A revolver was stolen from one of my family members several years ago. The local Police returned it to her either last year or year before. She asked, but Police provided no information regarding how it was recovered. It may or may not be a crime gun, but it was traced and returned. She did report it when it was stolen.
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A weapon would have to be recovered in order for the authorities to determine what the serial number is.
Since the weapon has been recovered, the crime has already been committed.
There is no way a serial number could have prevented crime after the fact.
It would be the equivalent of saying a VIN number can prevent car accidents, no?
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But a VIN could assist in the recovery of my vehicle.
Theoretically, it could also be used to identify which car is mine when itâs sitting at the service lot with 10 identical cars, but I suppose we would just use the license plate. Iâm not going to slap an ID plate on my rifle, though. 
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It doesnât. It sometimes makes it easier to solve crime. Police are reactive, not proactive.
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Thatâs great! It might be, as you stated, not used in a crime and she reported it stolen. That should be SOP.
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You could though, really.*
If I take any kind of portable equipment for service or repair, I clearly marked it with my name (and sometimes contact info). Just like the auto plate, it can allow quicker recovery and prevent shop confusion more easily than Ser# or a hang tag. Just like plates could be misread, swapped, or destroyed â a regularized serial number is usually less ambiguous.
I do the same with portable tools which might be loaned or stolen (and donât have ID numbers, or I donât keep a record of them). Thereâs nothing unique about guns with respect to identification or recovery, and nothing particularly nefarious about a serial number â as long as there is no registry beyond the manufacturer.
If I was making my own guns, I would want them to be identifiable â unless I intended them for an unlawful purpose.
*And the auto shop will use the VIN, not the registration plate, to confirm the correct parts, identify recall and service notes, record warranty service, etc.
Agreed, however the OP is about preventing crime, not recovery of stolen property.
The crime train has already left the station.
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You are correct.
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***** The County I live in has had ( GUN BUY BACKS ) : turn any fire arm in for money no questions asked. So instead of finding out if the firearms were stollen via serial numbers and giving the firearms back to the owner, this is what doesnât make sense.
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Having a serial number on a a firearm prevents crime in the same way having a VIN on a vehicle prevents accidents. It is only good for proving ownership after the fact.
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Look at the last paragraph in the story. He doesnât say why he is so âsincereâ and what that actually helps.
Some widow turns in a Gen 1 Colt SAA and see where it goes. Hint to a copâs collection!
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Who would purposely want a firearm without a serial number on it?; And why?
Does a serial number on a firearm make it easier to identify the most recent legal owner/purchaser?
I sometimes encounter others with my exact same model, canât tell them apart, aside from the serial number. While we are on topic, everyone should write theirs down in several places, and somewhere they can retrieve them (in our E-CLOUDs, password protected), especially if there was a fire (with a trusted person, in a bank safety deposit box).
God Forbid, if itâs stolen, then police find it, would we want a serial number on it?
Sounds complex. IDK.
IMHO
If a firearm is stolen, itâs typically stolen by somebody with nefarious means and nefarious intents
I believe anything stolen is nefarious in means and intent - that is the nature of crime.
Outside of typical police work, Ashdown said thereâs not much law enforcement can do to recover firearms once theyâre stolen.
âThereâs a high probability that when we do recover a firearm, itâs going to be found on somebody who might be involved in a crime or being arrested,â he said.
âI canât ask any more sincerely than to please document your serial number,â he said.
Is he a comic and just a police officer on the side?
Black said she believes addressing crime should be part of the solution.
âItâs a firearm and the consequences of one being stolen are very bad,â she said. âSo of course, it is the responsibility of the gun owner, but we also need to do more, I think, to mitigate the crime thatâs going on right now.â
So she admits the police need to do more, like actual policework, for instance, instead of writing comedic material for a news âstoryâ?
Homemade firearms do not have serial numbers.
No.
Maybe, it depends on whether or not the policy is to return property to their rightful owners, and that you were the original owner. I suspect âcrime gunsâ do not get returned to their rightful owners. Also, if you bought the firearm used, the trace will only lead to the person that purchased the firearm from the first FFL, as the ATF first contacts the manufacturer, who then tells them who they sold it to.
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Good information.
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Hmmm.
Ok My wife was married before her husband was given his grandfather 1911 dated 1944. When he (wifes) husband died she married me and she gave me this handgun now I took if the a local gun shop for repairs the gun shop said I didnât need to register it.
He didnât even ask for a food or other id I came back two days later and pick up the handgun so what is the serial number good for???
Serial numbers initially were put on firearms for use by the manufacturer for inventory, etc. Not all manufacturers did that until the federal government required it. IIRCC, that was the 1934 NFA where that began.
There are several explanations in this thread of what the government uses them for. None of those reasons are for the benefit of firearm owners.
We are still âallowedâ in most states to manufacture firearms for personal use and not be required to âregisterâ them with the ATF or state government by putting a serial number on it. Ironically, the ATF has no system of numbering required, so we can all manufacture firearms for personal use, and use the same number, such as â1â. Letâs see the ATF trace that. Firearm laws are non-nonsensical.
One is also âallowedâ by the ATF to sell said non-serialized, made for personal use, firearm, as long as one is not in the business of manufacturing firearms for profit/as a business. If one was to do that, one would need to obtain a FFL.
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serial numbers were not federally required until the GCA of 68, the NFA only required serial numbers for weapons that fell under the purview of the NFA of 34 in the time period between, and due to the way the NFA of 34 was written it wasnât even useable until the self incrimination issues were adressed in the GCA of 68. the way the NFA was worded prevented most of those from being registered/serialized as well. There was also no felony prohibition of firearms ownership before 68 either.
quite a few major manufactureres (Springfield armory, the real oneâŠ) were using serial numbers for internal purposes all the way back to the American civil war in 1865.
Actually the 1938 FFA is when felons were first denied possession of firearms, or as it was written by a person convicted of a crime of violence.
(6) The term âcrime of violenceâ means murder, manslaughter,rape, mayhem, kidnaping, burglary, housebreaking ; assault with intent to kill, commit rape, or rob ; assault with a dangerous weapon, or assault with intent to commit any offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.
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(f) It shall be unlawful for any person who has been convicted of Receipt by person convicted of crime of a crime of violence or is a fugutive from justice to receive any firearm violence. etc. or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, and the possession of a firearm or ammunition by any such person shall be presumptive evidence that such firearm or ammunition was shipped or transported or received, as the case may be, by such person in violation of this Act.
There are numerous posts on many threads here concerning the NFA, FFA, GCA, FOPA, etc., with links to these codes.