Gentlemen, I was not going to get into the arena on this one, because I have absolutely no say in what happens, nor can I make any official comment on the position of the CMP concerning the requests for serial numbers. However...

     From a strictly conceptual standpoint, rifles that have been in the possession of the old DCM or the Department of the Army might well be considered knowledge existing (or having existed) in the public domain, and as such would be available to legitimate researchers. In my opinion, that should be the extent of forced dissemination of serial numbers to the unwashed.

     Once a sale has been made to an individual however, I do not believe that such information should be made available (by the government, purveying business or corporation) to anyone. Law enforcement personnel should not have access to these records short of a court order or warrant to investigate the possible use of a (specific) weapon in a crime. If the warrant or court order is issued, then the serial number should be furnished by the requesting agency, not obtained on a fishing expedition. The blanket release of serial numbers and the individual names and addresses of the purchasers of weapons sold by the DCM or CMP (even to law enforcement people) has in it the seeds for blatant abuse.

     It is probably quite legitimate and even proper for some researcher to obtain serial numbers of rifles held by the U.S. Army (the CMH [Center of Military History] for instance), but once the sale has been made, the possession and legal ownership of a rifle/pistol/carbine has been transferred to a non-government entity. Such sales records should not be part of the public domain. Even the BATF is prohibited from using the "yellow sales transaction sheets" to obtain a "Data Base" to keep track of the possession of firearms in the hands of honest citizens. Mercifully, in our Republic, it is (legally) still necessary for an individual to commit a crime, before he or she comes under law enforcement scrutiny (this isn’t always true in practice, of course, but we must at least act out the charade or our individual rights will be gone forever).

     If a researcher (say he or she wants to write a book) demands access to all the sales records, a number of things COULD happen:

• Say the individual is a charlatan and is simply looking for the name and address of individuals possessing certain types of firearms. If such an individual might wish to commit burglary, this would give the individual a map of available targets. Worse yet, such a list could be sold to other nefarious individuals who could place them on "target lists" to check out when the owner would be away from home. Not too likely, but it COULD happen. Let’s assume the individual gathering such research information is purer than the driven snow. Once the door has been opened, legally granting access to one such individual, the door would have been opened in the manner of Pandora’s Box. Allowing unlimited access to such information assures that others who are NOT so well meaning would also HAVE to be given access to the records, and I as an individual am not comfortable with such a concept.

• What if the individual obtaining access to the records is simply a "shill" for certain unscrupulous law enforcement agencies who feel that "weapons" in the hands of civilians constitute a potential evil? Supplying the records would be a marvelous way to circumvent current regulations that prohibit such information gathering. There may well come a day when some individual(s) with a badge shows up on your doorstep demanding that you produce the following weapons: Serial # XXXX, serial # YYYY, etc. – or worse yet, they (a governmental agency) may well show up with their own "tank corps" and "air force" saying either give us your weapons or we’ll burn your house (or compound?) down... Hummm...

• Even at best, such practices violate the privacy of individual citizens, and should be prohibited as a matter of principle.

• I don’t CARE if the individual researcher has a starving family depending on his or her ability to turn out a book that will be of great interest to collectors and feed his family, I must say as a matter of principle – I SIMPLY DON’T CARE! Period!

If on the other hand, if a researcher ASKS the PURCHASERS to voluntarily submit their serial numbers for use in a book (as Mr. Byrd is doing), this I would say, is a perfectly legitimate way of obtaining the information. The difference is that the information is given freely and the decision is not being made by a Government that is becoming more and more abusive of individual rights, most especially those guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution. In case you don’t think that your individual right to own a gun is in jeopardy, just ask the British! Of course, they are "Subjects" and we are "Citizens". So far there is a difference...

• Personal privacy is an important concept. I don’t put an optical "peephole" in my bathroom door either, even if the rest of the individuals in the house promise not to look unless they think I may have passed out and need help.

     You must also realize that the CMP is a strictly civilian Corporation, and no longer falls under the Department of the Army. This of course, changes the entire complexion of the FOIA, and I personally don’t think the records should be released to any private party, for any reason, no matter how noble or seemingly harmless. If a database of information CAN be used for evil purposes, you can bet your "bippy" that it WILL be used for such purposes. If one individual can obtain the records, someone else with less than noble purposes can also!

