legal question

[xswilly]

hypathecial question

lets say a guy works at a well known gun manufacture,
in the course of his time there, he takes home a gun piece by piece, (standard revolver anybody could buy ) later he assembles it.
it doesn't fire, missing parts or incorrect assembly.
this was back in the 1960s.
gun sits around having never been fired.
guy dies, someone inharets gun.
wants to get it fixed, want to take it to a gunsmith for repair.

what are the ramifications?

 

[2hawk]

There's a lot of guns out there that have changed hands many times before we get them, and we usually don't know their history. What you are describing sounds like stolen property, since you didn't say if he had any permission or not. If the gun's serial is run and it comes up as stolen, then you've got a problem. If the gun is just another with no record, it is probably not going to result in anything to have the smith run it. And, it is up to the 'smith as well; he needs to record the gun in his bound book, but if he is not transferring ownership, then I don't think that he needs to run numbers. IANAL, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

 

[jlrhiner]

This surfaces from time to time. In effect, you have either a) a stolen gun, if it had already been serialized. Or B) an unregistered gun if not serial numbered. (and stolen)

Thing is, nobody knows it's stolen if taken before the serial number is applied. If after, you can bet it's on a hotlist somewhere.

 

[xswilly]

from my understanding the frame was listed as scrap
but it does have a seral number

 

[S&WIowegan]

This reminds me of the Johnny Cash song about the factory worker who built a Cadillac from parts he smuggled out.

 

[jaykellogg]

Once in the Shotgun News I saw an ad for a S&W Model 29 that had no serial number and never had one. It was called a "lunchbox special". I never pursued it. As I understand it it is illegal to possess a gun with the serial number altered, removed or defaced. However if it was built without one... Proving the gun was stolen would be nearly impossible, yet you would assume...

 

[HalfStack]

I have a feeling that if the part was serialized it'll be missed right away when finalized.