Reply #45: Sometimes yes, as long as its initial sale date was in 1968 or later [View All]

[slackmaster]

From the serial number on the frame of the pistol, the manufacturer can tell what dealer it was shipped to for retail sale. The dealer, as long as the transaction was done in accordance with the Gun Control Act, will have in his or her files a Form 4473 which will identify the person who bought it.

If that person is still alive and is not the suspect, police can go to that person and ask about what he or she did with the gun (e.g. sold or gave it to someone else). In that way the chain of custody can be traced unless someone sold it to an anonymous stranger, or died in the interim and therefore cannot be interviewed. (Sales to anonymous strangers BTW are really what the so-called "gun show loophole" is all about. It has nothing to do with gun shows per se.)

If the initial sale of the gun pre-dates the Gun Control Act, it's pretty much untraceable.