3rd Gen Gurus, question on serial#...

[potpot821]

Hello folks, I just want to ask the 3rd gen gurus in the forum if S&W ever had any of the 3rd gen variants serial number starting with YDLxxxx?

My 6904 was reported/registered to the CA DOJ via the "Firearm Ownership" form, since it was originally a resident of Florida. The problem however, was that, the serial# reported was mis type to YDL, instead of VDLxxxx.

The issue Im having is, the gun has been sold via PPT with the correct serial# DROS'ed to the new owner.
I wanted to file a "No longer in possession" form, but the form has a column that ask when, where and what serial# the gun was sold to.
The note on the form stated that DOJ will not de list the gun under my name, until they recieve the DROS form from the LGS where the sale took place.
If I report the typo'ed serial, Im afraid DOJ will not de-list it under my name. since the LGS will report a different serial#.
If there is no such YDLxxxx serials with S&W, Im thinking, I might as well just not file the "No longer in possession" form and just keep the sellers copy of the gun sale.

 

[Sevens]

Well, I would guess that you might expect those of us in Free America to get a wild, rushing headache at the mere THOUGHT of all that nonsense... I guess I'll just be the first to express it.

Given the situation and your location, it seems to me that a phone call to S&W is the best idea here.

 

[solomon]

Given the situation and your location, it seems to me that a phone call to S&W is the best idea here.

Not sure why you'd advise that. Seems to me OP has a CA DOJ paperwork problem which he's attempting to avoid/circumvent by finding out if there exists a gun with the S/N he has registered to him (and yes, I too shudder at that "registered" statement).

If OP wishes to fix his CA paperwork problem it would appear that he'd need to fix the *ORIGINAL* paperwork problem (with the "importation" documents) and then he can just submit his "de-registration" papers with the correct serial number.

Personally, while IANAL, I would never advise knowingly submitting improper serial # information to the lords & masters of Kalifornia! I'd either a) contact the appropriate registration folks and attempt to correct the original error or b) submit the correct de-registration paperwork and deal with the mismatch if/when it's kicked back, or c) move to somewhere that people live free.

 

[TTSH]

The note on the form stated that DOJ will not de-list the gun under my name, until they receive the DROS form from the LGS where the sale took place. If I report the typo'd serial number, I'm afraid DOJ will not de-list it under my name since the LGS will report a different serial number.

I know nothing about the CA DOJ and its procedures... but here, 3,000 miles away in similarly loony, anti-gun Massachusetts, our Firearms Record Bureau does recognize the fact that firearms serial numbers get mis-read and mis-reported all the time and there is a procedure for reporting and fixing those mistakes when found.

I think there is a good likelihood that the CA DOJ might have a similar procedure. If they don't, then their database is almost intentionally tainted. If accuracy is one of their goals, there will be a procedure out there for fixing mistakes.

 

[Sevens]

I suppose my advice of contacting S&W was simply that THEY would have a better idea if a SN range or prefix had been used more so than an enthusiast's discussion forum.

 

[dacoontz]

Based on the S&W standard catalog, there are no 3rd gen guns with a serial number that starts with "Y."

 

[potpot821]

Based on the S&W standard catalog, there are no 3rd gen guns with a serial number that starts with "Y."

Thank you!

 

[potpot821]

Not sure why you'd advise that. Seems to me OP has a CA DOJ paperwork problem which he's attempting to avoid/circumvent by finding out if there exists a gun with the S/N he has registered to him (and yes, I too shudder at that "registered" statement).

If OP wishes to fix his CA paperwork problem it would appear that he'd need to fix the *ORIGINAL* paperwork problem (with the "importation" documents) and then he can just submit his "de-registration" papers with the correct serial number.

Personally, while IANAL, I would never advise knowingly submitting improper serial # information to the lords & masters of Kalifornia! I'd either a) contact the appropriate registration folks and attempt to correct the original error or b) submit the correct de-registration paperwork and deal with the mismatch if/when it's kicked back, or c) move to somewhere that people live free.

Excuse me? I'm not trying to avoid or circumvent anything.
The reason why I was asking the learned 3rd gen gurus of serial# familiarity, is because when I asked, several members on the CA gun forum, suggested to forget about filing the No Longer in Possession form because the seller gets a copy of the DROS papers of the sale. Which can be use in case of any questions that may come up in the future.
Also, from the email query to the DOJ, they called me and suggested to just file the form using the typo'ed serial.
My issue was, I did not see the note till after they called, that they will not delist the gun from my name, until they get the DROS copy from the LGS. They will not get a copy with the typo'ed serial since the LGS has the correct # listed on their DROS.

 

[TTSH]

Excuse me? I'm not trying to avoid or circumvent anything.
The reason why I was asking the learned 3rd gen gurus of serial# familiarity, is because when I asked, several members on the CA gun forum, suggested to forget about filing the No Longer in Possession form because the seller gets a copy of the DROS papers of the sale. Which can be use in case of any questions that may come up in the future.
Also, from the email query to the DOJ, they called me and suggested to just file the form using the typo'd serial.
My issue was, I did not see the note till after they called, that they will not de-list the gun from my name, until they get the DROS copy from the LGS. They will not get a copy with the typo'd serial since the LGS has the correct # listed on their DROS.

