Illegal handgun
- Thread starter Garybock
- Start date
Onward Allusion
New member
Time for a sledgehammer or cutting torch.
Farmalljon
New member
I'm speechless at the number of you that are advocationg the destruction of a perfectly good firearm. I understand that the laws in your states are different than here in Maine. I will be MORE than happy to provide the OP with the address of the FFL to ship it to, and a check for the shipping. Throw it in a box and take it to the post office. I will give it a good home. I'm serious....send me a PM with your address to send the shipping payment to, and then you can consider the revolver "gone away".
ALL THE PREVIOUS ADVICE IS BOGUS AND ILLEGAL FOR THE MOST PART!
I have been in a similar situation. Lock the gun up with your other guns. Go to the pistol licensing office and explain the situation. They will run the serial number through the computer to see if it is a crime gun (listed as stolen, etc).
If it isn't a crime gun, they will put it on your license for you. If it is they will want you to turn it in. It's simple. I think they charged me about $10.
Cutting it up, smuggling it across state lines will get you in trouble with the law.
Now that I have given my advice, let me tell you one more thing. Never take legal advice from someone you don't know on the internet. Research it yourself or ask an attorney.
I have been in a similar situation. Lock the gun up with your other guns. Go to the pistol licensing office and explain the situation. They will run the serial number through the computer to see if it is a crime gun (listed as stolen, etc).
If it isn't a crime gun, they will put it on your license for you. If it is they will want you to turn it in. It's simple. I think they charged me about $10.
Cutting it up, smuggling it across state lines will get you in trouble with the law.
Now that I have given my advice, let me tell you one more thing. Never take legal advice from someone you don't know on the internet. Research it yourself or ask an attorney.
Farmalljon
New member
A private US citizen who is a resident of any US state, boxing up a firearm and sending it to a FFL holder in ANY other US state is perfectly legal and can hardly be construed as "smuggling a gun across state lines".
This, however, is the best advice I have seen in this thread so far.
This, however, is the best advice I have seen in this thread so far.
Onward Allusion
New member
Cutting it up into inoperable parts (i.e. receiver in pieces and unable to be put back together) is not illegal, at least from the Federal level. Of course, it being NY - there could be some strange laws against destroying a firearm.
Going to the police could open a can of worms, since the history of the gun is unknown.
You are right, however. The OP should not take legal advice from a bunch of peeps on a gun forum. He should check with his lawyer.
Bill DeShivs
New member
Individuals can not mail a handgun, even to an FFL. It's illegal. Common carrier must be used.
Right. About twice a year, I'll deal with someone whose spouse or parent passed away, leaving them an unregistered NFA weapon of some sort. I suppose they could go straight to the police station with it, but things could get hairy depending on who's working the desk that day.
My advice to them is to contact an attorney, who then calls the appropriate authorities, and have the weapon handed over in the attorney's presence. It could save a great deal of trouble.
If I remember correctly (and I have inherited a firearm from NYS, however, I do not, and have not ever, lived there) There is a legal method to register it, strictly because it is an inherited weapon. All my BIL's also got guns and tehy do live in NYS. In my case, I just took it home. We do not have any gun registration/permit to own/here in WA.
I would suggest you talk to a lawer that understands NYS gun law. It probably won't take more than 15 minutes of his (and your) time, and may not cost you anything, at the most very little.
I would suggest you talk to a lawer that understands NYS gun law. It probably won't take more than 15 minutes of his (and your) time, and may not cost you anything, at the most very little.
Best advice, get an attorney!
All the advice to cut it up, sell it out of state, ship it, drop in river, etc is bad advice, simply because you do not know the history of the gun.
OK, Dad bought it from some guy at work 40 yrs ago....what did it do before that?
People think that since they don't know, and it could be a crime gun, cutting it up, or otherwise destroying it is the "safe" thing to do. Its not. It might just be destroying evidence.
Even in NYS the law allows for "found" guns and there is a mechanism to deal with them in the system. However, to be absolutely protected to the fullest extent possible, get a lawyer, and have them deal with the system. It will likely cost more than that particular gun is worth, but it ensures there will be no legal repercussions on you.
