What to do with a closetful of guns?

My mother has a closetful of guns left by my late father and she wants me
to get rid of them, since she dislikes guns in general. I guess she legally inherits
them and could sell them. Some of the older ones are worth a bit I think, a 1700's
muzzleloader and a 1800's lever action rifle. There is a mixed bag of other stuff
too, a few shotguns, rifles, a 357 revolver and an automatic 9mm pistol.

I really don't want my aging mother to be selling guns in a house by herself,
so what do I need to do to help.....or should I just say fuckit and have them destroyed by the cops?

Take some pics and add them to the recently bumped firearm enthusiast thread. See if you can get any buyers.
Not sure I wanna fuck around with the BATF, but god knows you might have something worth the trouble.


Failing that, why don't you get licensed and get a CCW for the semi-autos?

As for the relics, it would be a damn shame (for many reasons) to just feed your old mans muzzleloaders to the chop shop. Kinda sad and disrespectful in a way.


EDIT: I actually think Lagduf might be looking for a 357 revolver, maybe you two can work something out.

Bury them.

Wait.

Keep the regular modern ones just in case. As for the muzzleloader and the level action rifle, you should see if a high bid antique broker is willing to take a look at it.

bustedstr8 said:

My mother has a closetful of guns left by my late father and she wants me
to get rid of them, since she dislikes guns in general. I guess she legally inherits
them and could sell them. Some of the older ones are worth a bit I think, a 1700's
muzzleloader and a 1800's lever action rifle. There is a mixed bag of other stuff
too, a few shotguns, rifles, a 357 revolver and an automatic 9mm pistol.

I really don't want my aging mother to be selling guns in a house by herself,
so what do I need to do to help.....or should I just say fuckit and have them destroyed by the cops?

Click to expand...

I've been looking for a shotgun, can you send me pics?

I am pretty sure you can find all kinds of buyers and tipas at www.ar15.com

Send me the .357 - I promise to do nothing illegal with it.

Help a brotha out.

But seriously - first take pictures of all the weapons and post them so we can see them

Maybe we can be of help here on NG.com, but more than likely I think you should try to find some one locally, perhaps a friend or acquaintance, familiar with firearms and their values and see what he thinks.

I guess you intend to sell them anyway?

If you indeed do have some vintage arms you could possibly be looking at some decent money, but then again maybe not. I think the hardest part would be finding someone to sell a vintage gun too.

I mean, you could just pawn all of them, but i'm guessing unless you went to a nice shop you'd just get ripped off.

Internet is probably the best bet.

Damnit now I need to look up how you send a gun to another person in the USA through the mail - assuming we aren't talking about an oridinary business transaction (ie someone "gave" you the gun).

Does the person who receives the gun still need to have the gun delivered to someone with an FFL in order to pick it up?

Pictures or they're not real

joking aside, I'm curious to see the older stuff. I'd definitely sell them, it would be ludicrous to dispose of a historic rifle in the same way they get rid of modern handguns.

Actually, while I'm not suggesting you do this, it would be funny to sell those really old rifles to some gang members who then proceed to use it to commit an armed robbery or a drive-by. "Suspect rode by in a horse and buggy and fired a 1700s muzzleloader at victem, who is being treated for pellet wounds and lead poisoning. Please be advised that units are en route to the Amish colony."

auction them on gunbroker.com.

wasabi said:

auction them on gunbroker.com.

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i was actually just about to say this. it's like the ebay of guns. but the thing is the old ones i'd get appraised before selling.

Concerning the older Muzzleloader rifles and 1800s shotgun, you have several options...

#1> Do honor your father, if they're not your thing and you don't want to do the legwork involved in finding a prospective buyer, then donate the weapons that fall under "Curio & Relics" to a museum. Even if not in Texas or a state where musuems of that nature are, they'll eventually wind up in one. It's what my own father said he'd want done with his .50Cal Hawkins muzzleloader and a few others if I didn't want them someday since I'm more into modern tactical and milspec stuff. Thing is I want my old man's stuff.

#2> If you really want some money, I'd say look for a gunshow. Most gunshows have firearms from all eras, if not a dealer who deals in those weapons, there will probably be an individual or two who would want the stuff. If you're not looking to flip a shiny new gold piece... you could make some swag. The Historical dealers & collectors will pay more, depending on if it's something they want, and if the weapon is in damn good condition. I'd seriously avoid trying to sell the weapons online though, but that's just me.

Interesting Fact: Any firearm that is before the advent of "the cartridge" that uses black powder (or Pyrodex, etc.) is considered a Curio & Relic, and does not fall in the same category as breech loaded, cartridge based (the brass bullet casing) firearms. No white sheet to fill out, and FFL doesn't really enter it at all. A dude can walk into a Sportsman's warehouse and buy (10) six shooter revolvers of that cap & ball black powder variety and no one would ever know he had them if he/she paid in cash. I don't know if this would apply to "mailing" the firearms (I doubt it), but in reality FFL restricitions aren't on the old shit (yet).

That's about all I can say really. Hope the post helps, not confuses.

MERCENARY X99

halloween is getting close. pass them out instead of snickers bars.

I'd love to see picks..

yes lets have a forum gun sale!

Kim _Kaphwan said:

yes lets have a forum gun sale!

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illegal firearms trading ftw!

galfordo said:

illegal firearms trading ftw!

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Private sales aren't illegal (at least in my state...) you just have to register your gun when you buy it.

lithy said:

Private sales aren't illegal (at least in my state...) you just have to register your gun when you buy it.

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You have to register a firearm with the state when you receive it through a private transaction?

I hope this isn't a federal law.

Lagduf said:

You have to register a firearm with the state when you receive it through a private transaction?

I hope this isn't a federal law.

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Maybe I'm making that part up...

I at least know that private sales aren't illegal which is the basics of what I was conveying to galfordo...

Hm, well according to wikipedia

Private sales between residents of two different states are also prohibited without going through a licensed dealer, except for the case of a buyer holding a Curio & Relic license purchasing a firearm that qualifies as a curio or relic.

Private sales between unlicensed individuals who are residents of the same state are allowed under federal law so long as such transfers do not violate the other existing federal and state laws. While current law mandates that a background check be performed if the seller has a federal firearms license, private parties living in the same state are not required to perform such checks under federal law. State laws however can prohibit such sales.

I'm to lazy to look it up.

I was given a shotgun though, which is why I was curious.

Lagduf said:

You have to register a firearm with the state when you receive it through a private transaction?

I hope this isn't a federal law.

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nope. state law.

doesn't work like that in VA.

If that gun you have from the 1800's is a remington or winchester repeater I would be very interested in it.

lol why would anyone consider simply destroying them

This seems like it won't be as hard as imagined to get these things gone.
I figured my mother and I would need liscensing and have to file a ton of
paperwork with local authorities and the ATF.

I am working two jobs right now and get one or two days off a month if lucky.
My mother lives eighty miles away so I am gonna try to sell these all at once
to someone local.

So I can move these as private sale to any state resident, what about local
firearms dealers, is there more BS dealing with them?

Orochi_invisibleink said:

lol why would anyone consider simply destroying them

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Mama put my
guns in the ground
I can't shoot them
anymore