brickeye said:
eddieg1274 shouldn't have to go into the status of his dad. Just that his dad gave it to him before his passing.
Then he did no "leave" them to anyone, he GAVE then to them.
It actually makes a difference on how guns need to be transferred.
There are exceptions for guns "left" to someone (under Federal law) that only apply in that exact case.
The executor of an estate can transfer the gun to an heir without using an FFL, even across state lines.
This is a very important distinction. It is entirely legal for a father to give a firearm to a son while he is alive. That's called a "gift," and it is subject to the normal rules for a transfer, just the same as if the father sold the gun to a complete stranger.
If the firearm is
bequeathed to a son (or anyone else) through a will, then the executor can transfer it directly without going through an FFL. But AFAIK that's the ONLY exception to the FFL transfer rules.
And please note that for this exception to apply, the gun (or guns) must be specifically bequeathed by the will: as in "I leave my first generation Colt Model of 1873 revolver, serial number 23xx, to my son Robert E. Lee."
If the deceased had a box full of guns and they are not
specifically mentioned in the will, they are what's called "residuary estate." There are two things that can happen with residuary estate:
(1) the will can have a clause that basically says "I leave all my residuary estate to ___." IANAL, but I
think that might still qualify as receiving the gun(s) by bequest, IF you are the person (or one of the persons) named in that clause. Or --
(2) The will may say something like "I direct my executor to liquidate my residuary estate and to distribute the proceeds equally among my heirs." In that case, if there are guns in the residuary estate, the executor has been directed to sell them so they have NOT been bequeathed to anyone. Therefore, they are not covered by the inheritance exception and any transfer has to be through an FFL.
What often happens when someone dies who owned guns is that the heirs (and other relatives) often just go through the collection and divvy it up. That is not receiving the firearm by bequest, and is not legal. In states that allow direct face-to-face sales it's not a big deal. In other states, it IS a big deal.
Talk to a lawyer.