Checking the seriel # of a pistol?

Nope. No way to track. The most one can do is track the original buyer and the only way that can be done if the gun was recovered from a crime scene.

But in PA private sales of handguns are regulated and you therefore will have to go through an FFL holder.

You have no legal obligation or responsibility to investigate or determine the history of a firearm you purchase.

In most places, the police have better things to do than to look up firearm serial numbers for citizens unless there is some indication that the firearm may be stolen, like if the person in possession of it is a criminal.

Never buy a gun from someone who you have any reason to suspect may not be the bona fide owner of the gun.

Guns are not "in" someone's name. Only real property and vehicles are registered by the state.

In PA, you need to do pistol transfers at the premises of a licensed firearms dealer OR at the County Sheriff's offices. There is a small fee and the background check of the BUYER is processed, but not a history and not the background of the seller. Your receipt for this service is all you will need to prove the gun's ownership and date of purchase.

There is no official way to get a serial number checked, but if you have a friend in law enforcement you can ask him to run the number. If you dont know anyone in law enforcement also try calling down to the local police or sheriffs office and they might be willing to run the serial number. Mention it to the seller and you will more then likely get your answer as if he knows the gun is stolen he is not going to want to allow you to get the serial off the gun. Just be prepared as they might want to physically see the weapon or that you come down to the station with the serial number written down.

Keep in mind that if the gun does come back as stolen that the police are going to want to know who has the gun so be prepared to tell them .

Also look up your local laws to make sure that neither of you are breaking them as some states require that the buyer have a permit to buy or that you are licensed in your state (firearms ID card) in order for a firearm to change hands.

If you call local LEO, tell them you are interested in the purchase and would like to run the SN against the federal database (NCIC) prior to purchase would they do that for you.

Most will if you agree to help them identify the seller if it was stolen.

However if it is stolen, and you tell the seller, I would like to call a friend to have him run the serial number and they start balking at the idea, leave, and then call you friend and tell them you suspect the seller is selling a stolen one.

Whatever you do, don't walk in to a police station with it unless you are in the mood to get shot. You can try calling your local PD, but even if they don't show it as stolen, it could have been stolen in another city, county, or state. You have no way of knowing, as there is no centralized database for this sort of thing.

Best thing to do is not bother checking at all. Either you trust the guy, or you don't.

If you are skeeerd... then you and that person go to a Gun shop Pay the Fee for them to make the call... then do atf papers on it. or do a personal receipt from the seller with his info and have it notarized I personally wouldn't worry about it as long as you have some type of receipt on it saying you purchased it in good faith therefor believing that there is no attachments with this gun.

Florida has a stolen gun database that is accessible to the public but I don't know about PA

If not you can take it to a police station and they will run it for you

They promise not to record any of the information, honest

I generally do what Metro has suggested

There is no Carfax for guns --- and thank god for that!...... I can just imagine folks I sold a gun to years ago bothering me to ask if the ammunition fluid levels were checked regularly or if it was involved in the disappearance of aunt Molly.....

Just get a receipt and forget about it.... If it shot somebody 15 years ago then whats that got to do with you? - Nothing! --- Relax and just buy it........

If you have a friend in law enforcement get the number and ask him if he would run it.....or take the number to a police station and ask to run the number to see if it is stolen be fore you buy it..or if you dont care just buy it and hope it all works out! I did that once and it came back to bite me!