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Why hide the serial numbers?

dfassbendersr
Why do some people hide serial numbers when posting pictures of rifles and handguns on the web?
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12 comments

Date Votes
  • Bert H.
    Unfounded paranoia.

    This same question has been asked at least a dozen times in the past few years. Here are a few of the more recent topic posts -

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=410044

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=305382

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=273996
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  • mark christian
    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=273996

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=240810

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=222702
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  • dfassbendersr
    Interesting. I'd hate to take sides on that issue, and I don't plan to. I was asking originally because I wanted to show off a new purchase and some of the pictures plainly showed the serial numbers of my new acquisition. I guess the other side of the gun is just as perdy...
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  • Old-Colts
    Perhaps they are a little paranoid, but it's their gun, their privilege, and folks that don't like it can pass on by.

    When I encounter an auction for the type of guns I collect, if the partial serial number matches one of mine I always ask for the full serial number in the off chance it might be consecutive to mine or perhaps close enough that it might have been in the same shipment. I've always received the full serial number in a private E-mail exchange. I've found one Colt that way that turned out to have been in the same shipment as one of mine, but the serial numbers weren't consecutive.
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  • GuvamintCheese
    What would keep me from calling the police dept. and reporting a gun stolen with your serial no. and model no.? Thats one reason to be a little paranoid. I usually reveal my serial no.'s but there are some lunatics out there that if they wanted to, they could cause me some headaches.
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  • dfassbendersr
    Thats an interesting question. What would stop someone from calling in a lie in an atempt to take what is not rightfully theirs? In the case I was thinking about posting pics to a handgun I recently purchased. In Michigan you have hoops to jump through, and paperwork to file just to purchase a handgun. Does this not establish a paper trail? One which proves rightful ownership?
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  • Spider7115
    quote:Originally posted by cartod
    What would keep me from calling the police dept. and reporting a gun stolen with your serial no. and model no.? Thats one reason to be a little paranoid. I usually reveal my serial no.'s but there are some lunatics out there that if they wanted to, they could cause me some headaches.


    So what's to stop someone from jotting down serial numbers at a gun show and reporting them stolen, too?
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  • GuvamintCheese
    quote:Originally posted by Spider7115
    quote:Originally posted by cartod
    What would keep me from calling the police dept. and reporting a gun stolen with your serial no. and model no.? Thats one reason to be a little paranoid. I usually reveal my serial no.'s but there are some lunatics out there that if they wanted to, they could cause me some headaches.


    So what's to stop someone from jotting down serial numbers at a gun show and reporting them stolen, too?
    There are some bad people out there in this world, but I am not an overly paranoid person.
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  • Spider7115
    quote:Originally posted by cartod
    quote:Originally posted by Spider7115
    quote:Originally posted by cartod
    What would keep me from calling the police dept. and reporting a gun stolen with your serial no. and model no.? Thats one reason to be a little paranoid. I usually reveal my serial no.'s but there are some lunatics out there that if they wanted to, they could cause me some headaches.


    So what's to stop someone from jotting down serial numbers at a gun show and reporting them stolen, too?
    There are some bad people out there in this world, but I am not an overly paranoid person.


    Well, you should be. People are watching you. [;)]
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  • Old-Colts
    quote:Originally posted by dfassbendersr
    Thats an interesting question. What would stop someone from calling in a lie in an atempt to take what is not rightfully theirs? In the case I was thinking about posting pics to a handgun I recently purchased. In Michigan you have hoops to jump through, and paperwork to file just to purchase a handgun. Does this not establish a paper trail? One which proves rightful ownership?It is highly unlikely that they would succeed since the owner has a paper trail; it's probably more of a case of hassle avoidance!
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  • beantownshootah
    The idea isn't that someone is going to see the serial numbers and then report your gun stolen (though I suppose some brain-dead idiot MIGHT try something that stupid).

    The idea is that when you own a gun you may not know its entire provenance. Its possible that a used gun you THOUGHT you bought legally was AT SOME POINT in its history stolen or used in a crime, maybe 2-3 owners ago.

    Should THAT person (or their estate/heir, etc) ever find out that you have their stolen gun, then you could be charged with a crime (possession of stolen property), or (more likely) have the gun seized from you with no compensation.

    If there were some question about whether the gun in question were used in a crime, it might be seized from you as evidence. Even if you eventually get it back, it might take months to years, and come back damaged or marked up. That could be true even if you owned the gun perfectly legally, or even if the entire process never leads to a criminal conviction!

    Another reason to not want the serial number made public is simple privacy.

    Some people (and I think historically rightfully so) are afraid that a State or the Federal gov't may someday require gun registration in the future, and they may not want to be tied to a particular firearm.

    Again, if you sell a gun legally, you may not know how it gets used down the line. Some criminal may eventually get their hands on it and use it in a crime, and at that point, you may not want to be tied to the chain of custody of the gun, even if you didn't do anything wrong.

    How about if some State or Federal agent sees the serial number on your gun in a public forum, then decides (rightly or wrongly) that based on year of manufacture, your gun is in an illegal configuration? (EG, you have a bayonet lug on a semi-automatic gun in MA).

    Now, in practice, none of these scenarios are all that likely, but why take a chance?

    By the way, there ARE individuals who cover up the serial numbers of their guns at gun shows. Usually not dealers, but private individuals walking around with guns.

    You can make arguments about why covering up serial numbers is paranoid, but I can't think of a good reason why you WOULD want to publicly display the serial number of your gun.

    Anyone who has a "need to know" could get it from you.

    If you're selling it, you could (and should) divulge it to any interested buyer. If I were a buyer, and the seller won't divulge the serial number to me, that's an instant "no sale". But I don't have a problem with private sellers wanting to conceal that info from the general public.
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by cartod
    What would keep me from calling the police dept. and reporting a gun stolen with your serial no. and model no.? Thats one reason to be a little paranoid. I usually reveal my serial no.'s but there are some lunatics out there that if they wanted to, they could cause me some headaches.


    Todd,

    Please go back and read the responses I wrote on those old posts... it should be quite clear why you or anyone else would have a very difficult time trying to report a gun stolen just by seeing a serial number posted on the internet. As for the criminal element out there, they are not going to ever try it for lots of reasons.
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