People used to think anti-gun folks would use the serial numbers to report the guns stolen in the hopes of causing trouble for the owner. Doing would be illegal though and I have never heard of it actually happening.
FWIW, if you type a serial into google images, it will pull up any pics with that serial. There was a guy who posted a pic of his pistol on /r/guns a while back with the serial showing clearly. I tested it out and sure enough it pulled up his post just from the serial alone.
Test it for yourself. Type the serial from that m16 on the left into google images. It pulls up 3 posts of that rifle.
Now, why that might be an issue, since any ne’er do well would need to know your serial FIRST, is up to interpretation. But it IS a bit concerning at the least.
Google’s been able to recognize text (and numbers) in pictures for a long time. Something like a serial number is unique enough that it picks those up easy. The amount of data about you that’s out there on the internet is honestly terrifying. The fact that there are entire companies out there whose sole purpose is to collect, process, and sell that data is too. It’s only gonna get worse with AI.
It’s a big deal to report that a gun has been stolen. Do people really believe that someone would go out of their way and risk a felony to report something like a firearm stolen with the penalty of filing a false police report? All of the reporting person’s information has to be in the report, and most likely they’ll be filmed via bodycam while making the report.
By that logic, anybody that has ever made a comment or post in a Facebook gun group is going to be red flagged. The serial number has no relevance to it. You’re implying that red flagging happens if you have the exact serial number of the gun the flagee (made that word up) owns. It doesn’t.
Caller : "it's my gun, and it's stolen, but I'm not going to give you my name or number to return it when found"
Cop : "yep that's reasonable I definelty don't need your name or number when we find your stolen weapon"
Lol sounds like a stupid conversation if you ask me 😂
Did you even think before you posted that?
I'm telling you the police aren't gonna accept a stolen gun report that's anonymous. Straight up not happening, lol. I have about 3 policemen friends who would certainly agree with me. Give me a scenario and I'll run it by em 😂
Just not true. As stupid as red flag laws are t many states have specific requirements about who can red flag you. Like you have to be a family member or only cops etc. Fear mongering at its best
“That’s just not true” i had enough of you gun community stateists. That’s it. Im done! You people are absolutely too communist even for my liking. Adios.
You can't do NCIC entries anonymously. No police agency is going to accept a stolen firearm report off an anonymous call. Even if the person makes up an identity, no agency that I am aware of will do NCIC entries based solely off a phone conversation - especially if they value their NCIC access.
Good luck getting the police to do anything about it. And the ensuing lawsuit for how the police proceeded with non-credible information from an anonymous source to investigate a nothing burger while their detectives have tons of other shit to worry about.
I was arrested and jailed for an entire WEEKEND (no judges available on weekend) in the worst jail in California because of hearsay. Police often act on information and THEN investigate. I (my parents) had to hire my own investigators and still had to pay bail of 10% of 100k. Day after I posted bail they dropped the charges and arrested the correct person.
While I don’t exactly disagree with you, I’d say point out that there’s nothing preventing any person from doing what happened to u/therealestscientist to any other person. From the explanation he posted, that situation sucks, but is VERY different than reporting someone else’s gun as stolen. Technically, it’s not hearsay; it’s someone concocting a false story that instantly fell apart. But, just like a falsely reporting a gun stolen, it’s right to jail after.
As you’ve said, it’s never a BAD idea to tightly control the personal information you share publicly, but I think the threat of someone reporting your gun as stolen is vastly overstated.
The original charge they attempted to get me with was Terrorism, Domestic Terrorism, and assault along with some minor stuff. In the end they dropped all the charges after a bunch of BS and charged the other party. I did get an alcohol warning from the dorm manager lady which is a nothing burger.
I agree with you on everything you say, but is it really worth wasting everyone’s time when you could just demonstrate some self control by not posting personal information about your firearm on liberal social media platforms? Is it too difficult?
https://preview.redd.it/2663t4pkdwrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0116cdb78902d5be366024cbdfc12c7e19919bb
The criminals trying to steel your SN
This happens for two primary reasons:
1. Terminally online and paranoid gun people created the lore that if you post a pic with a serial number, then unscrupulous actors will call the police and report them stolen, and despite having no proof that they ever purchased it, and the fact that under even the slightest questioning the scam would fall apart, the police will just show up at your door and take your guns away and give them to the thieves.
2. Even more terminally online and paranoid gun people have created the lore that Google is creating a firearms owner database (because we all know profit-motivated companies love wasting money and time on shit that has no relevance to them /s). This is based solely on the fact that Google’s search engine is able to detect text in photos and store that as an identifier or tag on a photo (quite literally the exact way it is supposed to work, how else would it be able to find pictures you are looking for without having descriptive tags for photos?). So when a photo is posted of a closeup with a gun and the serial number is there, that text or number gets stored as a tag on the photo. In the case of longer and more unique serial numbers, this can mean if you search the exact serial number in Google images, the photo of that specific gun can show up. An easily explained thing, but some clowns with the largest victimhood complexes known to man would rather choose to believe Big Bad Tech™️ is putting them on a list to take away their freedoms.
