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

 

[otis24]

How is a background check conducted in a private sale? Does the individual have access to the system? Do you have to pay a dealer an outrageous price to do it for you? If an individual is barred from legally purchasing firearms, that could be easily noted on a state ID/Driver's license. But parties of a certain political persuasion don't want results. They want control.

 

[jeffrefrig]

What kind of dealer did you sell it to that the gun was used to kill somebody? Only kidding. This is a good example why I do every gun transaction as legal as possible whether I agree with the law or not.

 

[Greyman50]

Unless I sell or Trade a gun to one of our gun club members I Always get a bill of sale With the buyers drivers license number their signature and CCW number. If no CCW I require drivers license, vehicle registration from county AND their vehicle insurance info. All documents Must have the Same Address. Also ask if they have been convicted of Anything and if under a restraining order. I write All of it down on receipt. Simple, any reservation on buyers part they get the H.A.N.D.( have a nice day)….

 

[Mark Pilcher]

I can't wait for the constitution to be the law of the land! Requiring an FFL to conduct a transaction is antithetical to it.

 

[Swiftflyer]

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.

Not sure but I believe the electronic 4473's are going into a database legal or not.

 

[Mike0251]

In 2000 I received a registered mail notification. Went to the post office to pick up. Letter was from the Sheriff of Hidalgo County Texas notifying me that an SKS I owned was used in a crime. They want clarification/information on this weapon!

I'm dumbfounded, scared, nervous, ***! I did not sell this weapon to anyone, turned and opened the safe and there she was still sitting there safe and sound!

Read thru the letter 4 times, AH HA! They said the serial number was 0007 (disregard the 93). My serial number is 00007. They have made a mistake obviously.

So I called them to "clarify" this matter and asked for an email address. The dispatch responded with "we don't have email yet". Ok lol. I wrote a letter letting them know I did not or have not ever owned 0007, mine is 00007 and sent it registered mail back to them. Never heard another word.

I still own this gun to this day and it still resides in the safe.

In past years when we could sell a gun privately in Va I would always have a bill of sale with the purchasers info. And my wife who is in the house is secretly writing their license plate number down for me too. Cover your butt at all times.

Pics below of letter, it has faded over the years.

 

[mikerjf]

You didn't say "It's ok… 0007 is licensed to kill!"?

 

[Mike0251]

LOL That is why I have kept it to this day, special secret agent version!

 

[Waldo]

When I lived in Maryland they passed a no private sales law. You could either go thru a dealer or the state police would do it. I had an old High Standard revolver that I had bought thru an ad in the Washington Star newspaper before it went out of business. I owned it for at least 20 years. A friend had been after me to sell it to him for a while. I finally agreed to sell it. He lived right down the street from a police barracks. So we took it there. He called first to find out what the procedure was. We went to the station, left the gun in the car, went in and told them what we wanted. After a good wait, an officer went out to the car with us to see if the gun was loaded and then he would carry it into the building. I had to explain to him how to open the revolver. It was empty. so we went in and my friend started the paperwork. There was a fee. I don't remember how much but not much. They would not accept cash. So he had to go across the street and get a money order. We finally got everything done, the policeman took the gun in the back and told us to wait. We sat for at least a half hour. Finally the policeman comes out and says every thing was good and that when my friend got the paperwork in the mail, I could transfer the gun to him. I asked the policeman what had taken so long. He said they had checked to see if the gun was hot. It was not. I asked what would have happened if it was. He said he would have arrested me and since it was Friday evening, I would have spent the weekend in jail. I have several guns that I have had for many years. I got them at guns shows, newspaper ads and word of mouth thru friends and coworkers. I know of a shotgun that passed thru my hand at least 3 times in various trades. The point of all this is that going thru an FFL might keep you out of trouble. Especially when we live in a society where a large percentage of our elected officials hate us because we own a gun.

 

[alwslate]

No offence meant but the average LEO is ill equipped to even handle your gun unless it matches his dept issue. Several years ago I was in a situation in which a young LEO thought he needed to see and check my pocket gun, which he didn't, but he didn't let that stop him. It was a 950 Beretta .25 auto. I listened while he called it in and left off the prefix of the serial number and said it was a .22 auto. Disgusting that I had to tell him how to do his job properly.