Why hide serial number?

[Guest KCSTEVE]

Why do some hide the serial number of their guns in a photo and others do not?

Should everyone do this? I see serial numbers on The Outdoors Channel all the time.

[VERO1]

It is possible that someone could call in your firearms serial # as being stolen. As you can imagine this could cause you problems in the future. I personally don't worry to much about it.

[wipfel]

i asked this question a while back after i bought my first pistol and starting reading these types of forums. i never got a good answer, but vero's answer makes sense. err on the side of caution i suppose.

[Guest m&pc9]

It is possible that someone could call in your firearms serial # as being stolen. As you can imagine this could cause you problems in the future. I personally don't worry to much about it.

That is why I do it. It will probably never happen but why take the chance.

[Raoul]

Just a little good old fashioned paranoia. Nothing wrong with that.

[DaveTN]

Reporting the gun stolen would require filing a false police report; which is a felony in this state and most others. Who would risk that because they saw a serial number posted on the net? No one, but it sounds good.

[Guest m&pc9]

Reporting the gun stolen would require filing a false police report; which is a felony in this state and most others. Who would risk that because they saw a serial number posted on the net? No one, but it sounds good.

So is bank robbery. And some still do it.

[GTODALEP]

Nah, near impossible to prove you legally own another man's gun. I vote paranoia.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Ok, how about linking that firearm to you. So it can be confiscated? Or someone using the number to hide a criminal's gun (stamping your numbers on the gun they use to shoot people.)

Not as hard as you think to come up with faked documents showing ownership. People have done it with homes, I do not see it being too hard for guns.

The guns shown on Outdoor Channel ( I believe, as I refuse to have cable) are owned by the respective manufacturers, and are on loan for testing purposes, and the press...

[JeffsSig]

No good reasons to hide it.

I also have no good reasons to show it.

Sometimes I do and others I dont.

Those who live in fear most times fear something they have hidden will be be found.

[Motasyco]

Never give up more information than is needed.

[TGO David]

Never give up more information than is needed.

This.

[daddyo]

Never give up more information than is needed.

Exactly. I consider the serial numbers on my weapons personal information, just like the VIN on my car. I don't give my personal information out on the 'net.

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

There's no good reason to hide it, other than good, old fashioned paranoia. Why anyone using a screen name on an anonymous web forum would concern themselves with such issues is beyond my comprehension.

HVYMTL, how would a criminal stamping your serial number on his weapon get you in any trouble? No ballistics match.......

[Guest bkelm18]

It's the internet. Anything is possible. People probably couldn't do much with my DL number or my phone number or probably not even my address but I'm not about to go flashing it around. If someone doesn't need to know it I'm not going to give it to them. Like I said... Anything is possible these days.

[daddyo]

There's no good reason to hide it, other than good, old fashioned paranoia. Why anyone using a screen name on an anonymous web forum would concern themselves with such issues is beyond my comprehension.

HVYMTL, how would a criminal stamping your serial number on his weapon get you in any trouble? No ballistics match.......

Are you actually trying to make the same argument that the anti-gunners make? That just because someone takes more precautions than you, they're paranoid? Really?

[Volzfan]

Never give up more information than is needed.

Yep.

[JAB]

Never give up more information than is needed.

+1. I also hide the license plate # if I post a pic of my car on the 'Net. For me, it isn't so much, "Why?" as "Why not?" If I post a pic of a firearm, being able to read the serial # isn't going to enhance the viewer's perception of the type of firearm, etc. and it takes me about two seconds to blot it out when I am cropping or resizing the pic.

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

Are you actually trying to make the same argument that the anti-gunners make? That just because someone takes more precautions than you, they're paranoid? Really?

Yep, you got me. I'm just as bad as those anti-gunners. Rabble, rabble, rabble! I want to take away your god given right to hide your serial numbers on the interweb! Rabble, rabble, rabble! I've been compared to an antigunner, so I must concede defeat ......

There's a huge difference between having an opinion that a certain behavior is paranoid, and trying to limit a behavior because I have said opinion. I have no desire to limit your ability to hide your serial numbers. I am still allowed my opinion.

I've been buying and selling firearms for about twenty years, and participating in firearms forums for almost 8 years. In all that time, I've only heard one story about a posted serial number causing a problem. In that case, a guy bought a handgun from a shady guy at a gun show. He posted a pic of the new piece, which was seen by a friend of the rightful owner. He had to talk to the cops and lost the gun, but no legal harm became him.

I just don't see the risk, unless you make it a habit to buy guns from shady characters. I do not.

