I was making a point, not being "combative". If that's your interpretation, perhaps my point wasn't made well enough. Of note, the presence of a serial number has little impact on this scenario. While I have no data on the topic, I would suspect that the majority of firearms traced to individuals (like most other property) are done so by methods other than a document trail using the serial number.ohiodff wrote:I didn't indicate I insist on one, I am asking a simple question. Why so combative?sodbuster95 wrote:Would you insist on a "bill of sale" if you sold a hunting knife, an ax, a saw, a screwdriver, a tire iron, etc.? All of those items have the potential to be used as a weapon.
None of those things you list have serial numbers that are recorded by the seller as having been originally transferred to me.
A firearm is a piece of property. Some states impose additional requirements/restrictions/obligations on the ownership, sale, and/or transfer of firearms. Ohio is not one of those states. As such, like any other piece of property (such as the examples I noted earlier) it is lawful to transfer a firearm between individuals, where both are residents of the state of Ohio, without any manner of documentation. Frankly, I would argue that the law does not impose upon the seller/tranferror any obligation to even confirm that the buyer/transferee is a resident of the state. Of course, as transferring to a non-resident would be an offense for the the seller/transferror, simple caution dictates you make some modicum of effort to determine that the other person is, in fact, a resident of Ohio. Seeing a valid Ohio driver license is a reasonable effort and doing so is, I would suggest, all the effort a seller/transferror need take.
Anything more than that would be a self-imposed obligation and one that is unlikely to offer any significant "protection" in the event the police come knocking on your door.
Additionally, as DontTreadOnMe and djthomas noted, there is a good chance you'll find other parties (such as myself) who are unwilling to allow a stranger to make a copy of their driver's license or record their personal information. For me, the risk of identity theft substantially outweighs the risk that a firearm used in a crime would ever be traced back to me.