Reply #12: Check it against what?

[Xithras]

Most police departments DO check serial numbers...against their stolen gun lists. There would have been no reason for them to compare the number against a gun that should have been in their evidence locker anyway. They weren't looking for the gun.

It's easy to trace the history of a gun nowadays, where interconnected databases will let you type in a serial number and retrieve the entire documentary history of a weapon. It was a much bigger deal 35-40 years ago, when comparing numbers meant tediously comparing handwritten lists and card files. Back then, it would have taken DAYS for someone to compare the serial number of the shotgun against all of the various lists in the departments posession. If they purchased the shotgun from a legitimate dealer with no inkling as to its history, why would they have invested that kind of time?