• ODT Gun Show & Swap Meet - May 4, 2024! - Click here for info

Buying a gun without a serial number

jbbear6002

Default rank <3000 posts Supporter
ODT Junkie!
202   0
Joined
Feb 1, 2016
Messages
2,591
Reaction score
1,433
Location
Forsyth county
I have a theoretical question.
Can a gun store (FFL holder) legally sell a gun that has had the serial number removed or has never existed?

What if the gun is of the age where it was common for firearms to be made without serial numbers?

If the theoretical buyer has a receipt (from the FFL not an ODT bill o' sail) that states "no serial number", is there issue?
 
I have a specific theoretical question.
Can a gun store legally sell a gun that has had the serial number removed?

I'll help with the easy one. NO! It is illegal in GA to possess any item from which the serial number has been removed,

What if the gun is of the age where it was common for firearms to be made without serial numbers?

That's what the gun store puts on the 4473. The sale is legal because the serial number has not been removed.

If the theoretical buyer has a receipt that states "no serial number", is there any issues?

Not per se. If it's from an ODT trader, I would be very sure the gun was one which had no serial number originally, but I wouldn't worry about a receipt from a gun store. I still would be generally aware of whether that gun had a serial number originally.

If this theoretical gun was a H&R 922 revolver, would the serial number be on the buttom of the grip?

Can't answer that one.

And so it goes.

Addendum:

I think a "ghost gun" generally refers to a "80%" gun that is finished out. The person who builds such a gun can legally sell it, so that means you can legally buy it. IMO this falls into that broad category, "it may be legal, but it isn't smart." Personally, I wouldn't touch one on a bet. Don't care how deep the bunker you live in is.

And before someone jumps on this, No, you can't build a gun for the purpose of sale, Yes, you can build one and then sell it in a casual sale. Where the line is between the two is somewhere between your workshop and the BATF office.
 
Sorry to play the what if game but...
If the FFL holder sold the gun as one that did not originally have a serial number but the buyer does some research and it appears that the gun was manufactured with a serial number, what then?


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Good question.

I don't know that the FFL warrants (guarantees) that a gun has the appropriate serial number, (I have my own persona witness on this matter). But the seller of any goods warrants that the item is merchantable, and a gun with a missing serial number is not merchantable. So in theory you should be able to return the gun and get your money back.

There is no "assumption of the risk" in that "you should've known it should have a serial number, you bought it, it's your problem."

In the real world, every moment you possess the gun, you are committing a state and federal crime. So you have to make a risk evaluation.

Me, if it were not a terribly inexpensive gun, I would eat the loss and send it to BATF with a detailed description of what happened. If it were an expensive gun, I would demand my money back in person, without the gun, and if that was refused, then send the gun to BATF and sue their ass.
 
Back
Top Bottom