All the advice to cut it up, sell it out of state, ship it, drop in river, etc is bad advice, simply because you do not know the history of the gun.
OK, Dad bought it from some guy at work 40 yrs ago....what did it do before that?
People think that since they don't know, and it could be a crime gun, cutting it up, or otherwise destroying it is the "safe" thing to do. Its not. It might just be destroying evidence.
Even in NYS the law allows for "found" guns and there is a mechanism to deal with them in the system. However, to be absolutely protected to the fullest extent possible, get a lawyer, and have them deal with the system. It will likely cost more than that particular gun is worth, but it ensures there will be no legal repercussions on you.
SwampYankee
New member
The BATFE is reading the thread AS WE SPEAK! And they are coming for you now, expect to see them in 15 minutes... Well, since they are not the brightest boxes of bulbs, give it an hour-and-a-half.
Come on folks, lets use some common sense and dispose of the paranoia. You can bring it to the cops, contact a lawyer, cut it up or bury it in the back yard. Even if it were a crime gun, whatever may have happened with it happened 40 years ago. There are no records, there is no paper trail, there is nothing.
Rochester is not NYC. This is not a big deal.
Come on folks, lets use some common sense and dispose of the paranoia. You can bring it to the cops, contact a lawyer, cut it up or bury it in the back yard. Even if it were a crime gun, whatever may have happened with it happened 40 years ago. There are no records, there is no paper trail, there is nothing.
Rochester is not NYC. This is not a big deal.
SwampYankee
New member
Because it was 1970. Even if the records do exist, the likelihood that they have been computerized is infinitesimal. And I know cops, I come from a family of them. They are not going to spend weeks looking through paper to find a gun that is not in a computer. And what paper? Where do you start? Every town in NY has a building full of police paperwork. Oswego, Palmyra, Canandaigua, Geneva, Auburn? Who is going to waste their time tromping around beautiful upstate NY (spent 4 years there). It was 1970, suppose a guy gets murdered. A gun is used in a murder, how do they know what serial number? All they know is the caliber. At best. CSI is crap and 1970 was nothing short of the stone age. Worst case scenario, it's a stolen gun and that's how they have the serial. And even, in the off-chance that the gun was used in crime and is in the computer (which is 1 degree north of impossible), the guy who bought the gun is dead, the grandma who is in possession of the gun is an old woman and the son who was aware of the gun was no more than 10 when the crime was committed. Right? Garybock may be 60+, but I get the feeling he is not quite that old.
Being from a family of cops, I can tell you that even the biggest jerkwad cop (my brother) is going to spend 10 minutes sorting this out, shake his head, take possession of it an be done with it. There is nothing here. Nothing but paranoia. The BATFE is letting hundreds of "assault weapons" into Mexico to keep the party rolling. No one cares about this gun of Gary's, except everyone wearing a tinfoil hat...
At that point, cutting it up becomes destruction of evidence. There goes his CCW and every firearm he owns.
Contact an attorney and have them turn it in if you don't want it. If you do want it, contact an attorney and have him do the legwork to make it legally yours.
Let this be a lesson to all. Don't live in a state that is hostile to firearms and firearms owners. That is why I moved out of CA.
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
Excellent idea. But ask for and get a receipt as well.
SwampYankee
New member
If you cut it up and put it in garbage bag, that garbage bag goes to the landfill. How is anyone going to know you destroyed any evidence? You don't even know if you destroyed evidence! Now I'm not suggesting doing something illegal. But I can take any gun I own and destroy it. That is not illegal.
What I am saying is that this is a non-issue. No matter what you do with it, nothing bad is going to happen. Assuming Gary is not currently under police surveillance for something else, the police are not watching him. They have no idea he has this gun, have no idea what the gun was used for and have no idea if it was used in a crime. People watch TOO MUCH TV!
Or just bring it in to the police. That is what I would do. Don't waste your money on on a lawyer. Call them up, tell them the story and they will either pick it up or tell you where to drop it off. Problem solved! By the way, the gun is a piece of junk. I wouldn't sully my gun safe with it's presence....