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Odd Experience on Texas Gun Trader

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  • Mikeinhistory

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    11   0   0
    Feb 19, 2013
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    Austin, TX
    I see a lot of posts about the Texas Gun Trader site, mostly negative experiences. First off, I've done probably 10 deals off of that site without any real problems. I have even met a few cool people through it.

    But, I have a rifle up there right now and I got an odd response. The first email the guy sent me he claimed he could not meet FTF but could send me money and have a friend pick it up. I have had people claim this before and I always tell them I cannot release the arm to anyone but the buyer. I offered to meet him near his residence. He emailed me back claiming to be out of town and in the process of moving, offering me more money for the rifle if I would sell it to him and he went so far as to ask me to mail him the rifle. I responded saying I could only do that if he had an FFL or if he wanted to go through an FFL. He again responded saying he does indeed have the license so I said that if he wanted to send me a copy so I could verify I could send the rifle to the address on the license. Suddenly this person who couldn't email me enough disappears. Is this just some persistent person or something else? Like I said, I have before gotten someone trying to get me to release a firearm to an intermediary, but this guys seems particularly pushy. His emails are very long and full of excuses and descriptions of why he can't pick up the rifle. Also, he was very willing to offer more money rather than low ball me which seems very odd and suddenly he claims to have an FFL? Wouldn't a person who had one and knew they couldn't pick up the rifle in person offer that solution initially? And I find it hard to believe that an FFL holder wouldn't know even the basic laws governing a transaction. Could this be some kind of entrapment thing? It just feels so weird. Also, the rifle I have up is a No5 Lee Enfield, a bolt action rifle, hardly a scary black assault rifle. What do you guys think?
    Military Camp
     

    Bozz10mm

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    I would walk, no, run away from that. It is either a person who cannot legally own a firearm, a scam, or a sting operation.
     

    majormadmax

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    Aug 27, 2009
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    Don't do it! It smells like a trap!

    Tell him if he really wants it, he needs to get an 03 FFL (C&R) and mail you a copy. It takes about a month to get one, offer to hold on to the Enfield in the mean time.
     

    Mikeinhistory

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    Feb 19, 2013
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    Austin, TX
    Thank you for your input. I was not in a hurry to sell to this guy. There is no way I'd risk myself and my collection over some pushy guy who can't follow the rules. If by some miracle he does send me an FFL I am going to verify it before I do anything else, but I assume that is a bridge I'll never cross. It was also weird because they guy was capable to typing. Like usually you can tell because a person can't spell or use any correct grammar.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Oct 16, 2012
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    As soon as a deal gets goofy or odd im done. If a person is rude im done. If price or other terms of sale start changing...done. If communication isnt clear or good im done. Too much responsibility both legally and morally for me to deal with anyone out of my preference or comfort zone. I dont need the money that bad. I prefer TGTalk but have looked at TGTrader i just havent bought or sold there.
     

    1rightguy

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    Mar 25, 2009
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    I bet I've done 50 deals on TGT without a hitch other than an occasional flake. The theme of this stream is flowing the right direction, always bail at the first red flag. So many ways for things to go south.....
     

    Mreed911

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    My last FTF sale was to a cop and I still made him produce ID other than his badge. I was thinking "Nigerian Scam" for yours... as in an email would say "I'll send you a check, give my friend the difference" or somesuch. He probably figured out you weren't his mark... there are likely enough inexperienced sellers there that would just do as he asked.
     

    shortround

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    BATFE could care less about an antique rifle. More likely some scumbag who has a criminal record, and any gun is better than no gun.

    That Enfield is just as deadly today as in the day it was a front line rifle.

    Trust your gut ...
     

    benenglish

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Everyone has the right idea. Walk away.

    However, I wanted to comment on this:

    BATFE could care less about an antique rifle.

    That's true but it doesn't allow for other possibilities. Sting operations are set up all the time by agencies that have no business doing them and they can be really weird in the way they approach things. Back in the 1990s, a large plurality of internet-based attempted sexual assault cases came from a single jurisdiction in upstate New York. The prosecutor there found she could get her face on TV constantly by having local police officers sit behind computers and pretend to be 12-year-old girls. They'd entice losers to fly into the local airport where the District Attorney would be waiting, along with arresting officers and multiple television crews. An instant press conference and huge publicity were the result. Catching pervs from all over the country is hardly the core mission of a county official in rural New York...but it happened.

    This contact sounds to me, paranoid as this may be, like a nearly-incompetent sting being done by some organization that's driving out of their lane. I wouldn't be surprised if a proxy for an anti-gun DA up for election was on the other end of that transaction. Or maybe it's some other entity that wants to make hay out of a "Guns are easily bought over the internet!" narrative. I wouldn't put something like this past any of those "Moms against guns" groups or even a local television reporter trying to make up a "special investigative report" for ratings and publicity.

    Too paranoid?
     

    hard eight

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    May 8, 2013
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    Richardson
    Thank you for your input. I was not in a hurry to sell to this guy. There is no way I'd risk myself and my collection over some pushy guy who can't follow the rules. If by some miracle he does send me an FFL I am going to verify it before I do anything else, but I assume that is a bridge I'll never cross. It was also weird because they guy was capable to typing. Like usually you can tell because a person can't spell or use any correct grammar.
    Maybe Eric Holder trying to help his cartel buddies.
     

    Glockster69

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    Yep, same here... If it were me, I wouldn't have even responded to the "have a friend pick it up" email.

    I disagree. I would respond with an emphatic hell no.

    Not only because it's true but also, you don't know which alphabet soup group is watching.
     

    jordanmills

    TGT Addict
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    0   0   0
    Sep 29, 2009
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    Pearland, TX
    Everyone has the right idea. Walk away.

    However, I wanted to comment on this:



    That's true but it doesn't allow for other possibilities. Sting operations are set up all the time by agencies that have no business doing them and they can be really weird in the way they approach things. Back in the 1990s, a large plurality of internet-based attempted sexual assault cases came from a single jurisdiction in upstate New York. The prosecutor there found she could get her face on TV constantly by having local police officers sit behind computers and pretend to be 12-year-old girls. They'd entice losers to fly into the local airport where the District Attorney would be waiting, along with arresting officers and multiple television crews. An instant press conference and huge publicity were the result. Catching pervs from all over the country is hardly the core mission of a county official in rural New York...but it happened.

    This contact sounds to me, paranoid as this may be, like a nearly-incompetent sting being done by some organization that's driving out of their lane. I wouldn't be surprised if a proxy for an anti-gun DA up for election was on the other end of that transaction. Or maybe it's some other entity that wants to make hay out of a "Guns are easily bought over the internet!" narrative. I wouldn't put something like this past any of those "Moms against guns" groups or even a local television reporter trying to make up a "special investigative report" for ratings and publicity.

    Too paranoid?

    That's the only thing that comes to mind. Unless he was going to send a bad check or something, but he didn't ask for cash back.
     
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