     When I was with the CMP, there were some purchasers of M1s that were so paranoid, they were extremely "antsy" about their social security number being used for identification and were threatening lawsuits if the lists of serial numbers were published in any way shape or form. The CMP was properly sensitive to such attitudes, and I don’t look for any change in that attitude, but as I said, I don’t work there anymore and have no "dawg" in the fight.

     I would personally be happy to help any individual writing a book by furnishing any serial numbers he or she desired (from my personal collection), but I wouldn’t want the "selling entity" furnishing the information on request. The same could be said of "Tiffany’s Jewelry" furnishing lists of 1+ carat diamonds they had sold to a researcher interested in chronicling the type of individual buying large diamonds for their wives (Cat burglars would love it)! It’s simply none of anyone else’s business.

     Ladies and gentlemen, we are at great risk in this country of losing one of our most precious freedoms – Privacy! If you want to read further on my personal feelings on this scary concept, check out the following URL (from my "other" homepage, "The Musings of a Windmill Jouster"(:

     Springfield Research was an outfit started many years ago to authenticate the pedigree of rifles sold through the DCM, and was furnished more or less free to collectors upon request. If I recall, you could be put on their mailing list for the asking, and all of this was done to help Springfield collectors (originally M1903s) in their quest for more knowledge. You must also remember, this got started in a day and time when the (now) BATF was still called the Alcohol Tobacco Tax, and spent most of their time chasing down moonshiners. The administration was not openly hostile to gun owners and was not attempting to eliminate the ownership of any weapon that did not fall under the heading of a hunting rifle. In short, no one said anything, because there was no perceived threat to gun ownership! Alas ‘tis no longer so. In my personal opinion, considering the overt attempts to curtail the right of the individual citizen to own military style firearms, furnishing lists of serial numbers to agencies of the federal government or to private individuals is a dangerous precedent and should not be tolerated without a fight.

     I rather imagine that Springfield Research is now charging $10 to collectors primarily to recompense them for the considerable effort they have gone through to obtain the records over the years. The thing probably simply got out of hand, and the fee is simply to defray the costs that are involved in running down the serial numbers. I don’t think that they are truly attempting to make money by selling information obtained from government records.

     I too, am an active collector of martial arms, and appreciate the ability to authenticate the authenticity of my latest prize. For those of you who don’t realize it, the DCM (and now the CMP) will be happy to research your individual serial number, and if it is in the data base, will send you a nice letter (free of charge) telling you whether or not the rifle you inquired about was in fact a DCM/CMP rifle. I have done this a number of times and have received documentation authenticating the pedigree of the rifle. Quite frankly, I don’t know how far back the records go, but I was able to retrieve the record of a National Match M1 that I bought at Camp Perry in 1956. I had never received the paperwork on that particular rifle (indicating that it was a NM gun) since I bought it off the rack at the Nationals at the conclusion of the matches, and simply was given a hand receipt for the $98 + that I forked over out of a Marine Corporal’s pay.

     All M1s currently being purchased through the CMP are being issued with a very nice color "Certificate of Authenticity" attesting to its origin – I wish they had issued one in the old days. They are truly nice and should be put away with the rifle for your children and your children’s children.

     When I was with the CMP, researchers sometimes called me and requested the serial numbers of CMP sales. I of course, was (rightly) not authorized to give out such information. When the researchers assured me that they didn’t need or even want the names and addresses of the purchasers, the release of the serial numbers would have violated a trust that I didn’t feel was appropriate. I have no hang up(s) whatsoever on such researchers getting the serial numbers held by governmental agencies (the CMH, Springfield Armory, or the current stocks of weapons being retained by the Government). However, records of sales to individuals are a bit beyond the pale, and such information should not be released without the specific permission of the individual purchaser.

     What the outcome of the attempts of individuals to obtain such lists by placing the decisions in the hands of barristers is up for grabs. You can never tell what our somewhat screwy legal system will do. If the "powers-that-be" would ask this old soldier, I would answer no, but then I’m not the one who has the final say. All that would be necessary to knock the whole thing in a cocked hat would be for some individual to file his own lawsuit in an attempt to block such action under the Privacy Act. This would probably curtail such activity for years and could make the entire question a moot point for future generations to decide.

Best regards,