[Publib] Older Gun Resources

[Backwage at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/29/2009 12:38:31 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
simmonsf at spiritcom.net writes:

I had a  patron today who found an old gun his father owned in the early
20th  century. He had the serial number and a company name on the gun. I
found  out who originally made and sold the gun to the company his father
bought  the gun from, but is there an easier way to find such information?
Using  the method of finding the traffic number was not viable or even
possible.  Anyone have any resources or tips?


There are two types of guns:  those built before mandatory serial  numbers, 
and those after.  Those after (and some before) will have unique  serial 
numbers by which the date of manufacture, place, et cetera, may be  determined.  
Those before may be figured out by style of gun, design  features and the like.  
The most important features are the make and model  number, i.e., "Winchester 
Model 870 shotgun;" "Smith & Wesson Model 10  revolver in .38 Special."  The 
manufacturers often maintain online listings  of their guns.  You should look 
under brand name first.  Googling will  do you good if you have some patience.  
 
Conservative estimates of the number of firearms in the U.S. come to around  
200 million, with 250 million more likely.  That means that there are about  
as many as there are passenger vehicles.  Even so, you will not find  libraries 
carrying very many reference materials relating to firearms in  proportion to 
those concerned with other consumer items.  Take a look at  your OPAC and 
see.  Los Angeles Public has 46 items under  "gunsmithing."  They have 234 under 
"auto repair."  Librarians have  rather low levels of firearms ownership 
relative to the population at large;  that affects purchase of these materials.  If 
a patron asks about  gunsmithing at a reference desk, librarians get twitchy, 
unless you live in deer  country.  In my experience, it is like asking about 
dynamite.  When I  worked at a county library as a young feller, the 
librarians often spoke of a  "gun nut" who would come in looking for books on rifles.  
I notice that  they didn't call the people who came in looking for recipes 
"food nuts."   We carry our personal beliefs to our work, don't we?
 
One thing--if you ever encounter patrons who ask questions about firearms,  
it would do everybody a favor if you would ask if they had somehow found a gun  
that they didn't know how to operate.  Therein lies danger.  Many  people 
find grandpa's old pistol or rifle and either shoot themselves with an  
"unloaded" gun or load the piece with ammunition that is incorrect for the  thing, 
causing grief no end.  It is always best to tell patrons that  gunsmiths can help 
them figure out how to work a gun--and that strange guns are  best left to 
professionals.  Those 250 million guns are not going to rot  away in the attic; 
they will sit around until somebody discovers them.   Guns, needless to say, 
are not toys.  They will make big, round and  often irreparable holes in things. 
 Take care.
 
M. McGrorty
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