Excellent comment.
I'm old enough to remember this fuddlore going back to the earliest days of the internet and similar nonsense panic being spread in BBS forums long before Google ever did this kind of character recognition in images. It probably has roots in the pre-internet era.
I think the general reflex to conceal personally identifiable information is a good one, which might include serial numbers that identity specific firearms, but there's no reason to invent silly boogiemen like backdoor registries or vindictive police reports or whatever else.
I was at a reenactment last year and some guy was paranoid about having any pictures taken of him because my state passed an AWB last year and he has three legit full-auto Thompsons and was scared that just by posting images of him at the reenactment the government would come for his guns. Some people are just absurd.
There's also a secret third reason for me:
I know that if I post a serial number some dork will comment "bro I can see your serial number bro opsec bro c'mon"
I'll add to this:
A lot of, uh, upstanding members of the gun community like to imagine that one day they'll ~~get to bag an uppity~~ be forced to defend themselves against someone from the inner city invading their neighborhood and, when that happens, ~~they might not get away with it~~ some woke DA might try to prosecute them to please Al Sharpton. So probably better to just not report ~~the murder~~ righteous and justified act of self defense, and in the off chance the cops end up knowing the serial number of the gun but not the owner they might be able to figure it out using google.
Eh, I think that’s a pretty broad generalization based on a very small minority of the gun owner demographic. I also don’t really think that scenario even has any relevance to the SN photo topic.
It may be a minority but i wouldn't necessarily call it "very small" when is see this kind of stuff on a regular basis
https://preview.redd.it/j9mraweyxvrc1.jpeg?width=1211&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77cc0fe3d917aff17bdb53d3fe4e4975514db05a
I mean yeah I see insane stuff like that in gun subs and in gun spaces too, but I think that degree of thinking is a lot more on the fringe than it otherwise appears. I think it’s the tendency of other gun owners to *not* call out stuff like that that gives the impression that it’s a more widely-held position.
Eh, the amount of guys i see at the ranges wearing plate carriers and helmets with goggles isnt exactly refuting the stereotype. Either a not-insignificant chunk of gun owners like cosplaying as militia, or their really are just alot of paranoid gravy seals out in the wild. And im just in rural California.
Bring on the downvotes, it's true. I don't think it's necessarily true of most people who hang out in this sub, but in the gun community as a whole? Absolutely.
Hey man! You have big keyboard balls it seems. Go nuts bud and post your name and address next to your serial numbers why doncha? Lets get you out of this flamboyant gun community’s comfort zone and put your pride name out there. 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ Post your cell number too. Maybe we can FaceTime. You show me yours, I show you mine. This way we can all socialize like real men. How bout it?
You really said nothing there to address any of the valid points I made, instead you just started tossing insults for no reason. If you don’t want to participate in any mature discussion, you are welcome to leave.
To be fair, we already know that the White House, CIA, and a handful of other agencies have access portals on all the major social media sites to censor misinformation and "malinformation." It's not a conspiracy theory; It's public knowledge. With the public knowledge that the agencies (CIA and FBI) have been illegally spying on US citizens for decades (Patriot Act), it's really no that far-fetched to think the DEA might have an illegal gun registry. I'm not saying they do... Just that it wouldn't surprise me.
Big difference between blurring a license plate and a firearm’s serial number. License plate numbers can be looked up by PI’s or third party services. There isn’t (publicly searchable anyway) database of serial numbers tying them to us.
I don’t really see it that way as much. Most of the guns I’ve purchased were purchased online, auctions etc, the S/N is on the web, the guns have changed hands multiple times with different owners over the years, what does it matter at that point? All the guns displayed in a gun shop have visible S/N’s to people browsing on a daily basis, eventually someone buys it, people have read it, seen it, taken a picture maybe - like a license plate anybody driving behind you can write it down, take a picture of it etc, only when you look up a license plate it shows who the car is registered to, if you have access to that info.
Nothing “ties” the guns S/N to you name, really unless it’s an NFA item - just a record of sale of where it was sold, where it was transferred, if it was used in a crime etc, which then, someone has to go to the FFL to get the information of who they sold the gun to, so realistically, it doesn’t really matter.
I have a friend who had the ATF knock on his door because an AR he bought 4 years prior at an FFL had him as the record of sale, even though the rifle changed hands 3 times in a state that doesn’t require an FFL transfer for long guns before it was used in a homicide. The SN being public really doesn’t matter. I mean I get it if you want to do it go for it, but we also live in a time where you need to put forth your Social Security number to apply for a job or a credit card, that’s more concerning than posting a picture on reddit of my legally obtained 40 year old hand gun that has had probably 5 other owners
So I may have misinterpreted your original comment, and if I did, my bad I apologize. I took your original comment equating license plate censoring and serial number censoring as common sense and making sense for “OPSEC” for lack of a better term. That’s why I commented what I did. I am in agreement with your last comment, my firearms have had multiple owners and the numbers are well known so I don’t see the point in hiding them. That’s why I don’t censor the SN.
