I received a letter from the FBI wanting my sale information on a Hammerli 280 in 32 S&W Long that had been used in a crime. I had transferred it to another FFL.

Stu