Had to deal with the cops tonight

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IIRC, the question of other (hidden) serial numbers has gone to court, the defendant admitting grinding off the butt number, but claiming that since there were numbers he didn't grind off, the gun still had a number and he was not guilty of the charge. He was found guilty, the prosecutor's argument being that his intent was to cover up a crime; that he missed some numbers didn't make him innocent of defacing the number he knew about.

Jim
 
I know for a fact he couldn't legally own a firearm. He was a card carrying medical marijuana user. We found his application for his medical license to be renewed going through his things. No legislation I'm aware of covers your gun rights if you use pot, a federally illegal substance.

Either way, I'd be glad to sit down with his family when they come. I actually intend to be there if I can, so that I am able to explain the situation. They may not like it, but I'm not willing to take the chance that they'll go to pawn it, the cops get involved and they ask where they got this illegal gun from and they say they got it from my family. No thanks. I'd rather take my chance with the cops surrendering the weapon.

I realize that I took a risk by calling the cops, because it is true that we were in possession of the weapon being surrendered, but I'm sure at a trial, the jury wouldn't convict the guy who called the cops to come pick up an illegal weapon. The drug dealer never calls the station to report illegal drug sales.

I'm not slandering anyone publicly. Nobody here knows who I am, my aunt is, or her deceased boyfriend.
 
A gun like that is like any other kind of contraband, a kilo of heroin, counterfeit plates for printing money, secret documents, a nuke bomb, etc. If one finds oneself in innocent possession, the only legal thing to do is surrender it to the authorities. There is no wiggle room, like giving up those plates only after you run off a million bucks or so.

Yes, you might take some heat, but the fault is his, not yours; if some folks don't understand that, so be it.

Jim
 
If the family tries to pitch a fit, because you "got rid of" the gun, simply explain the reality that NOBODY can LEGALLY OWN a gun with the serial number removed (or defaced).

They couldn't pawn it, or sell it, or keep it, legally. And trying to is a crime, 10years plus expenses. YOU were SAVING them from getting in SERIOUS trouble!!!

Anything other than contacting the authorities to arrange surrender of a gun with a removed ser# puts you at risk of being charged. Generally, if you are seen as acting in good faith, so will they. If you are concerned, get a lawyer and have them arrange the surrender of the gun. Better to pay their fee for that, than their fee to try and defend you in court.
 
I'm not a cop calling person myself, but in the OPs situation, I believe he did the right thing. That is what I would do if I found myself in the same circumstance.
 
If I didn't call them, they would have seen the gun when the family comes to pick up the possessions. If they chose to check the gun to see if it was loaded and noticed that the serial was filed off, then we would have had to explain why we were in possession of the illegal firearm in the first place. If the cops didn't check the gun, then we would have knowingly transferred an illegal firearm to his family.

As 44 AMP said, the best option probably would have been to contact a lawyer to surrender the gun. But the family was supposed to show up some time this weekend, and I found out about this issue last night at 9:00pm, so we couldn't take the chance of hoping they didn't show up to collect his belongings so that we could talk to a lawyer on Monday and hopefully get rid of the gun then. We took a chance, and fortunately, they understood that we were acting in good faith, doing the right thing.
 
l was in a pawn shop many years ago when this guy came in with a Ruger SA with the numbers removed. Well, the shop owner took thegun to the back and called the police. They arrived, arrested the man... The guy kept pleading that it was a perfectly good gun and shot great. Dumb and Dumber just could NOT understand what he had done wrong
 
If I didn't call them, they would have seen the gun when the family comes to pick up the possessions. If they chose to check the gun to see if it was loaded and noticed that the serial was filed off, then we would have had to explain why we were in possession of the illegal firearm in the first place. If the cops didn't check the gun, then we would have knowingly transferred an illegal firearm to his family.
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Just because you had the gun in your house does not make it yours, thus I don't know how you could have legally transferred it to anybody. Unless there was a will giving the gun to your aunt, or your aunt bought it from her ex-boyfriend, the gun still legally belonged to the estate. The estate and it's representative would have to transfer it to any heir. Thus, even if it was willed to your aunt, it would still probably have to go thru probate. This is probably why the family asked about the gun. You should have been contacted by the representative of the estate, or the lawyer of the estate, before you surrendered any of the possessions, and you should have paperwork to show this. Otherwise you may just have been contacted by a greedy family member that wanted to get the gun before the estate was divided. The fact that you and your aunt knew the man was not able to legally possess a firearm and did nothing about it till you thought you may get in trouble about the filed serial number, disturbs me as much as the filed serial number.
 
We didn't know he couldn't own the gun until she went through his things and found the paperwork.