Methinks it would have been much better to straighten out the serial number mistake before the gun was sold (even if that meant a delay in selling it), but perhaps for some reason that was not an option.

It sounds like correcting it now is going to take some effort above and beyond merely filling out a form... unless there is some space on the form to add some additional explanation. I think writing a letter to DOJ explaining the serial number mix-up is, at this point, your best bet.

 

[solomon]

...the DOJ, they called me and suggested to just file the form using the typo'ed serial.

Sorry, my only thought at this point was:

Where government is concerned, always get it in writing - no shock they called vs responding to email on this one! I'm with TTSH, you probably want this cleared up lest it become an issue at some future date....

"Mr. PotPot821, is it true you submitted this official form KNOWING it contained false information?" -CA Prosecutor

 

[03Fatboy]

I'm in CA. You need to discuss with a helpful FFL in CA, likely a call to the DOJ, I don't know? If you don't talk to the right person, you will get a blank stare in return. Usually these kind of questions, just get people talking about CA's crappy gun laws, as if that's a secret. There is an answer, but you finding the correct answer could take you a fair amount of effort and I'm not sure it's really warranted in the end.

I can say that I did a local transfer on a 3914, and I noticed one suffix in the serial number was incorrectly recorded after I brought it home. I called the FFL, and a day later, they sent me a corrected form/paper. It was a while ago, I just put the paper in the file. Good Luck

 

[potpot821]

Update.

So I sent CA/DOJ the "No Longer in Possession" form, along with a letter explaining the snafu on the serial number. I also attached a copy of my old Firearm Ownership Record with the typo'ed serial and the DROS seller copy of the sold gun with the correct serial #. Mailed it registered with return receipt on the 2nd Jul, and the return receipt came back on the 8th. Today the 15th, I got a response back from DOJ, and when I opened the envelop, it was the confirmation and their acknowledgement that the pistol with the typo'ed serial is no longer in my possession!!
I never expected them to respond that fast. I did mention in my letter the name of the employee who called and suggested I file the NLP. Not sure if that helped but Im sure glad its all over.

 

[DanP7]

If this "no longer in possession" form isn't mandatory, I'd just skip it.

That form isn't going to hold you harmless from any liability. It's going to just paint a target on you for a bored office cop that needs to keep busy by picking up obvious filing discrepancies between databases. It's going to cause more questions and confusion than it's worth.

 

[TTSH]

It's going to cause more questions and confusion than it's worth.

Respectfully, I have to disagree. Here in the (similarly messed-up) People's Republic of Taxachusetts, we have no ability to remove a gun from our official listing of owned guns. Once a gun is on the state's list in your name, it stays there forever. This can make for a seriously weird situation with some anti-gun cop who may stop you (They have full access to the list in their cruisers). You may only own 3 guns at this moment (or no guns at all)... but if the cop pulls up your record, it might show that you own two dozen or three dozen or four dozen (every gun you ever owned from birth!). OhMyGawd! You are a gun person!

You are right. It shouldn't matter, but sometimes it does. I believe it would be a huge improvement to our own system if we were allowed to remove guns from our state list once we have disposed of them.

 

[potpot821]

If this "no longer in possession" form isn't mandatory, I'd just skip it.

That form isn't going to hold you harmless from any liability. It's going to just paint a target on you for a bored office cop that needs to keep busy by picking up obvious filing discrepancies between databases. It's going to cause more questions and confusion than it's worth.

Well, if there weren't any typo on the information entered with the Firearm Ownership record, filed when I went back to CA with the gun, then the seller's copy of the DROS is enough proof that I no longer possess said gun, and could skip filing the NLP form.
But since there is a discrepancy on the Ownership record, and is a mis match with the DROS seller copy. Then its better to have the NLP form, acknowledged in writing by the DOJ, than just verbally telling any nosy cop the error on my gun records.

 

[kaveman]

...........Once a gun is on the state's list in your name, it stays there forever. This can make for a seriously weird situation with some anti-gun cop who may stop you (They have full access to the list in their cruisers). You may only own 3 guns at this moment (or no guns at all)... but if the cop pulls up your record, it might show that you own two dozen or three dozen or four dozen (every gun you ever owned from birth!). OhMyGawd! You are a gun person! ............

It's a good thing we don't have anything like that here. I can just imagine a traffic stop, looking in the rear view and seeing the cop being buried in computer printout,.............Mr. Kaveman,..............I see here where you're in possession of 4,867 firearms,...............Bbbbut, but Officer,............three thousand of those were sold off years ago!

I'm thinking it's best that they not have that info readily available. Seriously, after the first one what's the difference?

 

[TTSH]

I'm thinking it's best that they not have that info readily available. Seriously, after the first one what's the difference?

Yeah, it's just plain nutty. I have no problem with the cops being able to see that I have a License To Carry on their cruiser computers... but for them to be able to pull up in their cruiser the state's list of every gun I've ever owned in my entire long, sorry life? That's not right. That's a privacy issue and an unnecessary security risk as far as I am concerned. Sorry, but there are bad cops out there and I don't want to be a victim.