If you CCF, I recommend carrying the bill of sale of your concealed firearm with your identification. This bill of sale needs to have the serial number of your firearm on it. In addition, you need to be identified as the purchaser. As I discussed in my book, you should keep your identification separate from your wallet. You should also have a copy at home in the safe and an electronic copy in an email folder.
You need to have the bill of sale in case your firearm is ever confiscated. For example, you are in a traffic accident and lose consciousness. You wake up in the emergency room, and your firearm is gone. In all likelihood, the emergency personnel found your firearm and gave it to law enforcement. Therefore, your firearm is not going to be in the hospital.
It is not uncommon for people to freak out at this point. They know they are responsible for their firearm, and now they don’t know where it is. Unfortunately, the hospital staff is not going to be sympathetic. You may end up in a psychiatric evaluation if you aggressively demand your firearm to be returned (I’m not kidding).
Ultimately, you must go to the appropriate law enforcement offices and get your firearm back. They won’t return it to you without a bill of sale that identifies you and the serial number of your firearm. Law enforcement may also run a background check on you, which could take time. They may also ship it to your FFL rather than return it to you. Also, you will likely not get any ammunition back with your firearm.
Just remember, you won’t get anything back without a bill of sale that has you and the serial number of the firearm listed.