Details of the incident:
http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/police-clayton-sniper-may-1439414.html
This whole situation has me pondering a few things:
1) 1985 is a long time ago, 27 years to be exact. The FFL dealer who sold the weapon, assuming they are still in business, would only have to keep records for 20 years on each sale (although they could keep them for longer). If the FFL did go out of business they would surrender their bound book to the ATF, who would probably log the data into a database for future reference. I'm guessing this is what happened, and how the ATF was able to track down the original owner of a rifle sold 27 years ago. Going to every dealer in GA who sold a Marlin .22 in 1985, searching their records from 27 years ago looking for a serial number, getting lucky that the dealer kept their records past 20 years, and finding the original owner probably would have taken more than 4 days unless they got really really lucky.
* This is taking for granted that laws regarding 4473's havent changed since 1985. Im certain they have, I just dont know what those changes are. Perhaps a long time dealer could chime in.
2) A rifle sold originally in 1985 may have passed through a dozen or more people before ending up with the current owner. Even if each sale incurred a bill of sale, what are the chances that each previous owner maintained that bill of sale for the last 1-27 years? Probably pretty slim. I dont think this is a valid pro or con argument for bills of sale in firearms purchases between private sellers since the time frame is unrealistic. In that same regard though, maybe the original buyer kept the rifle for 26 years and just sold it a few months ago. If they could provide details of the buyer to the ATF or the police it would probably help greatly in the case. Again I think both examples I mention are unrealistic and that the actual history of the rifle is somewhere between, but it does make me think.
Thoughts?
http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/police-clayton-sniper-may-1439414.html
This whole situation has me pondering a few things:
1) 1985 is a long time ago, 27 years to be exact. The FFL dealer who sold the weapon, assuming they are still in business, would only have to keep records for 20 years on each sale (although they could keep them for longer). If the FFL did go out of business they would surrender their bound book to the ATF, who would probably log the data into a database for future reference. I'm guessing this is what happened, and how the ATF was able to track down the original owner of a rifle sold 27 years ago. Going to every dealer in GA who sold a Marlin .22 in 1985, searching their records from 27 years ago looking for a serial number, getting lucky that the dealer kept their records past 20 years, and finding the original owner probably would have taken more than 4 days unless they got really really lucky.
* This is taking for granted that laws regarding 4473's havent changed since 1985. Im certain they have, I just dont know what those changes are. Perhaps a long time dealer could chime in.
2) A rifle sold originally in 1985 may have passed through a dozen or more people before ending up with the current owner. Even if each sale incurred a bill of sale, what are the chances that each previous owner maintained that bill of sale for the last 1-27 years? Probably pretty slim. I dont think this is a valid pro or con argument for bills of sale in firearms purchases between private sellers since the time frame is unrealistic. In that same regard though, maybe the original buyer kept the rifle for 26 years and just sold it a few months ago. If they could provide details of the buyer to the ATF or the police it would probably help greatly in the case. Again I think both examples I mention are unrealistic and that the actual history of the rifle is somewhere between, but it does make me think.
Thoughts?
