[xmission]

Lets say that your guns are stolen, and then recovered with the serial numbers removed. In this case, there is no doubt that they are yours, because they all have custom made stocks by you, you have pictures, and the thieves were caught with only these guns, and video was taken at your residence of the thieves removing them.

Is it right that these guns are now illegal, and cannot be given back to their rightful owner?

[HiTech RedNeck]

I suppose they expect you to sue the thieves, as though they had destroyed the weapons.

[Cboldt]

In your hypothetical, the firearms must be destroyed. This means either they go into the private collection of a government agent, or they hit the scrap metal heap.

18 USC 922(k) forbids receiving or possessing. Doing so is a felony. Possess one gun with an altered or obliterated serial number, and you are barred for life from possession of a firearm.

In contrast, the federal VIN defacing law, 18 USC 2321, include the element of intent to sell, and the VIN alteration crime depends on (requires) a corresponding violation of 18 USC 511, which covers the act of VIN alteration.

Also in contrast, even if the vehicle is forfeit (See 18 USC 512), mere possession is not a strict liability felony, as it is for firearms.