Yes, owning them is against the law, but inquiring about them is not. Just asking if you can buy a chemical will not get you arrested. Although, as you point out I'm sure there are some dealers who will sell to you and then turn around and report you. But more often, that probably wont happen because they will get in just as much trouble for selling it to you as you would for possessing it.
But only an idiot would go into a dealer and ask for a list one chem anyway, and there are no idiots on the Hive, as we all know.