Just wondering how you guys check to see if the firearms you buy from a private seller aren't stolen?? Do you guys check everytime?? I know I haven't checked every time, but was wondering how and if you guys check.

In general I buy from known quantities...

you can put the serial # in the address bar and see if it pops up as stolen, otherwise you would have to have the # run by state police to check..

Address Bar?? You mean a web search??

In general I buy from known quantities...

 

You weigh the seller?

PA laws are sucky and I have to buy handguns through a transfer at an FFL. Even though that's pretty NAZI, at least the good part is that it is an affirmative defense if there is any nonsense.

 

MGs/SBS/SBR I don't worry about. An approved ATF Form 4 seems like pretty damn good due diligence to me, so I buy them over kitchen tables. If I see an MG that looks like it was made from a Sun Devil receiver (has happened), I'll obviously avoid it, paper or not. Not so much worried about jail as I am about it being confiscated. Transferable MGs cost a lot of money and so do lawyers.

 

Rifles I buy from drug dealers. Drug dealers never sell stolen guns to law abiding citizens. They don't want to get pinched doing it, and they like to keep stolen guns because they are harder to trace.

 

(that last part about drug dealers was a joke )

 

Keep in mind there is no way you can run a gun through NCIC "just to see" if its stolen. I don't know if NJSP or a local PD run serial numbers when they get their copy of the P2P for a handgun. The P2P and COE give you pretty good protection proving you thought everything was legit.

You can also ask to see his PP...

I would like to assume that when the person @ NJSP enters your permit info into the system, they check the serial number through NCIC to verify there are no hits on it, but I don't know for sure.

You can also ask to see his PP...

 

Woah now. Doing that might get you slugged.

 

Seriously though, a lack of a corresponding permit to purchase does not an illegal gun make. It could have been purchased out of state, before the permit system was put in place, or inherited. A better tactic is to ask the seller about the gun's story, and watch for a suspicious reaction or answer.

You can also ask to see his PP...

 

If you were to be buying my S&W 686, I don't have a PPP for it to show you. I lawfully acquired it in a state other than NJ.

 

Of coruse, I would never sell my 686, either.