Fa10

[Pilgrim]

There was a thread about someone getting pulled over and disarmed. The poster stated that he thought the cop was checking the number on his gun to see if it was legal when he went to the cruiser with it.

Questions:

can a cop 'run a number' from the cruiser?

Is the info even available to the cops?



There are so many ways that a person can have a legitimately owned firearm and the state will not have an FA10 on it

eg:

gun was around before FA10's came into being- I'd bet there are a LOT of these.

inheritance

bringing into state during a move

form does not make it to state because it was lost in the mail, backlogs in state offices, sell thinks buyer sent it in, buyer thinks seller sent it in.

and others I'm sure.

It would seem to me that there is no way to know if a gun taken off a person for whatever reason was legitimately owned, unless it was reported stolen or does have an FA10 on file...especially on the spot by the police.

What say you? Am I correct that it would be very difficult to determine if a gun was legally owned by an individual ?

 

[JonJ]

Pilgrim, I can't speak for all agencies because they are all different in what can and can't be run from a Mobile Data Terminal. Some have total internet access, BOP's, driver's license photos.
He may have just run the serial number through NCIC for a stolen check if he's allowed that capability. If he couldn't have done it via his MDT he could have just called it in and had dispatch do it.
I have no idea if firearm registration records in MA are available online to departments. Maybe Mark056 could answer that.
As pointed out before, the FA10 information is basically useless because once it's sold out of state the paper trail ends.

 

[Adam_MA]

I figure the cop did that for the following reason.

He saw the guns, found out the guy was carrying concealed. Took the weapon so he could go back to his cruiser and run the license. Once back at the cruiser, if he found out that the driver was a wanted man, he already had his weapon. Either that, or he has some access to a stolen gun log? Or maybe he just likes guns, and wanted to check out the piece!

 

[Len-2A Training]

To the OP, the cop on the street can do pretty much anything he/she wants to. Running numbers is NOT illegal (for the LEO to check for stolen property), but not terribly likely to be what he was doing.

Most probably he was just protecting himself in case the person he stopped had some other ideas! In the Northeast it isn't as common to run into people who are known to be armed and many LEOs have been brainwashed all thru school to believe that they only people carrying guns are cops, military (only sometimes) and bad guys!

Jon, most if not all PDs can run a listing of all guns that CHSB has recorded for an individual. This is what I've been told by a few LEOs. It's a "special effort" and doesn't come up on a license/registration check and may not be accessible from MDTs.

We acknowledge the following:

- The CHSB database is NOT complete,
- The CHSB database is useless to determine ownership,
- There is NO law that requires that the guns you carry/use are owned by you!
- It is NOT a crime to be in possession of a gun owned by a friend/relative/acquaintance!

So checking a gun S/N against NCIC is the only useful thing to do, and even that is semi-useless for witch-hunts. [It is a S/N check literally, so EVERY stolen gun with that S/N will show up. Then you need to check the model number to see if the gun you have is really the "hot one". My Wife's S&W 64 ONLY has the S/N on the butt of the gun (the numbers in the crane are assembly numbers) and it has what might be factory rubber grips that cover the S/N. A LEO would have to remove the grips with a screwdriver to find the S/N to run it!

Out of state LEOs would have NO access to CHSB's firearms database. Any check would have to involve phone calls from the dispatcher to CHSB and wait for a response. NOT at all likely to happen for a witch-hunt!

Note to Pilgrim: All guns inherited MUST have an FA-10 done on them by the person inheriting the guns. That is the law!

 

[Pilgrim]

All guns inherited MUST have an FA-10 done on them by the person inheriting the guns.

thanks for clarifying that, Len