Letter from US DOJ

[Nwcid]

It is the same process. You would probably have gotten a call or a visit.

Yes we all hear about the bad cases where SWAT teams kick in wrong doors or for wrong reasons but those are the exception.

If they come to you then you tell the truth. That you sold it and when. Just having a gun on a scene is not enough proof that you were involved. They would first need to prove that you would even be able to have been in the area at the time. Then of course motive.

I know these things sound scary and they are when you have never dealt with them. I sold a gun last year (across state lines) and when the buyer went to pick it up the check came back stolen. Not going to lie it was a real bubblegumty feeling of "now what". What are the LEO's going to do? Crap I am out $2500+. Along with tons of other stuff. At no point was I worried about "being in trouble" since I know for a fact I did nothing wrong. It was a very simple process and not scary at all. Cops took my statement. Tracked the gun as stated above. Took about a total of 2 weeks. Found out the FFL that shipped it to me didn't do their books right when they sent it out. The sent it and never marked it out. When they couldn't find it during an audit months later they said it must have been stolen, along with a couple other. I got a copy of all the reports and the Det was nice enough to even take it back to the FFL for me.

 

[cueball1214]

maybe contest it, and get the gun back if it was of any value?

It's going to end up 'destroyed' if it stays with them

Or in Mexico

 

[dobeman]

it's been pointed out already that had I sold the gun through an FFL, my name would still be on it. You never get your name off of it, apparently. I did sell the gun in a legal local OR resident F2F sale with no bill of sale. I have no proof of that sale. But it happened. Who knows how many times this rifle has changed hands since I sold it.

another thought: buy all your guns through F2F sales without an FFL, until it is outlawed. At least then, the gun is traceable to whomever bought it from an FFL.

This topic is good and bad.

Good cause Ninjas did not hop roof to roof and swing in your windows. But bad because in a logical sense it brings into light a situation where selling private FTF and not FFL as the law proposes could be bad for the law abiding gun owner. I thought OP what if they did break in bust the door down slam you to the floor. They in a sense have probable cause as your firearm was used in a crime and it may have been you ? They don't know you from Jack cause paper trail stops with you. A simple FTF sale would have avoided any future trouble for you or any one. Bill of sale may keep you from going to jail, but wont keep them beating in your door. They have done so for less reasons.

I have to admit why any interference in selling my private guns is irritating to hear law makers talk about it.
It really makes logic that if you used a FFL to begin with, why not protect yourself with a FFL after words.
Going through FTF private saves the buyer some cash, but you paid for it if you bought new so why let the new buyer escape liability ?

Ok some one convince me I am crazy but this post has got me thinking, like selling a car I may want my name off of it ??

 

[Kevinkris]

i would be like "oh yea!... i lost that gun while hunting, thanks for bringing it back".

 

[hermannr]

Most of my guns were purchased before there were any "FFL"s. Others were inherited, others were gifts...all are very old (except 1, it's from 1992)

 

[Working 4 U]

yes, I know. And I've done nothing wrong. I just wonder how differently this would have been handled had the gun been used in a homicide.

"I've done nothing wrong" Isn't that what the IRS lady said and now she is before a congressional hearing? And about the 18 days: Come on this is the government, that would be smoking if they got it to you in 18 days. First they have to type it up in the system, then print 3 copies in triplicate, then get the supervisor to approve it, then back to the writer to change the report, then back to the supervisor for approval then to the manager then back to the writer to change it again, then back to the supervisor for approval, then manager approval then sit in the "to be filed folder", then filed, then the request for the report to be found, then the report is found, then a day off because of sequestration, then the report sent to the office that generates the letter then the letter sits on the desk to be signed, then stuffed and mailed. Yeah 18 day maybe our government is getting better. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Mark W.]

I can easily understand the idea that you don't want the government knowing what firearms you own. But I have a hard time seeing the point to trying to keep the government from tracking down the history of a firearm you sold once upon a time and has now been used in the commission of a crime. Afterall the only real use for the cops besides herding hippies is trying to solve crimes and collecting hwy taxes.

 

[Simonpie]

I've never understood the fascination with tracing the source of a gun used in a crime. If I tallywhack someone with a baseball bat, do they go talk to the sports equipment store? What would be the value? I understand getting stolen equipment back to original owners. I don't understand blaming someone for a crime just because they once owned an object used in the crime.

 

[dobeman]

They can start by herding the criminals into prison and keeping them there. And run out the elements from across the border running drugs and guns. Or approve citizen vigilantes to help.

I can easily understand the idea that you don't want the government knowing what firearms you own. But I have a hard time seeing the point to trying to keep the government from tracking down the history of a firearm you sold once upon a time and has now been used in the commission of a crime. Afterall the only real use for the cops besides herding hippies is trying to solve crimes and collecting hwy taxes.

 

[AOTAC]

oops

 

[SheepDog223]

What they do is go to the manufacturer and find out who the weapon was originally shipped to. Then they go to the FFL and find out who the gun was originally sold to (you in this case). Then they ask you basically if the weapon was stolen from you, or not.

If you sold the gun, and know who you sold it to, and tell them...they would send a letter to that person, similar to the one you received, basically to find out if it was stolen from them, and so on, etc. until they find out if the weapon was stolen (in which case it will be returned to the rightful owner) or if it was legally owned by the person it was seized from, in which case it can be either kept by the government agency, auctioned off, or destroyed.

They are accusing you of nothing. If you do have a bill of sale, and you do know the next owner, and if the weapon was stolen from him, it might help him recover the weapon, that is all. It has nothing to do with requiring a bill of sale, or not. You are not in jeopardy in any way, one way or another. It is NOT proof of any need to keep a record of a FTF transaction.

So at any link in the chain a person can stop it just by saying that the gun was stolen from him? Then the next 5 people who bought it won't get contacted? I think I see a weak link in the system.

 

[hermannr]

I can easily understand the idea that you don't want the government knowing what firearms you own. But I have a hard time seeing the point to trying to keep the government from tracking down the history of a firearm you sold once upon a time and has now been used in the commission of a crime. Afterall the only real use for the cops besides herding hippies is trying to solve crimes and collecting hwy taxes.

It is a privacy issue. How much of your daily life do you want the government to know about and possibly control?

Usually, if a firearm is stolen the owner knows it's been stolen and will report it to the police so they can get it back.

Occasionally, a person will keep a weapon in secondary residence, in which case he may not know of the theft until later/much later. The only benefit in being able to track down a weapon from it's source and send a letter like you received. Helpful occasionally, but is it worth the loss of privacy for everyone else?