Of course file a PD report and get the gun by ser# and description into NCIC.
Your best bet for a retrieval nationwide.
But that does not mean that the gun will be flagged by the system if it passes thru an FFL, Pawn or other outlet.
There is no access to the NCIC system by other than L/E.
Dealers, FFL, are not expected to nor are they encouraged to call in the ser#'s of every used gun that comes thru their business to their local L/E agency.
Some Statewide de-facto data bases exist, but they are not NCIC connected.
Some States have stricter Pawn Business rules than others and items there would be checked in those instances. They put a hold on the items and L/E checks ser#'s before they can be sold.
But other than the few States that run the firearm as a matter of course during the Point of Purchase for the NICS check (Tenn for one),,it never comes up in an over the counter transfer at an FFL/Dealer.
The call directly to the FBI NICS Center never asks for the firearm info.
They're all floating around out there till someone's suspicion is raised enough to contact L/E about the gun.
Or the gun is simply run in NCIC/GINQ by L/E during a traffic stop, search, raid,,whatever. Then the 'hit' shows up and the originating agency that entered the info is contacte
Firearms entrys stay in the system till cancelled by the originating agency.