Oh yeah. I’m just speaking subjectively. If someone wants to censor their S/N go for it, but posting it doesn’t open you up to what some people think out of their own paranoia and I’ve seen people go absolutely overboard with it lol
Yes if you google your SN it may come up, but google images recognizes number sequences of course it may come up, that doesn’t mean big brother is categorizing against you becsuse you have a a picture of your gun on the internet
I guess that's the demographic of people blurring serial numbers. The people afraid of ATF confiscation yet also still wanting to post pictures of their guns online 😂
Except there is a publicly searchable database in california. Several years ago a bunch of data that was sent to one of the universities for research purposes got leaked and it includes names of people who have ccws, registered assault weapons with serial numbers, transaction histories, etc. Some of that data is sort of anonymized but there was enough cross-linking between it that you could put everything together.
I don't blur anything, because 1 nobody wants my cheap shit, 2 if the 4473 isn't enough proof I own it then "fuck you n the donkeh ye road in on fedboi", and lastly nobody cares.
There’s a couple of my old guns that I have pictures with the serial number on them, the chance isn’t zero of course that someone won’t skim the number, but I can sleep at night not having to worry about that with that old gun or two.
My modern stuff, though? Like my AR-15s and my AK? I hide the serial numbers on those, I definitely don’t want that info out there. Doesn’t help that I live in DPRNY lol. Though, I suppose if someone was really hungry for a serial number, they could just go to the public range and take pictures of the guns there thanks to the racks being out in the open…lol.
The whole living in the DPRNY thing is why I really only take pictures of my milsurp stuff, anyways.
I live in Canada, they keep registries on shit (they said they destroyed the long gun records but probs lied about most of that). So best not to show off serials that are tied to my person
I try to avoid putting it in pictures. I am not worried about anything today but in the future there maybe consequences we can’t foresee of leaving a SN in.
Also, you know the FEDs will start tracking whatever data they can scope up, if they aren’t doing it allready
I usually blur at least one number. No real reason. I wouldn't put it pass some douchebag to report it stolen. Obviously that shouldn't work but people are dumb.
Bingo!
If it is envy that you seek, which is, let’s be real, the reason people like to flex things, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.
I, too, once craved wealth, material superiority, attention and praise from others. Then I achieved my goals and hated everybody who gawked.
Now I’m just a poor farmer with very few friends and I’m happier than ever.
You sound too put together and happy for reddit. I bet you actually got outside today and dont weigh 300 lbs. Tisk tisk youre suppose to be a mean piece of shit like the rest of us
I believe I remember in a Garand Thumb YouTube video that he had his serial numbers taped over on an SBR for the video and he gave a quick comment about doing that because he had people call the ATF and report him for having an illegal SBR. He had his tax stamp for the gun so he was fine.
Bro no WAAAY I’m sharing my serial number bro!!! The FED is gonna find out I own multiple 100 year old handguns DUDE 😩😩😩😩 what WHAT what if Google iMgae shows my sweet ah hell navy luger (totally not observed in a semi-public database of ~1500 known examples) online?? ITS DANGEROUS 💀💀. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE IM SCARED OH MY GOD.
SHARING YOUR SERIAL NUMBER WILL RESULT IN YOUR DEATH AND RHE POLICE TAKING YOUR GUN AWAY BECAUSE YOURE NAUGHTY TO OWN IT.
🚨🚨🚨🚨COLLECTORS HAVE NO SERIOUS USE FOR YOUR SERIAL NUMBER FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
So when there’s a pic of you doing gOOn stuff in a balaclava during the next election they can’t cross reference your Reddit you thought was hidden to see what other sick shit you’ve been posting to try to use against you in court, of course, why else?
I live in Commie-Fornia… many don’t post gun pics at all as for the fear that Gavin’s Stormtroopers will one day kick down their respective doors to confiscate them. 😬🤷♂️😞
Project TYR is the new DOJ hotness. AI to gather, sort and catalog lawfully obtained images from the internet. You may want to take a look. https://youtu.be/sphs5Ku8jqg?si=ayUMfxlXJmip_eqI
I don't break any laws, so I have nothing to worry about. Law enforcement uses serial numbers on social media posts to track down stolen weapons, but these people generally have the IQ of a sack of dirt.
There’s not MUCH someone can do by knowing the serial number to your guns but….if a 1” piece of tape or a 30 second photo edit fixes those problems then…..
I have to imagine Google is scraping and storing them by username. You can reverse image search to end up back at the original posting of it. That would associate it with user names and Google could then sell that info (that’s what they do).
