Call from the Concord, NH PD this morning.

Nashmack

Nashmack

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So I was sleeping this morning as I normally do, when out of the blue, MY PHONE RANG! First off, it was only 9AM, and usually when my phone rings at 9AM, the person on the line has a death wish. I answered the phone half awake, but once the caller identified himself and stated the purpose of the call, I was wide awake.

It seems that one of my pistols that I sold 3 years ago was found at a crime scene in Concord not too long ago....I am fairly certain that I sold this pistol through a dealer, so is there any way this could come back on me?
 
do you have an alibi?

How did they trace it back to you is the more interesting question.

If you sold it through a FFL you better start remembering where, when and to whom, just in case.

If it was a non FFL sale do you have a copy of a bill of sale or some other proof you sold it and to whom?
 
Read the fine print, folks:

Location: Nashua, NH
Click to expand...

No registration requirement. No FA-10. Not needed, as he lives in a free state.

Now, what they want is cooperation. So, cooperate. Truth or silence, no lies.

If you think it's looking like a charge is coming your way, clam up and lawyer up.

I'm betting they just want info on the chain of ownership it went through.
 
Nashmack said:
So I was sleeping this morning as I normally do, when out of the blue, MY PHONE RANG! First off, it was only 9AM, and usually when my phone rings at 9AM, the person on the line has a death wish. I answered the phone half awake, but once the caller identified himself and stated the purpose of the call, I was wide awake.

It seems that one of my pistols that I sold 3 years ago was found at a crime scene in Concord not too long ago....I am fairly certain that I sold this pistol through a dealer, so is there any way this could come back on me?
Click to expand...


This is the common course of events.

Just explain to them where you sold it. If in fact that is what you did?

If that is not what you did then time to speak with a lawyer.

If you in fact did sell it to an FFL there is no need for a lawyer. IMO.

They are just tracing the gun to ascertain the last owner.
 
It took me a couple tries to even get the gun right...he just said "your Smith and Wesson". I've had countless Smiths.

He was rather cordial though, I don't recall ever selling a Smith in a private sale, so I would have to assume that I did in fact sell it through an FFL. IIRC all my Smiths went through the same FFL as well.
 
Glockaholic said:
do you have an alibi?

How did they trace it back to you is the more interesting question.

If you sold it through a FFL you better start remembering where, when and to whom, just in case.

If it was a non FFL sale do you have a copy of a bill of sale or some other proof you sold it and to whom?
Click to expand...

How it got to him is the easy part. They have the firearm. They then know the manufacturer and serial number. From that they find out what distributor bought the firearm from the manufacturer. From there they trace it to the FFL that sold it into private hands. That's Nashmack. If he's got his records, he can point them to the dealer/private party he sold it to and from there the cops will follow the trail again.
 
Nashmack said:
So I was sleeping this morning as I normally do, when out of the blue, MY PHONE RANG! First off, it was only 9AM, and usually when my phone rings at 9AM, the person on the line has a death wish. I answered the phone half awake, but once the caller identified himself and stated the purpose of the call, I was wide awake.

It seems that one of my pistols that I sold 3 years ago was found at a crime scene in Concord not too long ago....I am fairly certain that I sold this pistol through a dealer, so is there any way this could come back on me?
Click to expand...

Doubtful, the average gun found at a crime scene is stolen. The cops are just following the paper trail of the firearm hoping it will lead to the criminal.
 
pdm said:
How it got to him is the easy part. They have the firearm. They then know the manufacturer and serial number. From that they find out what distributor bought the firearm from the manufacturer. From there they trace it to the FFL that sold it into private hands. That's Nashmack. If he's got his records, he can point them to the dealer/private party he sold it to and from there the cops will follow the trail again.
Click to expand...


Exactly. They cannot trace backwards. They have to trace forward starting with the manufacturer.

Common event.
 
Thanks for your input guys! I've been shooting for 6 years now and this is the first time something like this has ever happened to me, so I was just a bit flustered[grin]
 
Wow yeah that must have been a little flustering.

I keep a spreadsheet of all my firearms, serials, date bought and sold. If sold I keep record of the transaction #. Since you live in a free state and don't need some of the paperwork, maybe a simple record of what gun shop you sold it to.

Maybe you should consider doing something like that so you have more details about the firearms you own or have owned.

I started a thread a while back sharing the spreadsheet I used and a few other people shared how they kept track of their inventory.
 
I have a file with the model and serial number of almost every firearm I've ever owned along with copies of Bills of Sale, and now that I'm stuck in Massatwosh*ts, FA-10s.

I started the file when a friend of mine on the local PD sold me his S&W 1076 and kept a copy of the signed Bill of Sale. He explained he wanted to be able to hand over the file to show the ownership chain in case the situation described above ever happened to him.
 
They probably traced it to the FFL who sold it to you, if that's the case. Now you will have to show where it went after you. Hope you have your act together. During the Clinton years, he had ATF do random traces just to make a statement. These traces stopped with the dealer. Jack.
 
