Wing Nut
Shooter
It appears that since my transaction with him, FR3 has disappeared from the forum. In my opinion that confirms my concerns about the legality of his transaction(s). I will preface this review by stating that he has made things right with me and returned my gun, but the full account is below.
I had my Springfield XD sub compact posted for sale or trade on the forum. He also had a Ruger LCP with Crimson trace posted. I contacted him and asked if he would be interested in an even trade, he throwing in 50 rounds of ammo on his end. He asked me to text him some higher quality pictures of my gun, which I did. And he immediately was interested in trading.
I was planning on waiting until the next day to complete the transaction, but he seemed very eager to make the trade that night. So against my better judgment I met him in a public place at 9pm that night and made the trade. It was a rather brief transaction with very little conversation on his part. He had a friend drive him. I asked how long he had the gun, he replied that he had it for a few months. I looked it over, took the ammo and magazines, handed him my gun case, shook hands, and we parted. As soon as he pulled away I was suspicious of the transaction, so I noticed his vehicle tag as he pulled away and quickly wrote it down.
As soon as I had finished that, I went to the FDLE website to check the serial number. The gun was in fact reported stolen in Escambia county. I immediately called the Escambia county Sheriff's office and told them what had happened. They transferred the case to the Pensacola PD, and they arrived within 5 minutes. When they arrived, they told me that that gun was stolen in a string of burglaries, and were appreciative that I got his tag number as he left.
Obviously I didn't take the precautions I should have in looking up the serial beforehand. So PLEASE, let this be a reminder for all of you. Check the serial number on the FDLE website before you buy! The officers obviously warned me of the dangers of personal weapon trades, and made it very clear that they didn't prefer it but were not going to press any charges on me (for which I was very thankful). They obviously confiscated the gun.
Long story short, a week passed and I received a call from an unknown number. It was FR3's friend who called to tell me that FR3 "didn't know the gun was stolen, and had even checked when he bought it." But FR3 wanted to get the gun back to me. I was very suspicious at this point, so I told him I'd get back to him. I called the PPD and they contacted him so that he would turn it in to the police station. This way I wouldn't have to be involved anymore. He did so, and I picked up my gun from the station about 3-4 weeks after the original transaction between me and FR3. The detective told me that the guy who turned it in didn't stick around to ask any questions, but they weren't able to press charges because they had "no proof that he knew it was stolen, or that he stole it himself."
As I said above, FR3 has disappeared from the forum it seems, although he did have a couple other transactions on here. So please, don't be as stupid as I was...ALWAYS CHECK TO SEE IF THE GUN WAS STOLEN before buying it.
I've now been on both sides of a stolen gun...I had one stolen, and now I was able to get one returned to its rightful owner. For all I know my own stolen gun is out there floating around on some forum, being sold by someone who won't check the serial number. So please, help the community out, and keep things above board.
Thanks guys. GCGF is an excellent community, and it's sad to see it tainted by illegal activity. Be smart!
I had my Springfield XD sub compact posted for sale or trade on the forum. He also had a Ruger LCP with Crimson trace posted. I contacted him and asked if he would be interested in an even trade, he throwing in 50 rounds of ammo on his end. He asked me to text him some higher quality pictures of my gun, which I did. And he immediately was interested in trading.
I was planning on waiting until the next day to complete the transaction, but he seemed very eager to make the trade that night. So against my better judgment I met him in a public place at 9pm that night and made the trade. It was a rather brief transaction with very little conversation on his part. He had a friend drive him. I asked how long he had the gun, he replied that he had it for a few months. I looked it over, took the ammo and magazines, handed him my gun case, shook hands, and we parted. As soon as he pulled away I was suspicious of the transaction, so I noticed his vehicle tag as he pulled away and quickly wrote it down.
As soon as I had finished that, I went to the FDLE website to check the serial number. The gun was in fact reported stolen in Escambia county. I immediately called the Escambia county Sheriff's office and told them what had happened. They transferred the case to the Pensacola PD, and they arrived within 5 minutes. When they arrived, they told me that that gun was stolen in a string of burglaries, and were appreciative that I got his tag number as he left.
Obviously I didn't take the precautions I should have in looking up the serial beforehand. So PLEASE, let this be a reminder for all of you. Check the serial number on the FDLE website before you buy! The officers obviously warned me of the dangers of personal weapon trades, and made it very clear that they didn't prefer it but were not going to press any charges on me (for which I was very thankful). They obviously confiscated the gun.
Long story short, a week passed and I received a call from an unknown number. It was FR3's friend who called to tell me that FR3 "didn't know the gun was stolen, and had even checked when he bought it." But FR3 wanted to get the gun back to me. I was very suspicious at this point, so I told him I'd get back to him. I called the PPD and they contacted him so that he would turn it in to the police station. This way I wouldn't have to be involved anymore. He did so, and I picked up my gun from the station about 3-4 weeks after the original transaction between me and FR3. The detective told me that the guy who turned it in didn't stick around to ask any questions, but they weren't able to press charges because they had "no proof that he knew it was stolen, or that he stole it himself."
As I said above, FR3 has disappeared from the forum it seems, although he did have a couple other transactions on here. So please, don't be as stupid as I was...ALWAYS CHECK TO SEE IF THE GUN WAS STOLEN before buying it.
I've now been on both sides of a stolen gun...I had one stolen, and now I was able to get one returned to its rightful owner. For all I know my own stolen gun is out there floating around on some forum, being sold by someone who won't check the serial number. So please, help the community out, and keep things above board.
Thanks guys. GCGF is an excellent community, and it's sad to see it tainted by illegal activity. Be smart!