Just curious....do you conceal the VIN on your car? If not, aren't you worried that someone will just walk up, write it down, and cause you all sorts of problems? When you sell a car, do you take steps to conceal the VIN from all but the final buyer?

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

+1. I also hide the license plate # if I post a pic of my car on the 'Net. For me, it isn't so much, "Why?" as "Why not?" If I post a pic of a firearm, being able to read the serial # isn't going to enhance the viewer's perception of the type of firearm, etc. and it takes me about two seconds to blot it out when I am cropping or resizing the pic.

How do you hide your plate when driving? Are you concerned that those around you can see it?

[daddyo]

Yep, you got me. I'm just as bad as those anti-gunners. Rabble, rabble, rabble! I want to take away your god given right to hide your serial numbers on the interweb! Rabble, rabble, rabble! I've been compared to an antigunner, so I must concede defeat ......

There's a huge difference between having an opinion that a certain behavior is paranoid, and trying to limit a behavior because I have said opinion. I have no desire to limit your ability to hide your serial numbers. I am still allowed my opinion.

I've been buying and selling firearms for about twenty years, and participating in firearms forums for almost 8 years. In all that time, I've only heard one story about a posted serial number causing a problem. In that case, a guy bought a handgun from a shady guy at a gun show. He posted a pic of the new piece, which was seen by a friend of the rightful owner. He had to talk to the cops and lost the gun, but no legal harm became him.

I just don't see the risk, unless you make it a habit to buy guns from shady characters. I do not.

Just curious....do you conceal the VIN on your car? If not, aren't you worried that someone will just walk up, write it down, and cause you all sorts of problems? When you sell a car, do you take steps to conceal the VIN from all but the final buyer?

I am not questioning anyone's right to an opinion nor did I remotely suggest that anyone was trying to remove my right to hide my serial numbers. But I made that plain in my last post. The comparison was relevant. Go back and read it again.

If you want to give out all your personal information, be my guest. Doesn't matter to me. But to call someone paranoid because they choose not to is pretty arrogant IMO.

Edited November 17, 2010 by DaddyO

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

It's the internet. Anything is possible. People probably couldn't do much with my DL number or my phone number or probably not even my address but I'm not about to go flashing it around. If someone doesn't need to know it I'm not going to give it to them. Like I said... Anything is possible these days.

That pretty much sums it up for me. Why provide any additional information if it is not required? Our whole lives are pretty much public record anymore so I dont see protecting the serial numbers of our defensive or hunting tools as being overly paranoid, they just are not usually needed to make a sale or a buy.

New and different crimes that we could never imagine seem to happen pretty regular anymore.....anything is possible.

I can see some cases in which a particular serial number may would add some value to the weapon for some. Folks may find their birthdates or other personal numbers within a serial number of some firearms and those may would be worth more to that particular person.

Another example for me anyway would be to find a 357 revolver with a serial number of 357-38, I think that would be cool to have. But other than those simple and to some stupid reasons the serial number has no value and protecting it is just common sense to me. If that makes me paranoid I guess I am.

[robbiev]

Just curious....do you conceal the VIN on your car? If not, aren't you worried that someone will just walk up, write it down, and cause you all sorts of problems? When you sell a car, do you take steps to conceal the VIN from all but the final buyer?

I don't really want to get in the middle of the argument, but I'd think the VIN of your car is a little different than the serial number of your gun. The VIN of your car is actually registered to you in an (reasonably) accessible database. I think it would be easier to prove you own a specific car than to prove you own a specific gun. If you bought a gun from another individual, or if you bought it from an FFL more than 25 years ago, or from a dealer that is out of business, there's no paperwork proving the gun is yours. There's plenty of proof you actually own the car.

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

I am not questioning anyone's right to an opinion nor did I remotely suggest that anyone was trying to remove my right to hide my serial numbers. But I made that plain in my last post. The comparison was relevant. Go back and read it again.

Sheesh.

Not to go to far off track, but I fail to see the relevance. To make such a comparison, one must operate under the assumption that the offensive part of an antigunner is their opinion alone. Personally, I could care less what others think about gun owners and their behaviors. Where I get offended is when they attempt to control my behavior because of their opinion. That, to most, is what makes someone an "antigunner". Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

The comparison is made a lot in arguments on gun forums, usually by those who lack legitimate rationale behind their opinion on the topic up for discussion. I'll admit that I've been guilty of whipping it out a time or two when it was really not applicable.

But I digress.......

[Guest HvyMtl]

I guess it is the same reason people go "N. Cognito" online. They like their privacy.