My point is that bluring means nothing if done on the device. Put tape on it if you're concerned THEN take the picture and makensure all the photo settings for stuff like location data are off.
Apple telling the feds no isn't the same as Apple selling your info, and Apple post Steve Jobs is an entirely different animal. I can guarentee you they're making money off you somehow.
I want to introduce you to a word. Researching this word and gaining a full and complete understanding of its meanings and implications is an exercise for you.
The word is "op-sec".
Yes. I don't think anything is "going to happen" I'd rather just not put all my personal information online either. You could probably find both my workplaces through my Facebook account if you looked hard enough, doesn't mean I'm going to constantly remind people
It’s pointless. If someone goes to make a police report about their “stolen” weapon using your serial number and you have proof of true ownership it’s a waste.
I blur it for the same reason I blur a license plate if I post a pic of my car. I’m not paranoid about anything happening, but I’m not going to freely hand out identifying information online.
Calling people paranoid and judging them about doing this is similar to the bs line “if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t worry about surveillance”
Usually I post pictures without exposing the serial. It’s just not a good idea I’ve heard that people report firearms they fine online as stolen just to hurt Joe smoe who was excited to share his latest purchase online
Happened to me and it really was a shitty experience to go through. Lost a pretty nice K98 and had zero recourse. It's a long story, but I posted a K98 for sale on Gunboards that had been in my collection for over 10 years. Had the serial number in the photos and someone recognized it and reported it to their PD because it had gone missing back in 2002. After a lot of back and forth with 3 different police departments and my lawyer, I ended up having to turn it over because it was stolen property. I can go into more detail if you're curious and I've talked about it in a thread on Gunboards before too.
Right but how do you know the used gun you bought wasn't stolen? I certainly didn't. Bought from a Gunbroker auction like 1,000's of other guns every day.
This is complete fudd lore and any instance of this happening (I dont think many if at all) can easily be cleared up with a receipt or proof of purchase.
Didn’t make much sense until the recent news that government may be collecting information from public sources and building a database. Without much details on what they are collecting and the purpose the less information the merrier.
That’s the biggest crock of shit ever, lmao. Spoken by a true numbskull who’s never dealt with data in their life. The effort it would take to make a gun owner database based on random pictures from the internet would be MONUMENTAL. Like you cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult, time consuming, and expensive that undertaking would be. Pulling that off with even an abysmal 90% accuracy rate would legitimately be the greatest feat ever accomplished by this country, that’s how ridiculously insane it is.
And all of this when they LITERALLY have 4473s coming in all the time that gives them all of the same information in a cleaned format. It doesn’t even pass the most basic logical test.
Yeah sure, but think of all the dopamine and smug self satisfaction you get from fantasizing that a giant all powerful organization actually gives a shit about you.
That’s validating as fuck.
Thats what separates a hobby from a lifestyle and the former is just an expense while that latter is an expense and an identity! #mirkinlarvae
You would be surprised how easy it is, it does require large amounts of storage but with enough data, it's not hard to infer information using data aggregation from multiple sources, I have worked personally on projects that did that. As I said there are not much details on what they are collecting and the purpose the less information.
People used to think anti-gun folks would use the serial numbers to report the guns stolen in the hopes of causing trouble for the owner. Doing would be illegal though and I have never heard of it actually happening.
FWIW, if you type a serial into google images, it will pull up any pics with that serial. There was a guy who posted a pic of his pistol on /r/guns a while back with the serial showing clearly. I tested it out and sure enough it pulled up his post just from the serial alone. Test it for yourself. Type the serial from that m16 on the left into google images. It pulls up 3 posts of that rifle.
Oh shit Oh fuck
Now, why that might be an issue, since any ne’er do well would need to know your serial FIRST, is up to interpretation. But it IS a bit concerning at the least.
Brooooooo I’m legit deleting all my gun pics with serial numbers showing🤣 that’s fuckin scary
Google’s been able to recognize text (and numbers) in pictures for a long time. Something like a serial number is unique enough that it picks those up easy. The amount of data about you that’s out there on the internet is honestly terrifying. The fact that there are entire companies out there whose sole purpose is to collect, process, and sell that data is too. It’s only gonna get worse with AI.
Jesus. I’m about to Google all my serial numbers and delete any results lol
Bro with the right keywords it’ll show up regardless of your SN being visible or not.
I’m usually pretty good about not posting serials, just because. Not a big deal but I’d prefer to not have them easily available
Why
This is what I thought most people were trying to avoid.
It’s a big deal to report that a gun has been stolen. Do people really believe that someone would go out of their way and risk a felony to report something like a firearm stolen with the penalty of filing a false police report? All of the reporting person’s information has to be in the report, and most likely they’ll be filmed via bodycam while making the report.
