A Cautionary Tale of Guns and Inheritance

Gun Watch ^ | 25 November, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

A recent experience shows how problems can occur with guns and estates.  I was involved in this. My involvement occurred 27 years ago.

In 1990, an elderly relative wanted expert advice on obtaining a firearm. Her husband had recently died. She wanted to have a gun in the house, and wasn't comfortable with pistols. She was already frail and did not have much upper body strength.

I recommended a .22 semi-auto, which she could keep handy. She could keep the chamber unloaded. It would be easy to charge and put into firing condition. The Brazilian copy of the Remington Nylon 66, made on Remington tooling in Brazil, was being imported to the United States. It was inexpensive, lightweight, and had a sterling reputation for reliability.

She purchased it and, as I recall, we ran a few shots through it for familiarization.

Fast forward 25 years. The elderly relative dies at the ripe age of 93. She had been living with her daughter in her declining years. The daughter, in an emotional state of trying to deal with all the changes after being the principle caregiver, discovers the rifle, parked on top of some furniture for a decade.

The daughter was not a hoplophobe. She had been a competitive pistol shooter for a short time in college, 35 years ago. But the rifle, likely in its original box, and mint condition, presented another "problem" to be dealt with.

Her solution: turn it in to the police.

The officer gave her good advice. He told her it was worth money. She could sell it. He told her it would be destroyed.

She did not want to "mess" with it any further. "Just take it", she implored the officer. He reluctantly did so.

Her sister, on learning of the gun turn in, was appalled.  The daughter could have used the money, she said.

I have heard of much worse horror stories. They usually involve a woman who inherits guns and ammunition, knows little about them or simply dislikes them. I have seen guns worth thousands of dollars turned in to be destroyed, simply because the person turning them in has been propagandized that "guns are bad" and does not wish to take any time to extract the easily retrieved value.

A trip to the local gun store would usually result in 25-50 percent of the retail value. Gun stores will almost never buy ammunition. They fear liability for ammunition that has been out of their control. Gun shows are an alternative with a multitude of ready buyers.

For extensive collections, a gun auction may result in the best returns. Nearly the same result can be obtained with the gun action sites online, such as Auction Arms and Gun Broker. They reach a large potential customer base, but require a bit more work to execute. Armslist offers another way to reach large numbers of potential buyers.

Having a knowledgeable relative buy or sell the guns and ammo will be far better than turning them in to the police to be destroyed.

The best way to avoid these problems is for the owner to make a will before hand. Another good approach is to make the transfer(s) before death. Significant numbers of gun owners give away their guns as they enter a period of physical decline. Many states have exemptions for the transfers of guns from an estate.

If you have a relative or friend who is elderly and a gun owner, considering offering your help. You might do some good.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[marktwain]

I have seen many widows turn guns in to police or sell them for next to nothing.

[GrannyK]

Several years ago my uncle passed away in Ok. A nephew from Conn. was taking care of him. He gathered up all his guns and took to the police station. Being from Conn. he had no experience with guns. One of the guns was a starter pistol. When we got there from Il. My husband and cousin went and claimed the guns. My uncle had lived in the small Ok. Town all his life with no gun problem. Just shows the difference from various states about gun owners.

[Elderberry]

All three of my children are avid shooters and hunters. There won’t be any problem passing my firearms on(except, I forgot about that horrible boating accident).

[Elderberry]

A shooting buddy has an Apache Black Nylon 66. One nice .22.

[Liberty Valance]

The Nylon 66 was a great .22 rifle

[Revelation 911]

before any hospitalization I go through and tag everything with an approximate value and who should get it, and a brief note if its family history, as many have been handed down.....I also keep an inventory of the cabinet

[DIRTYSECRET]

I’ve got one. I like it.

[cyclotic]

My kids have already told me which guns of mine each of them get. I think they’re counting down the days. Probably have a pool going.

MIL has my late FIL’s collection still. Most are nothing special, but one is about 100 year old .22. I’ve seen similar with a four figure price tag.

[DIRTYSECRET]

My scope is almost twice as wide as the rifle. Scope rings won’t fit around the slots running along the top. Should I file it down on the top?

[Yo-Yo]

Tom Gresham always recommends Dury's Guns if you have an inherited collection to sell and don't know how to go about it.

https://www.durysguns.com/sell-your-guns/

[Yo-Yo]

My scope is almost twice as wide as the rifle. Scope rings won’t fit around the slots running along the top. Should I file it down on the top?

The dovetail grooves on a .22 are smaller than the Weaver style rails on center fire rifles.

You need different scope rings.

[bgill]

It’s not just guns but any possessions. Family needs to wait until emotions calm down before hauling all of grandma’s stuff to the curb. Go through everything with a fine toothed comb. Read every scrap of paper. Turn over every piece of furniture. Ask relatives and friends if they’d like to have something before trashing it. Then put everything left over up on ebay or have a garage sale. Sure, it’s work but could be grandma left enough to pay off that house or car or college loan or credit cards.

[bgill]

before any hospitalization I go through and tag everything with an approximate value and who should get it, and a brief note if its family

Everyone should have a list. I have mother's list. Most things, I don't want but there's a history of where they came from so, with time, they'll find their way back to someone who does.

[xzins]

I have solved our gun problems. I’m putting them in the coffin. Happy hunting grounds and all. Don’t wanna be stuck with a bow. I’m better with a rock. :>)

[Afterguard]

My Nylon 66 came with an original Weaver scope on it. I simply replaced it with a little Tasco knock-off and it works just fine. The Weaver is too “valuable” in my opinion to use. It’s not worth much alone, but if I ever sell the rifle it will increase the package value. Tasco makes several useful scopes that are plug and play.

[mad_as_he$$]

Great idea.

[tbw2]

Thank you for sharing. Good info.

[PROCON]

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[wbill]

You couldn't be more correct.

Wife's grandmother passed, some time ago. She survived the great depression so her hoarding tendencies were pretty strong, and she had dementia to boot, so cleaning out her house wasn't any fun. Stacks of old newspapers, paper grocery bags stuffed with old plastic bags, and so on.

One of the things she hoarded was old Pringles Potato Chip cans. She must have had several hundred of them. I was tossing them into the dumpster when I noticed that one sounded/felt a little odd. Opened it up to find a roll of 10's and 20's! @##@$@$!! Back through the dumpster, through all the cans and everything else, to find the rest of the caches.

Family found all of the really valuable stuff that we knew about, jewelry and so on, along with plenty of other stuff. Just going through the clothes in the closets (also hoarded) was a huge process.

I worry about what we didn't find and went in the garbage.

[bgill]

Pretty much the same story here and wondering what we didn’t find even though we were careful.