You are probably right that we could have gone through the estate, but that wasn't a chance we were willing to take. She had the gun in her home. She wasn't given the gun or bought it. And regardless of process, ultimately, that gun was illegally modified and needed to be in the possession of the authorities. I don't feel bad for turning it over. They can be upset if they like.
 
The moment the OP came across the gun, he had a legal and moral obligation to call the police and turn it in. He didn't just do the right thing, he did the only thing open to him.

I'm a little shocked by how many people are saying they wouldn't turn it in.
 
Originally posted by Independent George:

The moment the OP came across the gun, he had a legal and moral obligation to call the police and turn it in. He didn't just do the right thing, he did the only thing open to him.

I'm a little shocked by how many people are saying they wouldn't turn it in.
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Well, I never said he shouldn't have turned it in, I just stated it was not his or his aunts to transfer. It was still the property of the estate of her late boyfriend and there would be no need to transfer it to the representative of that estate. The transfer would be needed when the gun was given to an heir or sold at auction. Thus, there would be no need to have the cops there when the items were turned over to the representative unless one thought that there may be violence or a confrontation over items. Most folks don't realize the complexities that go along with the dispersal of an estate, especially if there is no will. Children often come to the home of a boyfriend/girlfriend of a deceased parent and demand all the property a day or so after death. Many times it's the day of the funeral because they are in town. But they can't really do that, unless they have been appointed either by the parent in a will or the lawyer. They do this so they get what they want outta the estate before there is an accounting of it. This is especially true when it comes to Dad's, Grandpa's or their brother's guns. I wonder if the OP was contacted by a representative or just a family member. I also wonder if it was greed that made them request the gun or the fear of someone finding out they gave it to the boyfriend knowing he could not legally own one.
 
The fact that you and your aunt knew the man was not able to legally possess a firearm and did nothing about it till you thought you may get in trouble about the filed serial number, disturbs me as much as the filed serial number.
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Ownership isn't the issue. Possession is. I can cry all I want that a contraband gun belongs to someone else, but if I'm caught with it in my possession, the heat is on me.
 
I feel like I'm having to defend my actions and explain myself for doing the right thing. Wishing at this point that I hadn't shared my experience.

Bottom line is, the gun was illegal for anyone to own, regardless of the estate. I took a risk by contacting the authorities, but I believe they didn't give me any trouble because we were willing to turn over an illegal weapon as soon as we found it. We fully expected them to check to see if it was stolen or used in a crime, so why would we turn it over had we been the people who broke the law in the first place?
 
Originally posted by Tom Servo:

Ownership isn't the issue. Possession is. I can cry all I want that a contraband gun belongs to someone else, but if I'm caught with it in my possession, the heat is on me.
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The same is true with the gun being in the house with the aunt with the boyfriend still alive. My point was, why was it okay to allow a person who could not legally possess a firearm, to have one, but then when it was found out that the numbers were filed it was a big issue? The OP claims the aunt did not know the boyfriend was prohibited from having a firearm....but how would that be any different than claiming being ignorant of the filed serial numbers, especially when the gun supposedly belonged to someone else? I believe there is so much more to this story than what we know....... like did another family member provide the firearm or did they know their relative had a prohibited weapon? Is that why they insisted on getting it back right away, or did they just think it was worth something? Why did the aunt not know her boyfriend was prohibited, when she thought she knew him well enough to live with him. What was the aunt doing showing off someone else's possessions to her "revolver junky" nephew when all she was supposed to do is box up the late boyfriend's items and return them to the family? It was not her firearm to show anybody. Had she just returned the items to the family as requested, the nephew would not have been exposed to the very slightest of chances of getting in trouble with the law. One has to wonder if we are being told the whole story or just what the OP wants to tell us. Yes the OP did the right thing, according to the facts we have been told, but he was not going to jail because his aunt's boyfriend had a firearm with a ground off serial number. It was not in his possession unless he kept it at his house after his aunt left. People park in my driveway all the time, it does not mean I possess their cars/trucks. If one of those cars has a expired license plate, I'm not the one that's going to get fined.
 
It's okay, jtyson. You made a decision and it worked out okay. There was some risk in calling the cops because you were in possession at the time. There would obviously have been some risk in getting rid of the gun yourself - destroying it or tossing it in deep water, etc. Don't let second guessers bother you. We all second guess our own decisions anyway.
 
I guess I just can't imagine why anyone would be stupid enough to purchase a gun for someone that can't legally own one.
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For the same reason the first guy in the group who turns 21 often ends up buying booze for his/her under aged friends. It's illegal, but they don't want to be the guy who says "no," so they do it.

Of course, there is always the guy who will do just about anything for a price.
 
The guy that had it is dead. I'd disassemble it and keep all the parts then beat the frame with a sledge and it would find a deep lake or quarry someplace.
 
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