Gun serial number

Most individual manufacturers habitually put serial numbers on the weapons they produce. Such numbers can be used to ascertain the name of the manufacture, place and date of manufacture.^[3][9] At least for some manufacturers, a serial number can unlock myriad details about the weapon.^[10] An example is the Winchester Repeating Arms Company; their records may not be complete. As they note:

There are many "legends" about why the historic serial number records for Winchester rifles and shotguns are not complete or why they are not always verifiable. A few reasons cited are:

1. A fire at the factory
2. Inadvertent destruction (during office cleaning)
3. Records simply lost in filing
4. Records misplaced between ownership transitions
5. Documents borrowed but not returned

There is probably some kernel of truth to all of them. But the fact remains; there is no original, single, totally accurate database of serial numbers from 1866 forward that we are aware of. But perhaps these pages can help you somewhat in your research.^[9]

Other manufacturers maintain similar databases.^[11]

In the United States, the Gun Control Act of 1968 was prompted by the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963.^[12] Congressional hearings followed and a ban on mail-order gun sales was discussed, but no law was passed until 1968. Precursors of the passage of the Gun Control Act were Senate Bill 1975 in 1963, "A Bill to Regulate the Interstate Shipment of Firearms," and Senate Bill 1592 in 1965, "A Bill to Amend the Federal Firearms Act of 1938." Both were introduced by Senator Thomas J. Dodd and met with fierce opposition on the floor but the bills also paved the way for the creation of the Gun Control Act of 1968.^[13][14]

The basic point of such legislation is that the weapon will plainly have a unique identifier. Thus, for example, an importer is expressly forbidden from recycling numbers.^[15] "Factory-produced firearms bear serial numbers." So factory producers and federally licensed gun dealers are required by U.S. law to maintain records for their inventory of serial numbers of all firearms and to report both the guns' serial numbers and the purchasers' names.^[6][16]

In most jurisdictions, an application for firearm registration requires a recitation of a particular weapon's serial number. Sales of firearms that are required to be reported have a similar requirement.^[B]

Homemade firearms in the United States are not legally required to have a serial number. However, they have useful value. "[A]lthough markings are not required on firearms manufactured for personal use (excluding NFA firearms)^[C] owners are recommended to conspicuously place or engrave a serial number and/ or other marks of identification to aid in investigation or recovery by State or local law enforcement officials in the event of a theft or loss of the privately owned firearm."^[18]

Techniques for marking the serial number and other identifying details on the gun include:^[19]

• dot matrix peening
• engraving using a machine tool
• laser engraving
• roller marking
• stamping or pressing

In the US, manufacturers and importers are required to place identifiers on firearms. The dimensions of the serial number and other identifying details were codified in 2002 in section 27, part 478.92 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

... legibly identify each firearm manufactured or imported as follows:

i. By engraving, casting, stamping (impressing), or otherwise conspicuously placing or causing to be engraved, cast, stamped (impressed) or placed on the frame or receiver thereof an individual serial number. The serial number must be placed in a manner not susceptible of being readily obliterated, altered, or removed, and must not duplicate any serial number placed by you on any other firearm. For firearms manufactured or imported on and after January 30, 2002, the engraving, casting, or stamping (impressing) of the serial number must be to a minimum depth of .003 inch and in a print size no smaller than 1/16 inch; and

ii. By engraving, casting, stamping (impressing), or otherwise conspicuously placing or causing to be engraved, cast, stamped (impressed) or placed on the frame, receiver, or barrel thereof certain additional information. This information must be placed in a manner not susceptible of being readily obliterated, altered, or removed. For firearms manufactured or imported on and after January 30, 2002, the engraving, casting, or stamping (impressing) of this information must be to a minimum depth of .003 inch. The additional information includes:

A. The model, if such designation has been made;

B. The caliber or gauge;

C. Your name (or recognized abbreviation) and also, when applicable, the name of the foreign manufacturer;

D. In the case of a domestically made firearm, the city and State (or recognized abbreviation thereof) where you as the manufacturer maintain your place of business; and

E. In the case of an imported firearm, the name of the country in which it was manufactured and the city and State (or recognized abbreviation thereof) where you as the importer maintain your place of business. For additional requirements relating to imported firearms, see Customs regulations at 19 CFR part 134.^[19][20]

• Automated firearms identification
• Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
• Forensic firearm examination
• Federal Assault Weapons Ban
• Gun law in the United States
• Gun politics in the United States
• Microstamping
• Right to keep and bear arms

