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But have you gone to the guy's house/shop and knocked on the door to see if he will answer?

Yes, repeatedly, and over the course of ~2 months.

If you were trying to contact him for months and there's no answer when you physically go to his place, no reply to emails, and no response by phone, it's not to soon to report the guns as stolen. I hope it's not too late.

I would like to point out one area that appears to have been missed so far. Check with the nearest bankruptcy court to see if he has filed bankruptcy. If he has, then you would be considered a creditor and need to file a claim with the bankruptcy court. I am not a lawyer and I do not know if you are considered a secured or unsecured creditor. There is a difference in your chances of recovering your property.

Also, and I hope this is not true, make sure the actual owner of the shop has not died. If he has, your property is tied up in the probate courts also, very similar to a bankruptcy. A relative may be the one selling his guns off.

My first thought other than that is to agree that you should go knock on his door and ask him for your firearms back.

Gunsmiths are licensed by the BATF. Make a phone call to the Houston office, asking who would oversee a gunsmith who isn't returning firearms.

Been there, done that.....unfortunately. But that process worked 100% for me in less than 24 hours.

Good luck.

I would also do a chargeback on the credit card you used to get the $3500 back.

EastTexasRancher wrote:Gunsmiths are licensed by the BATF.

Is that correct? I have never heard of a federal gunsmith's license. Might be true, but it's the first I have heard of it.

RossA wrote:

EastTexasRancher wrote:Gunsmiths are licensed by the BATF.

Is that correct? I have never heard of a federal gunsmith's license. Might be true, but it's the first I have heard of it.

They don't need a license to do work while you wait but if they take possession, they need to have a FFL and transfer the firearm in/out of their bound book, same as a pawn shop.

Interesting. Maybe the guys I have dropped off guns with have logged in my guns, I have just never seen them do it in my presence.

Be careful how you file a small claims court action. As mentioned small claims are up to $10,000 of actual damage.

If your actual damage is $10,001 you are not eligible for small claims. If your actual damage is $10,001 and you file for $10,000 to get under the cap, you're not eligible.

You must be able to demonstrate your actual damages and they must not exceed $10,000. Since you are the one who determines what the damages are you should be able to make the values come out to <$10k. You might file separate claims, one for the custom rifle and one for everything else.

Even though it's small claims you'll still want to speak to a lawyer.