Outside of a FFL purchase/sale, I never use a BoS. If the buyer/seller wants a BoS they can sell/buy it elsewhere.

There's a good gun lawyer in Concord. I'd have to go in search of his info if you want it.
 
Even in a free state it is a very good idea to keep organized records of your firearm transactions. If the original poster had the records, it would be very easy to both get the Nashua PD to cross him off the list of possible suspects and looking in the right direction by being able to tell them that "I sold that gun to XYZ guns on 2/13/06, address is 123 Main Street, Nashua, NH..." and provide paperwork to that effect.

On a humorous note, one fellow that I know received a call from the FBI. The agent said that they had recovered one of his handguns from a crime scene. The fellow asked the agent how that could be since the firearm in question was still in his safe and it is unlikely that S&W made two such handguns with the same serial number.

Personally, I have a bound record book that I use to keep this information. I tape the bills of sale and FA-10s into the book.
 
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doobie said:
Outside of a FFL purchase/sale, I never use a BoS. If the buyer/seller wants a BoS they can sell/buy it elsewhere.
Click to expand...

. . . And I won't buy/sell privately without one. Buyer and seller both keep copies, nothing goes to any gov't body (we're leaving aside the FA-10 issue now for the sake of discussion).

When I sold the first gun via FFL, I received NOTHING . . . no receipt from the FFL. The FFL is a friend that had a shop, but I decided that it's unwise not to have documentation filed away somewhere.

YMMV (and obviously does).
 
How do you look in black and white stripes?

Only kidding. At this point it's probably standard procedure for them. You just have to decide if you should lawyer up if you feel that is the way things are going.
 
M1911 said:
On a humorous note, one fellow that I know received a call from the FBI. The agent said that they had recovered one of his handguns from a crime scene. The fellow asked the agent how that could be since the firearm in question was still in his safe and it is unlikely that S&W made two such handguns with the same serial number.
Click to expand...

It happens quite a bit. Many firearms serial numbers get difficult to read over the years and it is easy to confuse a B with a 8 and a 0 with a o etc...etc... which is why the LEO's make the phone calls.

A simple phone call can sometimes clear things up.
 
Half Cocked said:
It happens quite a bit. Many firearms serial numbers get difficult to read over the years and it is easy to confuse a B with a 8 and a 0 with a o etc...etc... which is why the LEO's make the phone calls.
Click to expand...

Yea, I think that's probably what happened. Misread serial number, or misread the notepad.
 
Nashmack said:
It seems that one of my pistols that I sold 3 years ago was found at a crime scene in Concord not too long ago....I am fairly certain that I sold this pistol through a dealer, so is there any way this could come back on me?
Click to expand...

Not really. They probably just conducted an ATF trace on it.. if you sold it in a legit sale, there really isn't anything to worry about... often they will want to know who you sold it to, etc.

In this case assisting LE might even result in the gun eventually getting returned to the actual current owner. It probably was stolen from whoever you sold it to, more than
likely... it also could have gotten rolled over a few times after you sold it, as well.

-Mike
 
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A lot of people are telling you to lawyer up..IMO that's a huge waste of money at this stage. If/when the cops show up at your door and put you in cuffs then ya lawyer up. til that happens, trace back your paper work and find the record for when you sold it. Give copies of that to the cops. End of story. Why drop hundreds or thousands on a lawyer when you haven't even been dragged into the station yet?
 
This is why I've always kept records of every firearm I've ever bought/sold. Even when I lived in NC where this was not necessary for private sales. I recorded name, signature on the transaction, SSN, and at least two witness signatures. Both me and the other party got a copy. Just a little piece of mind for the both of us.
 
LenS said:
. . . And I won't buy/sell privately without one. Buyer and seller both keep copies, nothing goes to any gov't body (we're leaving aside the FA-10 issue now for the sake of discussion).

When I sold the first gun via FFL, I received NOTHING . . . no receipt from the FFL. The FFL is a friend that had a shop, but I decided that it's unwise not to have documentation filed away somewhere.

YMMV (and obviously does).
Click to expand...

This is the one reason that FA-10s are even somewhat useful, because it's a record of transfer for me.
 
I sold a gun thru FS and didn't get a formal document... just a receipt. What docs should be have? FTF is better... lots of info on the FA10.
 
M1911 said:
On a humorous note, one fellow that I know received a call from the FBI. The agent said that they had recovered one of his handguns from a crime scene. The fellow asked the agent how that could be since the firearm in question was still in his safe and it is unlikely that S&W made two such handguns with the same serial number.
Click to expand...

Maybe the serial number was scratched off and they had trouble recovering it?
 
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Nickle said:
Read the fine print, folks:



No registration requirement. No FA-10. Not needed, as he lives in a free state.

Now, what they want is cooperation. So, cooperate. Truth or silence, no lies.

If you think it's looking like a charge is coming your way, clam up and lawyer up.

I'm betting they just want info on the chain of ownership it went through.
Click to expand...

Very sage advice, on all points.

I should add: there is one easy way to never be in this situation: don't sell any guns.
 
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