transferring from unkown

[gunnut57]

A friend has a pistol in his posession that is legal to own in California. He got the pistol in a trade several months ago from a person who was not the registered owner. He now would like to get the firearm in his name, but is worried about possible repercussions, losing the piece or even ending up in jail. He's asking my opinion and procedure for doing this, but I really don't know the answer. I know there may be different opinions on this, let's hear them.

[snobord99]

I did a quick look and it looks like most of the relevant PCs deal with the transferor, not the transferee so as far as any repercussions as to the transfer itself, he may me safe; however, if the gun is stolen, he's probably looking at at least receiving stolen property.

Big question is is the gun stolen (and I would assume it is)? That's HUGE here.

Take this with a giant grain of salt since I really didn't do much research into it. The only part I'm fairly certain of is the receiving stolen property if the gun is a stolen one.

I say turn it in. Personally, I'd rather lose my gun than my freedom, and I use the term loosely because if it's stolen it isn't mine.

[evidens83]

Why would somebody buy a gun from somebody else knowing its not even registered to that person??? Sounds like trouble to me even if the gun was in fact not stolen or used in a crime. Too many variables and like the last poster said, I'd rather lose my gun than my freedom.

[MasterYong]

"Got a pistol in trade from someone that was not the registered owner"??????

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If he knew it wasn't the registered owner, then he probably knew that it's not legal to "trade" for a handgun that is not in the possession of the registered owner.

Why worry about the legality now if he knew it wasn't legal then?

Did the guy that traded it to him say something like "yo I wanna trade this handgun. It's not registered to me but don't worry it's cool!"

Seems like there is some info missing here.

Stolen maybe?

[snobord99]

Oh, and receiving a stolen property is a wobbler (can be either misdemeanor or a felony) so he could potentially lose more than this gun and his freedom. Fairly good possibility of losing ALL his guns.

[gunnut57]

It was told to him that the gun was not stolen, but who knows for sure. Is there any way for a private citizen to check seriel numbers to see the history?

[SCMA-1]

A friend has a pistol in his posession that is legal to own in California. He got the pistol in a trade several months ago from a person who was not the registered owner. He now would like to get the firearm in his name, but is worried about possible repercussions, losing the piece or even ending up in jail. He's asking my opinion and procedure for doing this, but I really don't know the answer. I know there may be different opinions on this, let's hear them.

Sounds like it was unlawfully transferred to him if they didn't do a PPT through an FFL at the time of trade.

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/pubfaqs.php#9

SCMA-1

[CSACANNONEER]

Why would somebody buy a gun from somebody else knowing its not even registered to that person??? Sounds like trouble to me even if the gun was in fact not stolen or used in a crime. Too many variables and like the last poster said, I'd rather lose my gun than my freedom.

What? There are plenty of legally owned, yet unregistered, handguns in CA. The only thing the two parties seem to have done wrong here is that they have not yet completeled the transfer and DROS prossess. Until that is completed, the transfer is not legal.

[snobord99]

What? There are plenty of legally owned, yet unregistered, handguns in CA. The only thing the two parties seem to have done wrong here is that they have not yet completeled the transfer and DROS prossess. Until that is completed, the transfer is not legal.

This is true, but when a guy says he's not the registered owner, I usually take that to mean that he's not the actual owner of the gun, not just that it's not registered.

[evidens83]

What? There are plenty of legally owned, yet unregistered, handguns in CA. The only thing the two parties seem to have done wrong here is that they have not yet completeled the transfer and DROS prossess. Until that is completed, the transfer is not legal.

They wouldnt be able to legally transfer the gun to him anyways because the gun isn't even registered to the seller. Correct me if I'm wrong. But the seller didn't seem to mind when he traded/sold to the buyer. Would you knowingly buy an unregistered gun from a stranger? He says its legit so it should be OK right? If it was truly legit both of you would know to go to a shop for a PPT. Especially nowadays with such ridiculous gun laws

[J-cat]

The "friend" in the OP needs to turn the gun in to his PD, obtain a receipt, and then claim it after 90 days or whatever their policy is for found property. They'll run the AFS, contact the registered owner, and the matter will be settled.

That's my theory. I haven't dun it myself. I don't break the law either.

[CSACANNONEER]

They wouldnt be able to legally transfer the gun to him anyways because the gun isn't even registered to the seller. Correct me if I'm wrong. But the seller didn't seem to mind when he traded/sold to the buyer. Would you knowingly buy an unregistered gun from a stranger? He says its legit so it should be OK right? If it was truly legit both of you would know to go to a shop for a PPT. Especially nowadays with such ridiculous gun laws

There are plenty of handguns legally tranfered in Ca that are not being transfered from any "registered owner". All the DROS does is verify the receiving party is able to legally transfer the gun and theoretically, it also checks to see if the gun has been reported stolen. I've never heard of a PPT or any other DROS being denied based on the seller's lack of "registration".

[HowardW56]

WHat he did is more trouble than it's worth.....


ALways do a PPT.....

This doesn't help him, not sure what he should do...

[magsnubby]

The "friend" in the OP needs to turn the gun in to his PD, obtain a receipt, and then claim it after 90 days or whatever their policy is for found property. They'll run the AFS, contact the registered owner, and the matter will be settled.

Not a good idea. "I got this gun in an illegal trade. i wanna register it in my name."

I don't know about your area, but here they would contact the registered owner and all he would have to do is say "I thought it was on my closet shelf. I must of been stolen." He gets his gun back, if it hasn't been used in an unsolved crime, and you're out of luck. If they can't find the registered owner then the keep the gun and destroy it. It's a lose lose situation.

[HowardW56]

It's hard to undo a screw up like that... How old a gun is it?