TexasCHLforum.com

I exchanged an envelope for a box this week with no paperwork or displays of plastic. Not the first time, probably not the last.

It's a matter of confidence.

- Jim

I don't worry about it.

If you have every bought one item with a credit card that only a firearms owner would buy (ammo, for instance), the information is out there. Not to forget having a CHL and the associated background checks.

If they know you have one firearm, they can get the rest of the information. I'm told that most people will say or do anything for water after three days or so without it.

- Jim

The FFL keeps form 4473s for 20 years or until he goes out of business, then he is supposed to turn then over to BATFE, which keeps them forever.

Of course, fires and floods happen in some cases.

NICS query records are not supposed to be retained, but when John Ashcroft became U.S. Attorney General in 2001, he said that the previous administration had been keeping them. Supposedly the current administration is obeying the law.

In some states, all firearms transactions are recorded by a state agency, or sometimes just handguns. Texas does not have those issues.

- Jim

Rockrz wrote:How do I know if a CHL holder isn't a criminal, and has decided to start living on the dark side with 'ol Darth Vader
after having obtained their CHL???

You can't absolutely be sure. You can't absolutely be sure of anything except God's love, death, and taxes.

But someone who has made it to the age of 21 or older without a criminal record and has a CHL is very unlikely to commit a crime, the way we normally talk about crime.

They may cheat on their taxes or get involved in illegal drugs, insider trading or embezzlement. They are very unlikely to be selling contraband weapons. That is a gangster's game.

- Jim

How do you know that site isn't really run by the feds?

Anyway, your IP address is not an issue. There are plenty of other ways to find out who owns firearms, as I wrote above.

- Jim

All they have to do is review credit card records of people who bought shooting supplies, the customer lists of mail-order places like Midway USA, the security video at stores that sell ammo. And there are probably people who will rat you out if asked. You can't hide.

- Jim

No one can conceal all their actvities, if a federal agency really wants to know and is willing to break the law. It's not worthwhile trying, IMO.

- Jim

You are asking for something that cannot exist. You cannot prove in court that you bought anything from anyone without affidavits sworn in the presence of a notary public, or a transaction carried out through an FFL. Photocopies have no legal weight.

I am still not a lawyer. You need to consult a real lawyer for opinions that you can take to court.

- Jim

Burglars and gangsters do not sell firearms through classified ads or on forums. I don't know where they make their transactions. Maybe where they trade kilos of coke and other contraband.

You can believe that if illegal transactions were carried out on forums, the forums would have been shut down by now.

You can ask to see a CHL if that makes you feel better, or buy only from FFLs.

I have bought a number of firearms on a handshake, and no one has kicked my door down. No one has searched me and run the serial numbers.

If we are to remain free, we must exercise our liberties.

- Jim