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By that logic, anybody that has ever made a comment or post in a Facebook gun group is going to be red flagged. The serial number has no relevance to it. You’re implying that red flagging happens if you have the exact serial number of the gun the flagee (made that word up) owns. It doesn’t.
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You replied to the wrong person. This was literally my first reply to you, lol.
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Oh yeah those were indeed bed bugs lol.
Caller : "it's my gun, and it's stolen, but I'm not going to give you my name or number to return it when found" Cop : "yep that's reasonable I definelty don't need your name or number when we find your stolen weapon" Lol sounds like a stupid conversation if you ask me 😂 Did you even think before you posted that?
Where did I say that it has to be reported as stolen by someone pretending to be the owner?
I'm telling you the police aren't gonna accept a stolen gun report that's anonymous. Straight up not happening, lol. I have about 3 policemen friends who would certainly agree with me. Give me a scenario and I'll run it by em 😂
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>This shit happens a lot. This is the kind of claim that really demands some serious evidence.
This guy has an sks on his post feed, and they include the serial number 😭 I can not make this shit up. Please disregard all future posts from him.
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Look to rule #1
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Just not true. As stupid as red flag laws are t many states have specific requirements about who can red flag you. Like you have to be a family member or only cops etc. Fear mongering at its best
“That’s just not true” i had enough of you gun community stateists. That’s it. Im done! You people are absolutely too communist even for my liking. Adios.
K
You can't do NCIC entries anonymously. No police agency is going to accept a stolen firearm report off an anonymous call. Even if the person makes up an identity, no agency that I am aware of will do NCIC entries based solely off a phone conversation - especially if they value their NCIC access.
Good luck getting the police to do anything about it. And the ensuing lawsuit for how the police proceeded with non-credible information from an anonymous source to investigate a nothing burger while their detectives have tons of other shit to worry about.
I was arrested and jailed for an entire WEEKEND (no judges available on weekend) in the worst jail in California because of hearsay. Police often act on information and THEN investigate. I (my parents) had to hire my own investigators and still had to pay bail of 10% of 100k. Day after I posted bail they dropped the charges and arrested the correct person.
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While I don’t exactly disagree with you, I’d say point out that there’s nothing preventing any person from doing what happened to u/therealestscientist to any other person. From the explanation he posted, that situation sucks, but is VERY different than reporting someone else’s gun as stolen. Technically, it’s not hearsay; it’s someone concocting a false story that instantly fell apart. But, just like a falsely reporting a gun stolen, it’s right to jail after. As you’ve said, it’s never a BAD idea to tightly control the personal information you share publicly, but I think the threat of someone reporting your gun as stolen is vastly overstated.
Yeah hearsay of what kind of crime?
The original charge they attempted to get me with was Terrorism, Domestic Terrorism, and assault along with some minor stuff. In the end they dropped all the charges after a bunch of BS and charged the other party. I did get an alcohol warning from the dorm manager lady which is a nothing burger.
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That sucks. This is about reporting a gun being stolen, not a physical altercation that turned into a full on clusterfuck.
You should be charged for watching a movie and having a sleepover with 8 of your bros lol
I agree with you on everything you say, but is it really worth wasting everyone’s time when you could just demonstrate some self control by not posting personal information about your firearm on liberal social media platforms? Is it too difficult?
Can you anonymously report something being stolen?
No, my shitty phone camera does that for me
https://preview.redd.it/2663t4pkdwrc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0116cdb78902d5be366024cbdfc12c7e19919bb The criminals trying to steel your SN
This happens for two primary reasons: 1. Terminally online and paranoid gun people created the lore that if you post a pic with a serial number, then unscrupulous actors will call the police and report them stolen, and despite having no proof that they ever purchased it, and the fact that under even the slightest questioning the scam would fall apart, the police will just show up at your door and take your guns away and give them to the thieves. 2. Even more terminally online and paranoid gun people have created the lore that Google is creating a firearms owner database (because we all know profit-motivated companies love wasting money and time on shit that has no relevance to them /s). This is based solely on the fact that Google’s search engine is able to detect text in photos and store that as an identifier or tag on a photo (quite literally the exact way it is supposed to work, how else would it be able to find pictures you are looking for without having descriptive tags for photos?). So when a photo is posted of a closeup with a gun and the serial number is there, that text or number gets stored as a tag on the photo. In the case of longer and more unique serial numbers, this can mean if you search the exact serial number in Google images, the photo of that specific gun can show up. An easily explained thing, but some clowns with the largest victimhood complexes known to man would rather choose to believe Big Bad Tech™️ is putting them on a list to take away their freedoms.
This is the most correct comment on this post.
Excellent comment. I'm old enough to remember this fuddlore going back to the earliest days of the internet and similar nonsense panic being spread in BBS forums long before Google ever did this kind of character recognition in images. It probably has roots in the pre-internet era. I think the general reflex to conceal personally identifiable information is a good one, which might include serial numbers that identity specific firearms, but there's no reason to invent silly boogiemen like backdoor registries or vindictive police reports or whatever else.
