SovereignAxe
Regular Member
was wondering what you guys thought of this story. Saw it in /r/guns at reddit.com
So what do you guys think? Were they really confirming a serial # or do you think his suscipcions about a straw purchase is real? I'm with him.
That being said, I don't like the way they handled it. I can sympathize with a clerical error, and would be more than happy to help clear one up. However, I would not have invited them into my home and the fact that they couldn't clear this up over the phone sends up red flags for me. Also, how would they even know it was the wrong number if it wasn't a gun that they'd been tracking in the first place?
Cliff notes available at the end
It was around 3:00 PM and I just got back from the range and was trying to figure out what the heck happened to my Kel-Tec SUB2K that went kaboom on me When I opened the door, two ATF agents were there with ATF jackets, guns and badges. They introduced them selves and asked me if I was the guy they were looking for. I said that I was and I asked what could I do for them. They informed me that there was a mistake with a serial number from one of the Saiga firearms that I have recently purchased (Nov 8th) and that they need to verify the serial number. So I told them no problem I will bring the rifle in question out side so that they could verify the s/n. They asked if they could come in, at least just to step inside and they won't go all the way in the house (condo). I don't remember exactly the way they asked, I felt this huge rush/panic and I didn't even got their names. So I let them come in and seated them in my living room and I apologized for not inviting them in in the first place. I brought out all the four saigas in original boxes so that they could verify the numbers. (I purchased them under one AFT form from Classic Arms and a local gun shop transferred them into my name (Scottsdale, AZ). They checked the first box, second and then on the third one they said: "Oh, this is the one". It was missing LT after the serial number on their paperwork. It's kinda weird that none of the other Saiga's had any letters after the numbers only this one did (5.45x39).
They realized that I was a bit nervous and they repeated several times that I'm not in trouble and that this often happens and they just need to verify the s/n. However, after repeating this to many times, It actually started worrying me even more. (They were a bit too kind...)
My opinion is that they wanted to verify that I still have them, maybe to check if I'm a straw buyer or something. I have purchase many guns withing the last couple of years, and I have only sold 2 (I do have the bills of sale for these). When I opened my closet door they did see that I have several other gun cases, but they did not ask to see them. What's even more interesting is that I don't recall them opening the box to see if the rifle was actually in there, they just got the numbers of the box. They could probably tell by the weight that there was a rifle in there but they did not take it out of the box.
They did not ask many questions, and as a long time redditor I did not tell them anything they did not ask. However there were 3 questions that were a bit weird and I did not expect.
1) Why did I buy 4 rifles in different calibers (4 saigas, .410, 7.62, 5.45, .223) I told them that I got a good deal and I wanted to have them in these calibers 2) I don't exactly recall how did they ask this question, something about me being home at 3:00 PM, what do I do for living. I'm a software developer and I work from home 3) When they were leaving, he asked what is my phone number and when I gave him he asked me twice if this was my cell phone (I told him yes)
Short story:
2 ATF agents wanted to verify a serial number on my Saiga. I showed them my saigas, and they found the one that was missing LT at the end of the serial and they left. They were very kind, almost too kind.
So, what do you think? I really don't have anything to hide or haven't done anything illegal, but i'm still worried.
So what do you guys think? Were they really confirming a serial # or do you think his suscipcions about a straw purchase is real? I'm with him.
That being said, I don't like the way they handled it. I can sympathize with a clerical error, and would be more than happy to help clear one up. However, I would not have invited them into my home and the fact that they couldn't clear this up over the phone sends up red flags for me. Also, how would they even know it was the wrong number if it wasn't a gun that they'd been tracking in the first place?