Stolen Gun Protocol Question

[Defender]

I've been blessed in that Ive only ever had one gun stolen from me.  It was a nice satin nickel or stainless Colt Combat Commander. I  reported my gun stolen  and have a copy of the police report.  Of course they told me that if anyone tries to sell it and runs the S/N, then it will get flagged.   A few times on this board and one other Ive seen guns like mine listed for sale.  While I realize that there must have been thousands of guns just like mine, I would still like to have mine back. It was special to me.  

 

Is it in bad taste to privately inquire via PM to the seller as to some verifying  feature, like the last couple S/N digits?   I know many of us buy and sell guns privately, and wouldnt knowingly buy a stolen gun, but to be honest, some of my guns I bought from people I met online, and while everything appeared ok to my spidey sense, the possiblilty exists that I could have bought a hot gun and not known it.  I assume that could happen to others also.  If I did, I would want the gun to go back to the rightful owner.  I wouldnt WANT to have a stolen gun in my possession at all.

 

Anyway, I really dont want to offend an honest seller, but dang it, I want my gun back.  Any advice on how to ask so no offense is taken, and maximum assistance is given?

Edited July 4, 2013 by barewoolf

[RED333]

I think if you gave your serial number to the seller and asked the question, I would not be put out by it.

Edited July 4, 2013 by RED333

[c.a.willard]

I know i wouldnt be bothered by it at all if you asked for the last few digits of the serial number to verify that it wasn't your stolen property.

 

Also not that it helps you,  but most police departments will run a serial number through NCIC for you if you call and as them to. It's not at all a bad idea to do this if you are not 100 percent comfortable with the sellers reputation.  There is also website called tracechecker.com that is supposedly linked to the NCIC stolen property files.  I am not sure how well it works.  

 

This may actually be a good opportunity to check the site to see how well it works.  OP if you are willing and wouldnt mind PMing me the seriel number to the stolen gun i'd really like to do a test of the tracechecker site to see if it actually shows up in their database as stolen property

 

 

Edited to add:

 

OP PM'd me his serial number and it did not show on trace checker as part of their stolen property files.  At this time i can not suggest using this site to verify property that you may be buying.   I do still recommend calling youl local PD to run the serial number if your are at all suspicious of the seller or item.

Edited July 4, 2013 by c.a.willard

[Oh Shoot]

....There is also website called tracechecker.com that is supposedly linked to the NCIC stolen property files.  I am not sure how well it works.  

 

This may actually be a good opportunity to check the site to see how well it works.  OP if you are willing and wouldnt mind PMing me the seriel number to the stolen gun i'd really like to do a test of the tracechecker site to see if it actually shows up in their database as stolen property

 

 

Edited to add:

 

OP PM'd me his serial number and it did not show on trace checker as part of their stolen property files.  At this time i can not suggest using this site to verify property that you may be buying.   I do still recommend calling youl local PD to run the serial number if your are at all suspicious of the seller or item.

 

edited further: site is down. Your one inquiry must have crashed it!

 

edited again: one of the rare sites you have to use www. with, and it works.

 

- OS

Edited July 4, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[Patton]

Ask the seller the "prefix" because you are curious how old it is. They won't suspect anything. If it matches it may be worth making a meet to see the rest.

An important note. Supposedly agencies must update NCIC files to keep it listed. Call the agency you filed with to check on your case yearly.

[GlockSpock]

Is it in bad taste to privately inquire via PM to the seller as to some verifying  feature, like the last couple S/N digits?   I know many of us buy and sell guns privately, and wouldnt knowingly buy a stolen gun, but to be honest, some of my guns I bought from people I met online, and while everything appeared ok to my spidey sense, the possiblilty exists that I could have bought a hot gun and not known it.  I assume that could happen to others also.  If I did, I would want the gun to go back to the rightful owner.  I wouldnt WANT to have a stolen gun in my possession at all.

 

 

This reminds me of the time I had my iPod Classic stolen. I filed a police report with the serial number. I watched Craigslist very much for a while, and eventually saw one that could have been mine. I went back and forth with the guy over text for a while, and very lightly but repeatedly asked for the serial number to take a look at which model it was on Apple's website. He'd never give it to me, which honestly if when I try to sell something someone kept pushing for a serial number I probably wouldn't give it either!

 

I had a friend text the same guy, but took a different approach. I had him ask the seller if it had some specific music on it, some obscure stuff. This guy wasn't too keen on answering those questions. Overall I guess the seller just wanted cash for the iPod:)

 

Never did get that thing back:(

[runco]

I had 5-7 guns stolen from my shop 20 years ago.  Only two have surfaced.  It has been an extreme hassle to get those two back.  The agency that I reported the guns stolen was very good to alert me which police dept. has them.  However, there is where the trail goes strange.  When I call these agencies, one in TN the other in NC, trying to get the officers to call me back was terrible, i.e. 3 months of phone tag.  In fact one agency now denies they ever had the gun, while the other just does not seem interested working with me.  Honestly, if these guns were worth something, I would push stronger through the chain of command, I have basically thrown in the towel, its just not worth the hassle to me.  If some of the others surface, they are worth $500 ea, I would likely push and if I have to, hire an attorney.

 

Just a bad experience!

 

Regarding the protocol, I have used the first few digits of the serial number like was suggested.  The seller was very helpful.  However, just be aware sometimes some of the gun flippers have no clue who they purchased a gun from, so if the gun they are selling is hot, they will be out their investment, and they will be very cautious about giving you the whole serial number, by email or over the phone.  The flippers that know who they purchased the gun from may be more cooperative since they could likely get their money back.  Just my 2cents.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Runco

[10-Ring]

I asked a LEO friend to run numbers for me once.  He agreed to do it but said that if the gun was stolen I would have to give it to him.  The gun in question belonged to a friend who suspected that it was stolen and was willing to turn it over if it was, it just so happened to be clean.  I had a Bersa stolen from me a number of years ago in Wilson County.  It took 3 years but I got a call one day that they had recovered it.  The detective was great to work with.  It had been recovered in a traffic stop in Davidson County.  They had had it in evidence for about a year, I was just glad to get it back in functioning condition.  Man was that thing dirty, I would estimate literally thousands of rounds had been fired though it.  I just wish I could have figured out who stole it from me because I know it was someone that I knew.