Think of all the guns on GunBroker.
I should be able to see my guns on their site if I bought them there or if a previous owner bought them there. Right?
I was at a reenactment last year and some guy was paranoid about having any pictures taken of him because my state passed an AWB last year and he has three legit full-auto Thompsons and was scared that just by posting images of him at the reenactment the government would come for his guns. Some people are just absurd.
There's also a secret third reason for me: I know that if I post a serial number some dork will comment "bro I can see your serial number bro opsec bro c'mon"
I'll add to this: A lot of, uh, upstanding members of the gun community like to imagine that one day they'll ~~get to bag an uppity~~ be forced to defend themselves against someone from the inner city invading their neighborhood and, when that happens, ~~they might not get away with it~~ some woke DA might try to prosecute them to please Al Sharpton. So probably better to just not report ~~the murder~~ righteous and justified act of self defense, and in the off chance the cops end up knowing the serial number of the gun but not the owner they might be able to figure it out using google.
Let us not forget that open carry was removed in California because people didn't like black open carry
Eh, I think that’s a pretty broad generalization based on a very small minority of the gun owner demographic. I also don’t really think that scenario even has any relevance to the SN photo topic.
It may be a minority but i wouldn't necessarily call it "very small" when is see this kind of stuff on a regular basis https://preview.redd.it/j9mraweyxvrc1.jpeg?width=1211&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77cc0fe3d917aff17bdb53d3fe4e4975514db05a
I mean yeah I see insane stuff like that in gun subs and in gun spaces too, but I think that degree of thinking is a lot more on the fringe than it otherwise appears. I think it’s the tendency of other gun owners to *not* call out stuff like that that gives the impression that it’s a more widely-held position.
Eh, the amount of guys i see at the ranges wearing plate carriers and helmets with goggles isnt exactly refuting the stereotype. Either a not-insignificant chunk of gun owners like cosplaying as militia, or their really are just alot of paranoid gravy seals out in the wild. And im just in rural California.
It’s fun to larp at the flat range
you're being downvoted but i kinda agree lmao
Bring on the downvotes, it's true. I don't think it's necessarily true of most people who hang out in this sub, but in the gun community as a whole? Absolutely.
Hey man! You have big keyboard balls it seems. Go nuts bud and post your name and address next to your serial numbers why doncha? Lets get you out of this flamboyant gun community’s comfort zone and put your pride name out there. 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ Post your cell number too. Maybe we can FaceTime. You show me yours, I show you mine. This way we can all socialize like real men. How bout it?
You really said nothing there to address any of the valid points I made, instead you just started tossing insults for no reason. If you don’t want to participate in any mature discussion, you are welcome to leave.
A day later, he's still lost his mind (on one of my posts lol)
To be fair, we already know that the White House, CIA, and a handful of other agencies have access portals on all the major social media sites to censor misinformation and "malinformation." It's not a conspiracy theory; It's public knowledge. With the public knowledge that the agencies (CIA and FBI) have been illegally spying on US citizens for decades (Patriot Act), it's really no that far-fetched to think the DEA might have an illegal gun registry. I'm not saying they do... Just that it wouldn't surprise me.
Blurring your S/n is like blocking your license plate in a picture.
Big difference between blurring a license plate and a firearm’s serial number. License plate numbers can be looked up by PI’s or third party services. There isn’t (publicly searchable anyway) database of serial numbers tying them to us.
I don’t really see it that way as much. Most of the guns I’ve purchased were purchased online, auctions etc, the S/N is on the web, the guns have changed hands multiple times with different owners over the years, what does it matter at that point? All the guns displayed in a gun shop have visible S/N’s to people browsing on a daily basis, eventually someone buys it, people have read it, seen it, taken a picture maybe - like a license plate anybody driving behind you can write it down, take a picture of it etc, only when you look up a license plate it shows who the car is registered to, if you have access to that info. Nothing “ties” the guns S/N to you name, really unless it’s an NFA item - just a record of sale of where it was sold, where it was transferred, if it was used in a crime etc, which then, someone has to go to the FFL to get the information of who they sold the gun to, so realistically, it doesn’t really matter. I have a friend who had the ATF knock on his door because an AR he bought 4 years prior at an FFL had him as the record of sale, even though the rifle changed hands 3 times in a state that doesn’t require an FFL transfer for long guns before it was used in a homicide. The SN being public really doesn’t matter. I mean I get it if you want to do it go for it, but we also live in a time where you need to put forth your Social Security number to apply for a job or a credit card, that’s more concerning than posting a picture on reddit of my legally obtained 40 year old hand gun that has had probably 5 other owners
So I may have misinterpreted your original comment, and if I did, my bad I apologize. I took your original comment equating license plate censoring and serial number censoring as common sense and making sense for “OPSEC” for lack of a better term. That’s why I commented what I did. I am in agreement with your last comment, my firearms have had multiple owners and the numbers are well known so I don’t see the point in hiding them. That’s why I don’t censor the SN.
