Serial Number Secrecy

[racuda]

I don't understand the practice of filling in a gun's serial number with XXX's, assuming you bought the gun new.

If you bought a used firearm with an unknown history maybe it had been stolen at some point in the past and the original owner could make a case for getting it back. Other than this scenario I don't see the downside of publishing the full number. Am I wrong?

[jocko]

I never understood that either, maybe people just want to keep any trace of serial numbers away from noisey ass people who search these forums for information to do no good.

[racuda]

I never understood that either, maybe people just want to keep any trace of serial numbers away from noisey ass people who search these forums for information to do no good.


Welcome back jocko! Long time no see. Don't they have internet in Europe?

[OldLincoln]

Don't know how real it is, but I read a thing where someone who missed an auction reporting that serial number as a stolen gun so it wouldn't clear the background check. I don't have any idea if it's real or not but that's what I read. The other thing is some (perhaps with reason?) believe they are leaving a trace tying them to that gun and they don't want that. I don't do it (when I think of it) because others don't do it and I'm a good little boy.

[Bawanna]

The issue is some people will take the serial number if they can see it all and report that gun stolen.
We get them occasionally in our local pawn shop. They go in browse some, write down the serial number usually on a power tool or something and then report it stolen.
Now it's up to you to prove that your the legitimate owner.

I imagine some don't want the federallies to know the exact number either if they bought it private and it's not registered. Probably a good idea too.
I always forget when I take pictures and leave them intact. Course my photo skills are sorely lacking so probably don't show up anyhow.

[Bawanna]

Score one for Tucson, he's wicked fast that one.

[racuda]

Don't know how real it is, but I read a thing where someone who missed an auction reporting that serial number as a stolen gun so it wouldn't clear the background check. I don't have any idea if it's real or not but that's what I read. The other thing is some (perhaps with reason?) believe they are leaving a trace tying them to that gun and they don't want that. I don't do it (when I think of it) because others don't do it and I'm a good little boy.

Not saying it couldn't happen, but falsely reporting a gun stolen would be fraught with many problems, including being charged for filing a false police report. Wouldn't that be like biting off your nose to spite your face?

[Bawanna]

Bad guys aren't known for high IQ's.

[racuda]

The issue is some people will take the serial number if they can see it all and report that gun stolen.
We get them occasionally in our local pawn shop. They go in browse some, write down the serial number usually on a power tool or something and then report it stolen.
Now it's up to you to prove that your the legitimate owner.

I imagine some don't want the federallies to know the exact number either if they bought it private and it's not registered. Probably a good idea too.
I always forget when I take pictures and leave them intact. Course my photo skills are sorely lacking so probably don't show up anyhow.

I can see being discrete if it is a used gun, but posting a serial number of a gun you bought new wouldn't leave you open to disputed ownership, yes?

[Bawanna]

True and I suppose it rarely happens but it would be nuisance to deal with.

[Tilos]

I don't believe a gun sn is "registered" anywhere except on the 4473 form on file at the gunshop/FFL you got it from.
To track a gun by sn starts at the mfg, goes to distributer, goes to dealer/FFL and the 4473 form, on file at the gs/FFL, as that form never leaves the store.
The trail ends there if that buyer sold it thru private sale.

Whether the sn is recorded (registered) during the backround check can be debated forever, but what I described is the way I see it.

I know in some states a ccw is issued for a specific gun (registered?) and some states require a 4473 be filled out to get your own gun back from consignment at a gun or pawn shop.

So I would think if someone reported YOUR gun (sn) as stolen (and it's entered into some stolen gun data bank), you would never know until YOU tried to trade it in and it's checked against that data bank.

I could be completely WRONG here, but know I'll never post a sn of any guns I own.

Tilos

[LaP]

I could be completely WRONG here, but know I'll never post a sn of any guns I own.

Tilos


True. The benefits are outweighed by the negatives.

[QuercusMax]

I think posting anything that shows the serial number of your gun is a bad idea for the same reason that publicly posting other personal numbers such as phone numbers, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, etc. is a bad idea. You just never know what that data might be used for by someone who finds it. Probably nothing, but why take the chance?

[HadEmAll]

I don't see the downside of publishing the full number. Am I wrong?

Well, to flip that, what would be the upside of publishing the complete number? To a bunch of faceless strangers? Who may be Kahr employees, BATF agents.........

With that number, and the 4473, or other record of your name and that number, like when you send it back to Kahr, they've got your screename and real name matched up. Any FFL holder you dealt with using that name and number now know your screen name. And if you use that screen name on other forums, now you are tracked. Kind of like a cancer, it spreads.

Just like Facebook, screen "friends" are "friends" in name only.

Remember, just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you.