They can make a duplicate serial # but there is a process. Like documenting the unrepairable receiver, documenting its being destroyed, then reissuing the serial on the "fixed" receiver. ATF is douchey enough, without having companies compound the issue. The manager here (the guy that held the Guide Gun for Tom) is so fricken anal retentive that ATF brought in all the local inspectors, so they know how the other stores should be doing it. Everyone seems to be on the same page now.