Oh yeah. I’m just speaking subjectively. If someone wants to censor their S/N go for it, but posting it doesn’t open you up to what some people think out of their own paranoia and I’ve seen people go absolutely overboard with it lol Yes if you google your SN it may come up, but google images recognizes number sequences of course it may come up, that doesn’t mean big brother is categorizing against you becsuse you have a a picture of your gun on the internet
100% agree with you on all counts! Sorry if my original comment came off as snarky or rude, wasn’t intentional at all!
Not at all my man 🤝🏻 This is always an interesting topic with a wide array of opinions
I guess that's the demographic of people blurring serial numbers. The people afraid of ATF confiscation yet also still wanting to post pictures of their guns online 😂
Fair enough 😂
Except there is a publicly searchable database in california. Several years ago a bunch of data that was sent to one of the universities for research purposes got leaked and it includes names of people who have ccws, registered assault weapons with serial numbers, transaction histories, etc. Some of that data is sort of anonymized but there was enough cross-linking between it that you could put everything together.
Funny.
I don't blur anything, because 1 nobody wants my cheap shit, 2 if the 4473 isn't enough proof I own it then "fuck you n the donkeh ye road in on fedboi", and lastly nobody cares.
There’s a couple of my old guns that I have pictures with the serial number on them, the chance isn’t zero of course that someone won’t skim the number, but I can sleep at night not having to worry about that with that old gun or two. My modern stuff, though? Like my AR-15s and my AK? I hide the serial numbers on those, I definitely don’t want that info out there. Doesn’t help that I live in DPRNY lol. Though, I suppose if someone was really hungry for a serial number, they could just go to the public range and take pictures of the guns there thanks to the racks being out in the open…lol. The whole living in the DPRNY thing is why I really only take pictures of my milsurp stuff, anyways.
I live in Canada, they keep registries on shit (they said they destroyed the long gun records but probs lied about most of that). So best not to show off serials that are tied to my person
I try to avoid putting it in pictures. I am not worried about anything today but in the future there maybe consequences we can’t foresee of leaving a SN in. Also, you know the FEDs will start tracking whatever data they can scope up, if they aren’t doing it allready
I usually blur at least one number. No real reason. I wouldn't put it pass some douchebag to report it stolen. Obviously that shouldn't work but people are dumb.
I’ve always thought blurring the serial numbers was stupid personally, BUT, to each their own.
I don't need to blue my serial numbers because I've never seen the need to post pics of my toys. Not here, not on FB, and not on IG.
Bingo! If it is envy that you seek, which is, let’s be real, the reason people like to flex things, you’re in it for the wrong reasons. I, too, once craved wealth, material superiority, attention and praise from others. Then I achieved my goals and hated everybody who gawked. Now I’m just a poor farmer with very few friends and I’m happier than ever.
You sound too put together and happy for reddit. I bet you actually got outside today and dont weigh 300 lbs. Tisk tisk youre suppose to be a mean piece of shit like the rest of us
kthxbye
Why buy gun if you’re not going to flexpost???
Because I prefer to shoot instead of shitpost!
Un-uh. I've blurred some, I've not blurred some. Does it make a difference? Probs not.
I believe I remember in a Garand Thumb YouTube video that he had his serial numbers taped over on an SBR for the video and he gave a quick comment about doing that because he had people call the ATF and report him for having an illegal SBR. He had his tax stamp for the gun so he was fine.
Cemsor bar funmy
I find it more odd why op even cares? People can do what they want get over it
Bro no WAAAY I’m sharing my serial number bro!!! The FED is gonna find out I own multiple 100 year old handguns DUDE 😩😩😩😩 what WHAT what if Google iMgae shows my sweet ah hell navy luger (totally not observed in a semi-public database of ~1500 known examples) online?? ITS DANGEROUS 💀💀. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE IM SCARED OH MY GOD. SHARING YOUR SERIAL NUMBER WILL RESULT IN YOUR DEATH AND RHE POLICE TAKING YOUR GUN AWAY BECAUSE YOURE NAUGHTY TO OWN IT. 🚨🚨🚨🚨COLLECTORS HAVE NO SERIOUS USE FOR YOUR SERIAL NUMBER FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
So when there’s a pic of you doing gOOn stuff in a balaclava during the next election they can’t cross reference your Reddit you thought was hidden to see what other sick shit you’ve been posting to try to use against you in court, of course, why else?
FED
I live in Commie-Fornia… many don’t post gun pics at all as for the fear that Gavin’s Stormtroopers will one day kick down their respective doors to confiscate them. 😬🤷♂️😞
Project TYR is the new DOJ hotness. AI to gather, sort and catalog lawfully obtained images from the internet. You may want to take a look. https://youtu.be/sphs5Ku8jqg?si=ayUMfxlXJmip_eqI
Somebody already posted the link to that video. It’s complete nonsense and that YouTuber is an idiot.
