Have you ever used "hotgunz" to check if a gun you want has been reported stolen?

[Wyatt Burp]

Have you ever used "hotgunz" to check if a gun you want has been reported stolen?

This website called "hotgunz.com" is a place to supposedly check a used gun's serial number before purchasing to see if it's ever been reported stolen. I typed in a gun I bought new knowing it wasn't stolen just to see what happens and it came up "that serial # NOT reported stolen". I was curious why they don't ask a gun's make or model, just serial number. So I guess if you type in "#12345" it'll just see if ANY gun with that number pops up and get's specific later. Has anyone ever tried this before, and if so, do you consider it trustworthy and reliable?

 

[Big Cholla]

The only national data base that has even partial information recorded of stolen firearms is the NCIC maintained and managed by the FBI. The use of that data base is VERY closely guarded and controlled. It would be a very bad misuse of NCIC privileges by a LEO or Agency clerk to be researching for those serial numbers and to not have agency PC to be doing so. Get caught doing that and it would be an automatic dismal plus possible legal action. Now, many local agencies band together to put their mutual info into an area wide data base which is slightly less odious to research. I have no idea what the mentioned web site is doing on this so-called search, but I seriously doubt that a quality search for possible stolen guns is being affected. ...................

 

[BC38]

Wyatt, did I understand you to say you put a SN from a brand new gun and it said it was stolen? If I understood that correctly, then that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the quality of the info available from "hotgunz".

Just for grins I typed in the SN of every gun I own. One came up stolen. Trouble is that the gun is a French MAB semi-auto 22 pistol, and the 'stolen report' for that SN describes it as a Savage bolt action.

Like I said before - that tells me all I need to know about the quality of the information at "hotgunz"

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Wyatt, did I understand you to say you put a SN from a brand new gun and it said it was stolen? If I understood that correctly, then that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the quality of the info available from "hotgunz".

Just for grins I typed in the SN of every gun I own. One came up stolen. Trouble is that the gun is a French MAB semi-auto 22 pistol, and the 'stolen report' for that SN describes it as a Savage bolt action.

Like I said before - that tells me all I need to know about the quality of the information at "hotgunz"

I'll go clarify that. The gun was NOT stolen.

 

[BC38]

I'll go clarify that. The gun was NOT stolen.

I understood that - you said it was new.
But did the "hotgunz" website say it was stolen? That was what I thought your original post said...

 

[model3sw]

Wyatt, did I understand you to say you put a SN from a brand new gun and it said it was stolen? If I understood that correctly, then that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the quality of the info available from "hotgunz".

Just for grins I typed in the SN of every gun I own. One came up stolen. Trouble is that the gun is a French MAB semi-auto 22 pistol, and the 'stolen report' for that SN describes it as a Savage bolt action.

Like I said before - that tells me all I need to know about the quality of the information at "hotgunz"

You must remember before 1968 and still afterward there were no model specific serial numbers.

The older ones with just numbers could come back as a "hit" (stolen) on the number but describing a different gun, thus the one you have is not stolen (or at least not stolen on that database).

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has a similar webpage to check for stolen guns but that database is Florida only.

One of the members of this blog (a LEO) mentions above about the NCIC which is the only Nationwide data base check for stolen property including automobiles. Numbers cannot be run casually, not even by a LEO because if the number is a "hit" it will require more information.

Another example is if you use the Serial Number Lookup at the Colt website. Many times I have entered a serial number that will return with several choices of what it could be (within the Colt product line) and what year it was shipped. The websites / web pages are:

FDLE (to check if a gun has been reported stolen in Florida: FDLE Public Access System | Stolen Guns Search

Colt (to search, as a test, a common number like 12345, shows 43 different models it could be JUST within the Colt manufacture serial numbers:

Colt Firearm Serial Number Lookup - Year of Manufacture

Just for jollies I ran 12345 at the FDLE that comes back as a Roth Sauer .22 rifle stolen 6/3/1994.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I understand leadsonline.com is reputable but I have never used it.

