Posted on 04/22/2014 6:29:43 AM PDT by marktwain
In most of the United States, it has always been legal to buy and sell firearms privately without any paperwork. Private sales are not required to go through a Federal Firearms License (FFL). It is against the law to build or maintain a Federal firearms registry. One of the purposes of this restriction is to insure against firearms confiscation by the Federal government.
There are a few states that have effectively banned private sales. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, and Rhode Island, are six states that require that private parties have a background check conducted by the government before each sale, effectively making the "private" sales public. Having a background check done on the buyer does not mean that the guns are checked to determine if they were stolen at some point.
Pennsylvania and Maryland require background checks for pistols, and a number of other states have various requirements for permits to purchase that may or may not require that information about the firearm be entered into a government database. 80% of the states do not regulate private sales of firearms.
For the purposes of legal action that might be taken against a purchaser, it is the number of guns that are reported stolen and available to be found on a database searched by police that is important. Many millions of guns were manufactured before the government started to mandate that guns have serial numbers. There is no way to determine if those firearms were stolen, unless there is some sort of distinctive marking that could connect the firearm to a previous owner. That sort of marking could be input into the FBI data base nearly as easily as a serial number.
The FBI has maintained the database of stolen guns for the United States since 1967, so we have about 46 years of data in the system. There are a few state data bases, such as Florida's, but it is a reasonable assumption that most of the firearms in state databases would also be reported to the FBI for inclusion in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.
As of April 15, 2014, there were 2,920,846 stolen guns in the system. The current estimates for the number of privately owned guns in the United States is about 310,000,000. Thus, the chance of purchasing a stolen gun in a private sale is likely a bit less than 1 percent. I monitor gun turn in events where police check the guns turned in to see if they are stolen. The number of stolen guns found at these events is consistent with the above figure, usually less than one percent. At the turn in event in Phoenix in May of 2012, of the nearly 2,000 guns turned in, four (.2 percent) were found to be stolen.
Of course, there are other indicators that can be used to reduce the possibility of purchasing a stolen firearm. Most states make it illegal to possess a firearm if the serial number has been defaced or removed. I would not buy one. I would be leery of buying a gun on a street corner in a bad neighborhood.
I recall, in the late 1960's, that some criminals tried to sell stolen guns in northern Wisconsin, where I grew up. The criminals likely believed that in the heart of the gun culture, they would have no trouble disposing of some desirable rifles and shotguns for a good price. The people of the area thought the prices were a bit "too good" and reported the crooks, who were captured and prosecuted in short order.
Another consideration is how long ago the firearm might have been stolen. The BATFE concentrates on investigating firearms that were stolen within the last 12-18 months. This amounts to a couple of hundred cases a year. Older than that, it is likely that the firearms have passed through too many hands for the investigation to be fruitful. It is unlikely that any firearm that was stolen more than three years ago will result in any charges. The numbers of firearms reported to NCIC as stolen for the last three years are:
2013: 191,420
2012: 183,801
2011: 174,236
Total: 549,457
This is less than .2 percent of the total firearms in the United States, about one in 500.
A study done by the Bureau of Justice statistics ( BJS) shows a fairly reasonable approximation to the NCIC numbers, using the National Crime Victimization Study. Their study shows 145 thousand victimizations involving the theft of firearms in 2010. They do not give the number of guns stolen, but give an average of 232,00 per year from 2005 to 2010. This is a bit higher than the numbers reported to the FBI, but I find the number plausible, given that many guns are not reported stolen, many never had serial numbers to begin with, and many are homemade or made outside of regular commerce.
My understanding is that virtually all "possession of stolen property" crimes involve an element of "knowing" that the property was stolen. Arizona has a "Trafficking in stolen property" statute:
A. A person who recklessly traffics in the property of another that has been stolen is guilty of trafficking in stolen property in the second degree.
