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COLUMBIA (WACH) -- A second Midlands man says he too unknowingly bought a stolen gun and was later arrested for carrying it.

WACH Fox News reported Wednesday on a Richland County resident who was pulled over and arrested after officials found a gun that was reported stolen.

After seeing our story, Ronald Colley says he was also arrested for unknowingly buying a stolen gun.

Colley says he bought an antique handgun as a collectors item from a gun show in 2004.  Five years later, he was arrested.

He says he called the Richland County Sheriff's Department after a person attacked him on his property.  During the incident, he claims he threatened to use the weapon on the suspect and the threat helped stop the attack.

When authorities arrived, Colley says he learned the gun was reported stolen from Florence County in 2005.

"So I was beaten up in my own front yard and then arrested," Colley claims.  "How bizarre, you know?  And I had no idea what the law was and I was thinking, gee, I bought this gun that's almost 100-years-old, you know, how many owners has this thing had?  And the possibility of it being stolen, I could see that, you know?  I had no idea, would have never touched it had it been stolen."

Colley adds all charges were dropped because there was no evidence proving he had knowingly bought a stolen gun.

Officials say there's no federal or state law in place requiring businesses like pawn shops to check the status of their merchandise.  That means there's no way to prevent stolen property from being sold and purchased.  However, municipalities can implement their own system and rules.

A spokesperson for the Richland County Sheriff's Department says it requires area pawn shops to enter merchandise information into LeadsOnline.  Sheriff's deputies manage the program and if something is reported stolen, they get an alert.

If you’re shopping for a used gun, officials recommend the following:
- Purchase a firearm from a reputable and licensed dealer.
- If there is any question that a gun may be stolen and purchased unknowingly, call authorities.  They can run the serial number of the item.
- Keep an extra copy of the purchase receipt when carrying the firearm.

Lawrence Terry also says he bought a 9 millimeter handgun from a pawn shop in 2007.  Deputies pulled him over and he found out he had a gun that was stolen from Alabama in 2002.

Who should be held accountable for knowing the history of weapons in these cases?  Leave your comments below to tell us what you think.