 

[Brian41]

I'd never heard of the site and doesn't sound it's much worth bothering with.
In 1977 when I came back to Michigan from Oklahoma the handguns I brought back had to be registered here. I went to the local PD to do so and my S&W model 19 came back as stolen from a California Highway patrolman. Everything matched except his was a model 28. Officer running the check said he was getting a little concerned about me as the teletype machine was printing that out.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Wyatt, did I understand you to say you put a SN from a brand new gun and it said it was stolen? If I understood that correctly, then that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the quality of the info available from "hotgunz".

Just for grins I typed in the SN of every gun I own. One came up stolen. Trouble is that the gun is a French MAB semi-auto 22 pistol, and the 'stolen report' for that SN describes it as a Savage bolt action.

Like I said before - that tells me all I need to know about the quality of the information at "hotgunz"

And now Hotgunz has all your serial numbers

 

[sipowicz]

No...but I do have a hotpocket once in a while.

 

[JSR III]

And now Hotgunz has all your serial numbers

And now they (Louie and Joey) somewhere in a basement sitting by a computer can report those as stolen and give you a whole world of do do.

 

[DWalt]

I remember there was once a website where you could report guns stolen from you, and anyone could search it. It may not still exist. Of course, that's very limited in its usefulness

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Wyatt, did I understand you to say you put a SN from a brand new gun and it said it was stolen? If I understood that correctly, then that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the quality of the info available from "hotgunz".

Just for grins I typed in the SN of every gun I own. One came up stolen. Trouble is that the gun is a French MAB semi-auto 22 pistol, and the 'stolen report' for that SN describes it as a Savage bolt action.

Like I said before - that tells me all I need to know about the quality of the information at "hotgunz"

If this site is any good, the info you got back might be saying YOUR gun is OK but there is another brand of gun with that number stolen. If your's WAS stolen, maybe both guns would have shown up. I won't get into the details here, but I put in the serial number of a gun reported stolen then returned to the original owner. Yet it DID NOT come up stolen. Was the record now clean on that gun, or did they miss it in their search? I don't know.

 

[bushmaster1313]

Why is the Federal NCIC not available to citizens?

 

[BC38]

And now Hotgunz has all your serial numbers

So? There is no specific info on the gun or identifying info about me, nor is there any proof I wasn't just typing random numbers. Besides they aren't the ATF - they're just a website where people can voluntarily report stolen gun serial numbers and/or check them against reported numbers.

 

[BC38]

I remember there was once a website where you could report guns stolen from you, and anyone could search it. It may not still exist. Of course, that's very limited in its usefulness

That's exactly what the 'hotgunz' website is. It may even be the one you're thinking of.

 

[BC38]

And now they (Louie and Joey) somewhere in a basement sitting by a computer can report those as stolen and give you a whole world of do do.

Not without specifics of what gun each serial number corresponds to they can't.

"Hello officer, I'd like to report my gun, SN #1234567 as stolen."
"Ok, please describe the gun - brand, type, caliber, model number"
"Uhhhhh, well, uhhh, I'm not sure..."
"What is your name sir? Are you aware that it is a serious crime to file a false police report?"
CLICK... <dialtone>....

 

[venomballistics]

not sure I'd trust it.
the whois information indicates that it is registered through a proxy.
in contrast, the whois information of this forum indicates that it is registered to Lee (aka Handejector)

Go ahead, plug in SN's while you have someone hiding behind a proxy.

 

[BC38]

not sure I'd trust it.
the whois information indicates that it is registered through a proxy.
in contrast, the whois information of this forum indicates that it is registered to Lee (aka Handejector)

Go ahead, plug in SN's while you have someone hiding behind a proxy.

LOL, my work computer shows me as "hiding behind a proxy" too - but that is a security measure, not an indication of anything nefarious going on. My domain is registered to a corporation - not an individual.

 

[4506517]

Our agency offers a safe place to conduct online sales (ie Craigslist, etc) face to face transactions.

We also will run any serial numbers for.you (from anything that has a serial number) through NCIC before you finish your transaction.

Several agencies in our area offer the same service.