B. A person who knowingly initiates, organizes, plans, finances, directs, manages or supervises the theft and trafficking in the property of another that has been stolen is guilty of trafficking in stolen property in the first degree
1. Proof of possession of property recently stolen, unless satisfactorily explained, may give rise to an inference that the person in possession of the property was aware of the risk that it had been stolen or in some way participated in its theft.Being in possession of a firearms stolen more than three years ago relieves the buyer of most of the concern about being charged with trafficking in stolen property. I believe that pictures of the firearms purchased at a gun turn in, with a date/time stamp, coupled with a citation of this article, would provide the satisfactory explanation mentioned above.
2. Proof of the purchase or sale of stolen property at a price substantially below its fair market value, unless satisfactorily explained, may give rise to an inference that the person buying or selling the property was aware of the risk that it had been stolen.
BTTT
I would be more concerned about buying a gun tied to a violent crime.
Your honor although I cannot remember where I was on September 5th 1989, I assure you I did not shoot a man in Chicago.
Making that information public would probably be illegal and a huge violation of privacy. Making the database of serial numbers of stolen weapons available might be a good idea, as long as the person that the weapon belonged to agreed to it.
It is the serial numbers that could be made public. AFAIK, the current system only allows for a search by serial number, NCIC number, or another identifying number.
It is an old legacy system. I do not think an owner’s name is entered into the system, just a case number at the entering agency.
I’ve bought weapons from individuals in many instances and I always get identification and a bill of sale. I further search all the databases of stolen weapons available to normal citizens. I would never ask a LEO to ‘check out a serial number’ for me.
In my opinion, due diligence in getting identification, bill of sale, and a reasonable check are defense enough. I realize that there are those out there that think it’s not enough and government will screw you.
You might be right, but by the time they get to start checking weapons house-to-house, they’ll have more on their hands than thinking they’ll sashay in here and blithely check/confiscate anything without a fight.
The word in this area is that they took the cash from the turn ins and bought newer models from runners....again...unregistered!!
Yep. I had a LEO "check out a serial number for me". Left him in a bind when the gun was previously reported as stolen. I turned it in without compensation. 7mm mag, stainless rifle. Brother-In-Law was the questionable source.
I’m certain that someone could stand outside a gun buyback location with some cash and make an offer on any desirable firearms you see headed inside. Just be familiar with any state laws. I know some states prohibit handguns being bought in other states, ect. For example, being from VA, if I want to go to a shop in NC and purchase a handgun, the dealer has to do an FFL transfer to a dealer in VA. This doesn’t apply to long guns.
Regarding ‘sniping’ guns at a buyback location, as long as you’re legally eligible to own a firearm, I couldn’t imagine there being a problem. I’d just be as discreet as possible. You can count on the local police giving you some level of harassment. You can bet the farm they’ll ID you and check to see if you’re a criminal as soon as someone sees you buying one. I’m sure others going in, who you didn’t buy anything from, will totally complain to the officers as soon as they get inside.
For one, many people going there to turn in a gun will feel somewhat righteous for doing so, and YOU buying a gun there will make them feel like you’re undermining the effort, or possibly combined with the fact that you didn’t buy THEIR gun, causing someone else there to walk away with much more money than they’re getting.
Fox News Discovers Private Buyers
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2014/01/fox-news-discovers-private-buyers.html
AZ:Phoenix Gun Turn in (buyback) The Rolling Gun Show
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/05/azphoenix-gun-turn-in-buyback-rolling.html
I have a question for those of you in the know.
If I sell a gun to another individual, am I liable for whether or not that person is allowed to own a gun? Previous felony convictions restrict most people from having or owning firearms. But is a private seller liable if a convicted felon purchase it from you?
This actually came up with a colleague a few years back.
I am not a lawyer.
My best understanding is that if a person sells a firearm to someone that they reasonably would believe is prohibited from owning one, they can be prosecuted for that in most states.
Could such a seller be liable, as in civily liable? Maybe. Civil courts are tricky things.
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