ivory grips in limbo

[fivetwo]

I just bought a 1970's model 60 revolver at auction.
it has a jinks letter saying it was made in the 1970's and was "A" engraved. that's great; exactly what I was looking for.
it originally came with wood grips, but somewhere down the road some owner equipped it with some real nice looking grips.
the seller says they are African elephant ivory.
as I understand it, African ivory can't be bought and sold interstate without government approved documentation that the ivory was here in the united states prior to 1998. failure to do so could result in some heavy fines and jail time.
I advised the seller to ship the gun, without the grips.
I have a feeling that the seller is pretty much in the dark about such documentation.
I was wondering if anyone knew how a person could trace a pair of ivory revolver grips so that they could be legally documented. where would you go to begin the search to try and make the grips legal? the grips are a nice addition to the revolver, but if they can't get government required documentation, I don't want them.
any advice on this issue?

anyone ever have this problem?

 

[murphydog]

There are a few threads here about this issue. For now, from what I recall it is best for the seller to document the ivory stocks are a gift and were not sold to you; the sales price was just for the gun.

 

[Falguy]

You might want to call 'Boone Trading Company'
They deal with a lot of ivory products. I've bought 1911 grips from them recently. There was no trouble buying ivory from them in the Northwest and having them mailed to Louisiana

The only problem I know of is bringing them into the US. You can't even cross from Canada to the US with undocumented ivory

There is no way you would be able to document old grips. There was never any paperwork to begin with.

PS
The seller doesn't know if they're African ivory or not. They may not even be real ivory

If you'll look it up on the official website
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - International Affairs

It says interstate and intrastate commence 'This action did not impact interstate commerce'.

 

[arjay]

^^^ this.I would talk to someone who deals in this for a living to get the straight scoop.

 

[fivetwo]

You might want to call 'Boone Trading Company'
They deal with a lot of ivory products. I've bought 1911 grips from them recently. There was no trouble buying ivory from them in the Northwest and having them mailed to Louisiana

The only problem I know of is bringing them into the US. You can't even cross from Canada to the US with undocumented ivory

There is no way you would be able to document old grips. There was never any paperwork to begin with.

PS
The seller doesn't know if they're African ivory or not. They may not even be real ivory

If you'll look it up on the official website
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - International Affairs

It says interstate and intrastate commence 'This action did not impact interstate commerce'.

thanks for the tip, I did look up the wildlife website and it says that under the new INTERSTATE rules, the seller must provide documentation that the ivory was here in the U.S. prior to January 1990.