TexasCHLforum.com

My apologies if this has been asked before. I did a search here and on google and didn't find a sufficient answer.

Hypothetical but certainly could be a real situation.

If you buy a gun from a private citizen how does another private citizen check to see if the gun in stolen? If there's a simple way to do this I'd like to make it a practice of checking serial numbers before I buy any gun from a non dealer/ffl.

The obvious option is to call the local police station but I'd rather not have the attention directed at me if a serial number I ever ask about turns up to belong to a stolen weapon, even if I don't currently have the weapon. That would just look bad and i'd rather avoid the hassle to begin with.

Simple answer, no.

Running serial numbers through TCIC/NCIC for returns would be the only way to determine whether a firearm has been stolen, or I should say, reported stolen. Like any database, some of the information in TCIC/NCIC is inaccurate or incomplete. I once heard of a gentleman that a firearm taken from him on a traffic stop (pistol) that came back as "stolen" but upon investigation, it was determined the return from TCIC/NCIC was for a rifle bearing the same serial number as the pistol but having no other details similar. A false-positive return, if you will....

The good rule of thumb is: If you think the gun is stolen, don't buy it. If you're buying the gun from the cover of the latest issue of Guns and Ammo for 50% of the retail price, it might just have been stolen. If the deal seems to be too good to be true, it generally is. Use good judgment, even if it means passing up a "good" deal.

If you're really concerned, be sure to get good info on the seller, but without having access to the state databases to verify info, you're still relying on the honesty of the seller, so caveat emptor.

Just my thoughts... feel free to contact your local police department if you have any other questions.

This is also a good reason to get a bill of sale-it is evidence that you did not steal the gun, and if the seller stole it, he/she will almost certainly not be willing to give you a receipt with their name on it(Checked against a DL or other ID).