C&R Purchase Serial # Check.

[sindominator]

Question:

Is there a way to check or verify if a firearm is stolen or not? I have the opportunity to purchase a very old winchester hunting rifle at a damn good price. I have tried calling DOJ and Police department with the firearms actual Make/Model/and Serial. They all tell me to visit a gunstore or an FFL dealer. I call several gun stores or FFL holders and they tell me to call DOJ Firearms devision. It's been a back and forth loop with no answers. Or to bring the fire arm with the owner to do a proper transfer. But the Gun C&R no need to spend all that extra money and have it sit in jail for 10 days.

The guy who is selling is not an actual cal-gunner nor those he live in CA. He plans on sending the rifle with a nephew of his, who is driving by my town. The guy was nice enough to hand over the serial ### and any information possible. But he mentioned that he won the rifle, in a raffle amongst his hunting crew. So he has no history on it.

Anybody know a link or something where I can type the model and serial and it will pop out as a stolen firearm? Or a form I can mail in?

[Mssr. Eleganté]

If you are not a C&R FFL yourself then the gun has to be transfered through a California licensed dealer anyway since you and the seller are residents of two different States.

[CpuFixrMan]

Provided the OP was a 03FFL, where DOES one go to check these things? I haven't found any way to gain access to the NCIC database, unless you are LEO, and many departments are "too busy" to help out the average citizen FFL. Even so, this would only list a firearm, that was reported stolen, where the serial number was known.

To the OP, have you tried your local Sheriff Dept? They might be more helpful than a city PD, from what little I could learn.

[paul0660]

My local Sheriff has checked his list twice for me. I think the phone number was (707) 463-4086, which is non emergency dispatch. I have had zero luck with the online "services".

It is important to remember that no list is complete.

[Ron-Solo]

Provided the OP was a 03FFL, where DOES one go to check these things? I haven't found any way to gain access to the NCIC database, unless you are LEO, and many departments are "too busy" to help out the average citizen FFL. Even so, this would only list a firearm, that was reported stolen, where the serial number was known.

To the OP, have you tried your local Sheriff Dept? They might be more helpful than a city PD, from what little I could learn.

More often than not, it is not because they are "too busy" as you claim, it is because of Department policy and restrictions on database access by DOJ.

My Department would not let us run serial numbers over the phone. The person had to bring the gun into the lobby, then we could run it. IF it came back stolen, it would be confiscated and eventually returned to the owner.