I'm just wondering how you tell if a gun is hot.Is there a number to call
or can you look it up on the computer.I work a lot up by gary indiana
and not to far from chicago so i get offered a lot of guns but don't want to take them becouse, well you know,sometimes i have a day or two to
decide.

If it is legal to buy or trade with no paperwork like it is here in AL you can call the local PD and have them run the serial # for you. If the seller doesn't want to stand there while you make the call that's a good indication for you to get out of there.

I have a friend who is a police officer. And I ask him. I do not know for sure where he gets the information, however I think there is a national data base that they use. I do not know if a citizen can just call in or not. I know a couple of times over the years a couple of the guns were HOT. And the police responded instantly. I am like you, I do not wish to buy a HOT gun. Tom.

Good point. Tom.

As a rule, when the police get a report of a stolen gun, the information is entered on a nationwide data network that all police agencies can access, if they want to. I do not think this network is open to the public, however....

Eld. - Your right. There is a National Data Base that only police can use. It contains information on stolen guns,other majorarticles, wanted persons and criminal records, etc In most instances the police would be only to glad to run the serial numbers as a public service.

If I suspected a gun being hot, I would make the call to the local PD. Even when I purchase a gun legally from another individual, besides writing down the model and serifal number of the gun, I write downthe seller'sname and address off his license, phone number, and we both sign it. Make a copy for him and I keep the original in my safe. That way if I happen to trade it later and it is hot, at least I have a leg to stand on (I hope).

Along with what others have said, a too-good-to-be-true price can be an indicator of a stolen gun.

You can call your local PD with the make and serial and they can run a computer check for you if they aren't being particularly lazy that day. State police stations are sometimes more likely to help out. If it comes back clean, there's still no guarantee it's not stolen. A weapon with 2 or 3 bodies on it isn't likely to be reported stolen if it wasn't already. Still, it's better to check it out than not.

What happens when you take a # there and it is dirty?