any way to check a serial number to see if it's stolen?

[~SG~]

Is there any where to go and enter a guns serial number to see if it's been stolen? I sometimes wonder when people come up wanting to sell guns and such if there was any way to check??

 

[Oro]

For all practical purposes, No. There's no national gun registry of stolen firearms.

Some people have reported that their local PD will check a number for you, but that would only be to their limited, local list. You could try asking them.

 

[blastdark]

The one school of thought would be to ask the cops to run the suspected gun through NCIC. However, there are some concerns there. You may want to take a look at the below threads.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-14960.html

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=6253776

 

[beatcop]

Yes, NCIC is the central point for stolen firearms...every single PD has access and it covers the entire nation.

This has been flogged repeatedly, but the best COA is to make a friend at the PD/call it in.
Get a bill of sale/ID so you don't have any "larceny by possession" issues.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

Florida has this for an online research. I have no idea if it works or not. It only asks for serial number and not even type (rifle, pistol, shotgun, etc), let alone make and model.

http://pas.fdle.state.fl.us/pas/item/displayGunSearch.a