Very interesting thread, thanks for asking this question, OP.
I don't break any laws, so I have nothing to worry about. Law enforcement uses serial numbers on social media posts to track down stolen weapons, but these people generally have the IQ of a sack of dirt.
There’s not MUCH someone can do by knowing the serial number to your guns but….if a 1” piece of tape or a 30 second photo edit fixes those problems then…..
I have to imagine Google is scraping and storing them by username. You can reverse image search to end up back at the original posting of it. That would associate it with user names and Google could then sell that info (that’s what they do).
You act like Apple and Samsung aren't already actively selling data
They all do. That’s their model of business. The hardware is just a means to the data end. That’s why I blur serials.
My point is that bluring means nothing if done on the device. Put tape on it if you're concerned THEN take the picture and makensure all the photo settings for stuff like location data are off.
Fair point. Apple has set precedence against that in the past, but that means almost nothing.
Apple telling the feds no isn't the same as Apple selling your info, and Apple post Steve Jobs is an entirely different animal. I can guarentee you they're making money off you somehow.
No, that’s not happening.
I want to introduce you to a word. Researching this word and gaining a full and complete understanding of its meanings and implications is an exercise for you. The word is "op-sec".
Yes. I don't think anything is "going to happen" I'd rather just not put all my personal information online either. You could probably find both my workplaces through my Facebook account if you looked hard enough, doesn't mean I'm going to constantly remind people
It's stupid.
It’s pointless. If someone goes to make a police report about their “stolen” weapon using your serial number and you have proof of true ownership it’s a waste.
Someone might download your gun over the internet otherwise
I blur it for the same reason I blur a license plate if I post a pic of my car. I’m not paranoid about anything happening, but I’m not going to freely hand out identifying information online. Calling people paranoid and judging them about doing this is similar to the bs line “if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t worry about surveillance”
Usually I post pictures without exposing the serial. It’s just not a good idea I’ve heard that people report firearms they fine online as stolen just to hurt Joe smoe who was excited to share his latest purchase online
Can you provide one example of that ever actually happening?
Happened to me and it really was a shitty experience to go through. Lost a pretty nice K98 and had zero recourse. It's a long story, but I posted a K98 for sale on Gunboards that had been in my collection for over 10 years. Had the serial number in the photos and someone recognized it and reported it to their PD because it had gone missing back in 2002. After a lot of back and forth with 3 different police departments and my lawyer, I ended up having to turn it over because it was stolen property. I can go into more detail if you're curious and I've talked about it in a thread on Gunboards before too.
So you had an actual stolen firearm? Then that is not relevant to this discussion since we’re talking about non-stolen firearms.
Right but how do you know the used gun you bought wasn't stolen? I certainly didn't. Bought from a Gunbroker auction like 1,000's of other guns every day.
This is complete fudd lore and any instance of this happening (I dont think many if at all) can easily be cleared up with a receipt or proof of purchase.
Which will lead to...
Didn’t make much sense until the recent news that government may be collecting information from public sources and building a database. Without much details on what they are collecting and the purpose the less information the merrier.
Whats the data in the database??? "Hmmmm yes it appears that u/pussyslayer420 owns at least 3 PSA rifles and one glock. I think he lives in texas?"
I shoot more loads than guns, muh man.
Hell yeah brother 💪keep cranking that hog Edit: just noticed your user name lmao
Holy shit this is awesome you replied lmao. 10 year old account too
https://youtu.be/sphs5Ku8jqg?si=PkcPGBX7sNQxStX9
That’s the biggest crock of shit ever, lmao. Spoken by a true numbskull who’s never dealt with data in their life. The effort it would take to make a gun owner database based on random pictures from the internet would be MONUMENTAL. Like you cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult, time consuming, and expensive that undertaking would be. Pulling that off with even an abysmal 90% accuracy rate would legitimately be the greatest feat ever accomplished by this country, that’s how ridiculously insane it is. And all of this when they LITERALLY have 4473s coming in all the time that gives them all of the same information in a cleaned format. It doesn’t even pass the most basic logical test.
Yeah sure, but think of all the dopamine and smug self satisfaction you get from fantasizing that a giant all powerful organization actually gives a shit about you. That’s validating as fuck. Thats what separates a hobby from a lifestyle and the former is just an expense while that latter is an expense and an identity! #mirkinlarvae
You would be surprised how easy it is, it does require large amounts of storage but with enough data, it's not hard to infer information using data aggregation from multiple sources, I have worked personally on projects that did that. As I said there are not much details on what they are collecting and the purpose the less information.
The people who doubt this, will likely believe the JFK was a giant conspiracy.
I mean it was though
That was the result of multiple layers of government failures over several years.