Illegal handgun

Since we are dancing on the head of a pin here, the real world results are problematical, however, if the stars line up just right, there could be trouble.

Here's an example, a gal has a .22 Ruger, an ex-boyfriend got it (second, or 15th hand, nobody knows). Her cousin asks to borrow it. Brings it back a week later. Does it again a month after. No problem, right?

Except, each time he borrowed the gun, he killed someone with it. Gal gets worried. Nothing concrete, just worried (knowing her cousin...) so she decides to get rid of it. Has current boyfriend throw it in the river. End of problem, right?

Next year, some kids fishing find the gun. Gun gets turned in, turns out to be linked to the murders. OTHER evidence (not the gun directly) in the cases leads the cops to the gal, and links her to the gun. She's not the murder suspect, but is now involved, and liable for charges. OF course, she co-operates, and testifies, so charges are not filed against her. BUT, they could have been, because of what she did, even though she didn't "know" there was anything wrong doing it.

My point here is that its not a question of how likely it is that you would be caught destroying (cutting up, whatever) a crime gun, but that just doing it without knowing, for certain that the gun wasn't a crime gun opens you up to potental legal problems. And, if the stars line up, even though you may evade jail time, you could lose your gun rights, for good.

Why risk it? Going to a lawyer, and having him/her dispose of the questionable gun, through the legal system is basic cya.

Sure, the odds are small that even if it IS a crime gun that they will track it to you, BUT, people play the lottery every day, and sometimes, they even win.

The other thing about using a lawyer and turning it in is, that besides CYA, it might just be the missing piece of evidence needed to crack a cold case and bring the guilty to justice. Even after 40 years. Stranger things have happened in real life, not just on TV.

Sure, it seems like a good idea to just get rid of it, and no one will ever know. But its not the BEST thing you can do with it.
 
Except, each time he borrowed the gun, he killed someone with it.
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Ah, but she let him borrow the gun! That was an incredibly stupid thing to do and what makes your scenario completely different from the OP's. She made herself culpable.

In the OP's case, dad bought a gun 40 years ago, presumably legally. If everything was above-board with the purchase, then dad did nothing wrong. Even if it turns out the gun was involved in a crime 40 years ago, dad is dead and he bought the gun legally. They can't come after him because he is 6 feet under.... Here is textbook breaking the law: People find dead grand-dad's machine gun in the attic all the time. They were in possession after he died, they broke the letter of the law. But no one ever gets prosecuted. You call up the state police, they deal with the ATF, cops show up, they take it and destroy it.

Every scenario is different and you can come up with a million of them. In this case, bringing it to the PD is easiest safest thing to do. But it is still not illegal to hack it up.

What if that firearm is the key piece of evidence in a forty-year-old cold case?
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It's 40 year old case. Even if the serial number is in a computer (and it has to be for it to useful), it's still a 40 year old case. Either everyone is dead, elderly or has no reliable memory of events going back that far. And even if they do have a memory, 40 years will get it thrown out of court, any good defense lawyer can shed all kinds of doubt on it.
 
Except, each time he borrowed the gun, he killed someone with it.

Ah, but she let him borrow the gun! That was an incredibly stupid thing to do and what makes your scenario completely different from the OP's. She made herself culpable.
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I suppose it might. I failed to mention that the gal didn't know about the killings at the time, she was just worried her cousin would (or had) done something bad, and she wanted the gun gone, in a way that wouldn't (she thought) trace back to her...

As you said, every situation is different, and there is nothing directly illegal about you cutting up a gun that you don't KNOW is evidence....

But why bother? giving it to the cops still get the gun gone from your house, and might just benefit someone else, eventually.

As to any possible crime done 40 years ago, what's the point in prosecuting?
There is no statute of limitations on murder.

What's the point of prosecuting/extraditing those crippled old men that were once Nazi death camp guards? After all, that was a long time ago, too...
 
As to any possible crime done 40 years ago, what's the point in prosecuting?
There is no statute of limitations on murder.

What's the point of prosecuting/extraditing those crippled old men that were once Nazi death camp guards? After all, that was a long time ago, too...
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I did not say there was no point in prosecuting, what I said was that it would be very unlikely for a prosecutor to be successful with a 40 year old case. The Nazi's killed millions of people and there is still plenty of available documentation and even live witnesses, almost 70 years later.

The reason a 40 year old case has not been solved? Most likely because there were no witnesses, not because a gun with a serial number the police don't have anyway went missing.

But I do agree, just bring it to the cops, problem solved. And its a junk gun, why even bother trying to claim it even if it is clean...
 
Why not have the lawyer do a check of the serial #. Nothing comes back keep the gun, if it comes back stolen/used in a crime turn it in.
You folks built a sky scraper out on a pile of sand.
 
The RG-15 is a garbage gun, with a Zamak frame. You can melt that with your propane torch.

Put the rest of the parts on eBay and make a few bucks.
 
What could you get out of it if you sold it, $50-75? Unless it has some great sentimental value, not worth the expense of an attorney to keep it.

Worried about the "destruction of evidence" angle if you cut it up? Just turn it in to one of those no questions asked gun buy backs. Probably make as much as you would selling it and it becomes a police responsibility then.
 
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