This is why I only transfer through an FFL and keep the paperwork.

Don't you know that the ATF's tracing center is just a big cover story? They make a pretense of calling FFLs to request a copy of a 4473 so we won't catch onto the fact that they already know who bought the gun. Somewhere in Virginia they're laughing their asses off at the thought of some gun store owner digging around in old boxes of files. After all, if they didn't call we might start to realize they actually do have this huge computer registry that Congress never authorized (staffed by people the ATF never hired and maintained on computers that the ATF never bought). It's important to maintain appearances . . .

that's retarded, you're no more protected or exposed versus a face to face sale where you check ID and keep a bill of sale.

Well, no.....your reply is what's retarded.
Transferring through an FFL means the FFL has taken legal possession and the original owner of the firearm is totally removed from the transaction. The FFL will record the acquisition in his bound book. The disposition of the firearm would be from the dealer to the actual buyer. Before the firearm can be transferred the buyer will have to complete a Form 4473 and pass a NICS check. Being that the seller has nothing to do with the eventual transfer, he is in fact "protected".

A bill of sale doesn't do jack shit in "protecting" a seller. It is for the benefit of a buyer, merely showing proof of purchase. The idea that a bill of sale offers some level of "protection" to a seller is ludicrous. Do you guys really think a bill of sale means jack shit to a law enforcement officer investigating a crime?

I really think we're over doing it here. Has not going through a licensed dealer for a one off sale of a firearm ever been an issue in the past?
ATF: Did you own and sell a XYZ, qwerty, cal 0, see # 12345?
You: Yep, sold it to a girl that was a resident of my state and said they were not prohibited from owning it.
ATF: Do you remember who it was.
You: No, is that a problem?
ATF: No, thank you for your time.

Tn Mike I have had exactly the same experience with a sale many years ago.

To the OP, I had a similar thing happen several years ago with a truck I traded in on a new car.  About two months after the deal, I received a letter from DEA that they had confiscated the vehicle at the border and that if I had an interest in the vehicle, file a notice.  Now, I understand that filing a report that you know to be untrue can be construed by most police agencies as filing a false police report, or at the least lying to a police officer.  I would suggest that you let this thing go, and simply ignore the letter, as I did.  You have no interest in the gun and were I in your shoes I would not want to have any interest in said item.  YMMV.

DEA calls ATF requesting a trace.  ATF calls mfgr with serial number, gets name of distributor.  ATF calls distributor with serial number, gets name of FFL.  ATF calls FFL with serial number gets your name as the guy the FFL sold it to.

Somebody sends you letter, you either ignore or say you sold it in a FTF.  End of story.

Like your avitar....

The right thing to do would be to contact whoever wrote the letter and advise them you sold it on date x to person y, with contact info on person y (I'd send a copy of the bill of sale with it) and let them contact person y (who may indeed have had it stolen from him).

Yes, I think that a competent LEO would take info from a bill of sale and try contacting that person. We're not talking about proof in a courtroom for a criminal case here, and I'm also addressing the "right thing to do" in a case like this.

OP doesn't understand how gun traces work.

I bought a handgun (AMT .380) for my ex-wife while we were married.

We got divorced. She took the handgun with her as it was a "gift."

Fast forward 15 years later, I haven't heard from her or seen her since the divorce.

Turns out her husband was arrested for receiving stolen property, and he had the .380 on him.

A state trooper called me about the handgun, because the bill of sale was in my name (and the PA state registry).

I told him what happened. He said, "Well, you can either come pick it up and keep it, or we'll have it destroyed. It's up to you."

So now I have the .380 back. Too bad he wasn't carrying the S&W 629 Classic she also took with her.

You're right, I didn't prior to this thread.

At least you got something back, I hear you on the 629.


An update for anyone who cares. As I posted earlier I tried to contact the guy that I sold it to, I never heard anything back from him.

I spoke with two different lawyers and both of them said not to worry about it and that the letter was procedural, and there was a good chance that whoever the last owner of the other two firearms listed also got an identical letter.

I didn't do anything about the letter and now that the deadline has ended hopefully I'll never hear anything about it again.

I wouldnt worry too much. You are in the clear. I had a similar thing happen to me in 1990, long before all the crap that takes place today. I was a serving officer stationed at Fort Leavenworth and I lived on post. One day there was a knock on the door, and it was, to my surprise, an ATF Agent.  He came in, was very polite..asked about a revolver I had sold the year before. I sold a S&W 28 thru the Kansas City Star to a KC resident. Apparently this was used in a crime a year later by a gang member and they suspected this guy was buying them for gangs. He was a nice clean cut type guy, even had his two little boys with him when he bought the gun.  The ATF guy didnt accuse me of anything but brought up it was a technical violation for me as a KS resident to sell a handgun to a MO resident. I told him I was legally a MO resident according to the military (you can be a dual state resident on active duty and I was a Missouri resident, but lived in Kansas). He didnt have anything to say about that. He thanked me and left. I have held an FFL in the past and I know how traces work. I really dont know how they went about tracing that weapon.

I probably would have offered to email a copy of the BoS to the agent running the investigation / dispersal of evidence so they could contact the person you sold it to. They may have had it stolen in a home invasion or something and wish they could get it back.