Handgun Registration Highly Recommended

[Tactical Flannel]

This works the same way that registering automobiles, ALA license plates, has stopped auto theft.

That worked, didnt it?

I think you've used a bad analogy.
No, it hasn't stopped auto theft.
BUT it has lead to many arrests of thieves because a vehicle is registered with a license plate and by its VIN. And by a LEO running numbers on that vehicle, many have gone to jail for possessing another persons reported stolen property.
You may want to use another analogy since most here don't want the numbers of their carry weapons arbitrarily 'run' by the police as a vehicle license plate or VIN might be.

As another poster has already stated, many people don't record their own serial numbers for their weapons. Statistically in the jurisdiction I live, more than 2/3 of all reported stolen firearms, the owners are unable to provide the serial number. This prevents not only the return of the weapon if located (one S&W 66 4" looks just like another) but also the abilty of law enforcement to charge the person who is carrying your stolen weapon with possession of stolen property when the LEO does run the numbers on that weapon.

I'm not saying turn the serials over to a gov't agency, just record them somewhere so they can be turned over at a time of your choosing (such as to the police if/when it is stolen from your house or vehicle).
Just my

Stay safe

 

[1nthechmber]

Tactical flannel has the right idea....I use a notebook app on my phone to log all my serial numbers...this app uses a online back up that can be accessed by my or another p.c. if needed...the app updates every time I make changes,or add new info.....I also have them wrote down in a safe deposit box at the bank....

 

[2cool9031]

Just another trick to get you to register you gun!

 

[handgun]

As odd as this sounds. Why does it really matter. They already know where to look if you have a Life time Carry permit holder... I don't see the harm. You keep your receipts if you buy your gun from a shop don't you? Doesn't that Gun shop technically keep your records? its recorded somewhere right?

 

[Scutter01]

As odd as this sounds. Why does it really matter. They already know where to look if you have a Life time Carry permit holder... I don't see the harm. You keep your receipts if you buy your gun from a shop don't you? Doesn't that Gun shop technically keep your records? its recorded somewhere right?

If it doesn't matter, then why do I need to do it? Why throw yet another obstacle between me and my gun ownership? Should I also take the day off work to go register my fridge with the city? How about the hammer I bought the other day?

The harm is that once you start requiring registration, it opens the door for all sorts of other abuses.

 

[Bunnykid68]

If it doesn't matter, then why do I need to do it? Why throw yet another obstacle between me and my gun ownership? Should I also take the day off work to go register my fridge with the city? How about the hammer I bought the other day?

The harm is that once you start requiring registration, it opens the door for all sorts of other abuses.

I definitely think you should have to register your hammer

 

[Scutter01]

I don't have to explain to the government why I don't want to register my tools. The government has to explain to me, in detail, why they think it's necessary. The default state should be liberty and then the government should have to climb huge hurdles any time they want to abridge that liberty.

 

[Mike H]

Do people actually do this?
I wonder how thin the files are?

 

[Tamara]

As a Police Officer, while serving as a Detective, investigating several burglaries where firearms were taken, I developed a form that we as a department would give to gun owners to register their make, model, serial number, caliber. We did not collect this form; rather we had the owner keep them. It is somewhat amazing how many people do not keep the information. Granted this was in the 80's where computers were not as prevalent households. I was actually able to recover and return some stolen guns to the owners when recovered, some would not be able to have been returned with no serial numbers to go on.

This.

While I don't have my guns registered with any police department, I sure do have them registered with myself: A complete list of make, model, and serial number.

Should any go missing, I will be handing the relevant information to the po-po tout de suite, serial number and all. In most states, there are a variety of ways that firearms get checked against the NCIC database of stolen guns: Any time a gun is pawned*; any time it is encountered by the police while the carrier is engaged in the commission of a crime; and in many states, whenever it crosses the counter at an FFL.

Working at FFLs, one of which was a pawn shop, I have seen more than one stolen gun recovered this way, some of which had been reported stolen a decade or two ago. In one case, a guy came in to sell a bunch of shotguns on consignment. Turned out that they'd been left to his brother by his dad, and he'd boosted them from the estate back in 1980-something and moved across country and stopped talking to his family. Bet his brother's glad he had those SN's to give to the cops...


*Incidentally, in Georgia at least, we had to submit a list of everything we'd taken in on pawn to the po-po every night. You'd be surprised how dumb a crook can be.

