can you check if a gun is stolen by the internet?

Question

I dont want an opinion to take it to a police station that is not my plan I want to keep my gun if its stolen

Answer 1

There used to be a phone number to call, I can't remember what it is though... You might need an FFL to use them too, I can't remember, no place I worked at ever used it much, only if it was a shady looking charactor with nice guns to sell. In any case, some of those other people who answered are maybe a little paranoid. I now manage an indepentant gun shop and I used to work in at a major chain store, and I've also got to know a lot of other dealers, and I can tell you that probably at least 90% of all gun that are taken in on trade are never checked to see if their stolen. Unless it's different in other parts of the country. But I would think some of the big coperate stores would have procedures in place to check everything. I can tell you they do not. If it is stolen, about the worst likely thing to happen is that it'll get taken away from you, which would happen anyway if you brought it to the cops and it was stolen. If you know what are you gonna do different anyway? My advice is just to try not to think about it.

Answer 2

Your answer is no. There is no national database that is accessible by just anyone on the internet to check and see if a gun is stolen. You can try to do a search for the serial number on the gun, but I HIGHLY doubt you will come up with anything.

What you have to understand is that no matter where you got the gun, if it has been reported stolen and you are ever caught with it then you are in possession of a stolen firearm. I guess it is possible for you to keep it in a collection and never have someone check it or see it, but what happens if by chance you have a fire in your house and the fire department/police enter the house and happen to check the guns. I have worked in law enforcement and fire and this might not be all uncommon.

Another factor, what happens to the gun after you die? What happens if your child or grandchild gets the gun and they later get charged with possession of stolen firearm because Grandpa didn't go through the proper measures to check it.

One other thing, there is the possibility that the gun was stolen and the serial number never listed. I don't know how many guys own guns but don't record the serial numbers on them. If the gun gets stolen, they have no way to track the gun or to enter the gun into the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) computer.

Either way it is a risk and I guess you have to decide if you want to make that gamble.

Answer 3

Information like this goes into the NCIC (national crime information center) and is not available on the internet. If you paid a fair price for the gun from a reputable person, I wouldn't worry about it. If you bought it off the back of a truck and you'd never met the guy before, chances are it's stolen. There's also the possibility that the gun is stolen, but never reported as such because you need the serial number to list it in NCIC. It's a good idea to keep a list of the serial numbers for your guns in a safe place in case any of them are ever stolen. A lot of people don't do this, hence stolen guns can appear legal when checked. Unless you are caught commiting a crime or transporting the weapon illegally, chances are law enforcement will never check. If it were me, I wouldn't buy from the shady sources, so I wouldn't bother checking to see if it's stolen. Hope this helps a little.

Answer 4

If you have a guilt for holding on to this gun then go down to the police station and have it checked out.
But think about one thing if you do who is going to give you your money back for this purchase.
Also what about Pawn shops are they legalized burglary If they have a gun that has been stolen they don't have to give it up to the rightful owner unless he pays back the money it was hocked for.
They don't even have to show it to you if it is in the back room, and most generally that is where stolen guns are at pawn shops.

Answer 5

Lemme get this straight...you want to knowingly possess stolen property? What kind of dip stick would want to say that on the net?

Oh, BTW, it takes a NCIC check and that is not available on the net.

Answer 6

If you've legally purchased the firearm, there's a VERY good chance that it wasn't stolen (make sure you maintain all of your paperwork anyway).

Last thing you want to do is buy a "hot" firearm. If you think its stolen, why wouldn't it have already been used in a crime?

Not smart

Answer 7

You're taking an awful chance holding on to a potentially stolen firearm. Since you don't want to take it to a PD to check on its status, I can't help you with this.

Answer 8

That I know of, there is no national online database of stolen guns, although it would be nice if the FBI offered such a service.

Yopu may want to try a Yahoo! search for your state....for example, Florida runs one......


http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/fdle/guns_search.asp