• Girard, James E.; Girard, James (2006). Criminalistics: Forensic Science and Crime (Hardcover). Sudbury, Massachusetts, USA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. p. 198. ISBN 0763735299.
• Henshaw, Thomas (1993). The History of Winchester Firearms 1866-1992 (Hardcover). Clinton, New Jersey, USA: Winchester Press. pp. ix, 12, 32, 42, 43, 62, 139, 153, 214. ISBN 0832905038.
• Nordby, Jon J., Editor; James, Stuart H., Editor; Bell, Suzanne, Editor (February 10, 2005). Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques (Hardcover) (2nd ed.). Singapore: Taylor & Francis. p. 407. ISBN 0849327474. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Walker, Robert E. (2013), "Methods Used to Apply Serial Numbers", Cartridges and Firearm Identification, CRC Press, p. 310, ISBN 9781466588813

• US 6886284, Lizotte, Todd E., "Firearm microstamping and micromarking insert for stamping a firearm identification code and serial number into cartridge shell casings and projectiles", published 2005-05-03, assigned to Identification Dynamics LLC 
• Belanger, Rene M., Daniel S. Jones, Sylvain Lagace, Michael McLean, and Homero A. Yasquez. "Method and system for identification of firearms." U.S. Patent Application 12/056,660, filed January 29, 2009.
• Braga, Anthony A.; Cook, Philip J.; Kennedy, David M.; Moore, Mark H. (2002). "The illegal supply of firearms". Crime and Justice. 29: 319–352. doi:10.1086/652223. S2CID 113068444.
• Cook, Philip J.; Braga, Anthony A. (2001). "Comprehensive firearms tracing: strategic and investigative uses of new data on firearms markets". Ariz. L. Rev. 43: 277.
• da Silva, Ladário; Acioly, aulo; dos Santos, Marques (2008). "Recovering obliterated laser engraved serial numbers in firearms". Forensic Science International. 179 (2–3): e63-6. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.05.012. PMID 18662602.
• da Silva Nunes, L. C.; dos Santos, Paulo Acioly Marques (2004). "An application of stereoscopy and image processing in forensics: Recovering obliterated firearms serial number". In Marcano o., Aristides; Paz, Jose Luis (eds.). 5th Iberoamerican Meeting on Optics and 8th Latin American Meeting on Optics. SPIE Proceedings. Vol. 5622. International Society for Optics and Photonics. pp. 208–212. Bibcode:2004SPIE.5622..208D. doi:10.1117/12.590715. S2CID 173182153.
• Glover, Travis Michael; Schilz, Michael R.; Davis, Earl Kenneth; Lococo, Talvin B. (June 27, 2013). "System and method for processing and management of firearm transactions". U.S. Patent Application 13/335,501.
• Hargarten, Stephen W., Trudy A. Karlson, Mallory O'Brien, Jerry Hancock, and Edward Quebbeman. "Characteristics of firearms involved in fatalities." Jama 275, no. 1 (1996): 42-45.
• Leslie, Dennis. "Method and apparatus for detecting and identifying firearms." U.S. Patent Application 11/068,259, filed December 1, 2005.
• Lizotte, Todd E. "Method and apparatus for reading firearm microstamping." U.S. Patent 6,833,911, issued December 21, 2004.
• Maiden, Nicholas R. (2009) "Serial number restoration: Firearm." Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science. (Portsmouth, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons) ISBN 978-0-470-01826-2.
• Maynard, Philip, Kyle Skinner, Matthew Bolton, and Sébastien Moret. "Potential application of liquid dye penetrants for serial number restoration on firearms." Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences 51, no. 6 (2019): 674-684.
• Mongan, A. L. "Visualization of a restored serial number using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)." Journal of Forensic Sciences 41, no. 6 (1996): 1074-1076.
• Nichols, Ronald G. "Firearm and toolmark identification criteria: A review of the literature." Journal of Forensic Sciences 42, no. 3 (1997): 466-474.
• Polk, D. E., and B. C. Giessen. "A new serial number marking system applicable to firearms identification." Journal of Forensic Sciences 20, no. 3 (1975): 501-506.
• Uysal, Serdar, Mustafa Mercan, and Lokman Uzun. "Serial number restoration on polymer surfaces: A survey of recent literature." Forensic Chemistry 20 (2020): 100267.
• Warrier, Varsha, and Rutwik Shedge. "Advances in firearm serial number restoration." The Official Publication of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine 42, no. 1 (2020): 75-76 Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine.
• White, Ryan M., and Robert R. Keller. "Restoration of firearm serial numbers with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)." Forensic Science International 249 (2015): 266-270.