 

[JetGirl]

I don't really get how giving your serial number to the police ahead of time will help them recover it if it stolen, but whatever.

It won't. They can't just bypass any steps because they have a number.
It's the exact same method of check each time;
Manufacturer>Distributor>Retailer>Individual

 

[KLB]

If it doesn't matter, then why do I need to do it? Why throw yet another obstacle between me and my gun ownership? Should I also take the day off work to go register my fridge with the city? How about the hammer I bought the other day?

The harm is that once you start requiring registration, it opens the door for all sorts of other abuses.

Well, now that you mention it. That hammer is a dangerous weapon....

 

[Tamara]

It won't. They can't just bypass any steps because they have a number.
It's the exact same method of check each time;
Manufacturer>Distributor>Retailer>Individual

When encountering a gun at a crime scene, there is not only the BATFEIEIO trace, but they also check the make, model, and serial number against the NCIC database of stolen guns. (Since they will also, in all likelihood, be running a concurrent BATFE trace, it is doubly important that you report your gun stolen, because I'd hate to have a gun that traced to me show up next to a dead guy.)

 

[JetGirl]

I'd hate to have a gun that traced to me show up next to a dead guy.)

I guess that's a chance you take if you ever sell FTF with no bill of sale or other paper trail (which is your right)...
Whatevs.

 

[drillsgt]

If it doesn't matter, then why do I need to do it? Why throw yet another obstacle between me and my gun ownership? Should I also take the day off work to go register my fridge with the city? How about the hammer I bought the other day?

The harm is that once you start requiring registration, it opens the door for all sorts of other abuses.

It's ridiculous, like what I had to go through in Michigan. If you wanted to pick up your handgun you had to go to your local police department (during their hours, sometimes very limited) get your permit, take it to the dealer, or individual, fill it out in triplicate, get it notarized, take it back to the police department within ten days or it's void. Then you get a permanent card with thumbprint on it.

 

[Tamara]

Registration inevitably leads to confiscation. Inevitably.

The only way I'd ever give the cops the serial number of my gun is if it had already been stolen and I wanted it confiscated from the ******* who stole it.

 

[Kagnew]

Do people actually do this?
I wonder how thin the files are?

Sure. I also sent a copy to the BATFE (in both English and Spanish), to Bam-Bam, and to Hillary.

 

[cosermann]

It's ridiculous, like what I had to go through in Michigan. If you wanted to pick up your handgun you had to go to your local police department (during their hours, sometimes very limited) get your permit, take it to the dealer, or individual, fill it out in triplicate, get it notarized, take it back to the police department within ten days or it's void. Then you get a permanent card with thumbprint on it.

Yup. Remember that. Then I left Michigan and never moved back.

Thing is, the voluntary registrations accomplish NOTHING you can't accomplish on your own with a little record keeping and digital imaging.

And mandatory registrations, like in Michigan, accomplish virtually nothing other than waste state resources. In fact, I have a story from an acquaintance, a retired LEO, who was in a committee meeting with the head of the MI St Police discussing the relative merits of their registration. My friend looked the State Police fellow straight in the eye and asked him if he could think of a case where handgun registration was necessary to solve a crime OR if solving a crime would not have been possible without registration. He could not think of ANY. Not ONE. NONE. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Now, I'm sure there have been a few, but the number is so small the cost/benefit is clearly not there. It's not even something that's common enough to register in this long-term officer's long-term memory.

And yet Michigan (and a few other states) continue this practice wasting all kinds of people's time (private individuals, LEOs, etc.) and other resources. Michigan has big enough budget problems as it is without engaging in unnecessary activities that have virtually no purported benefit. To say nothing of the infringement on liberties that continues with this practice.

 

[sangamospecial23j]

I'm glad I don't live in Michigan.

 

[BroodXI]

Do people actually do this?
I wonder how thin the files are?

I registered my first handgun. I was just a kid and was told by someone that i respected that's what i should do. That's the only serial number they're gonna get unless i have to report some stolen guns (which i managed to save during a boating accident).
I liked reading how everyone tracked their serial numbers, and it gave me some ideas on how to track my own. Looks like i'm gonna need to just keep a journal in the safe. I've tried storing info on the computer, but never backed up the data. Needless to say i'll need give the state $20 more for a copy of my LTCH.

 

[Caleb]

Nope, I refuse to register my guns