[marktwain]

An interesting admission that the administrators of the program admit that they are able to choose which firearms are destroyed and which are not.

Massachusetts requires state paperwork to transfer firearms, which make private sales at such turnins difficult.

[ConservativeStatement]

Let me get a buddy in here and check it out. But if it was made after 1898, I can't buy it.

[beaversmom]

Too bad the people that had the gun didn’t realize what they had.

[MarineBrat]

I own such a rifle. An Arisaka type 99, 7.7mm bolt action, which I inherited from my father. He acquired it as part of the US occupation force in Japan. I couldn’t imagine turning it in to some government wankers.

Dad kept it under his bed, and us kids enjoyed playing with it when we had the chance. The tip of the firing pin had been broken out of it, by the USMC according to Dad. The chrysanthemum had been X’d over by the Japanese before surrendering it.

I let them display it at Fort McArthur Military Museum for a few years, until someone tried to steal it from the display case. Now it’s back under MY bed... which is where Dad liked it. :)

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Worth a couple hundred bucks, tops.

[MarineBrat]

Oh, BTW... I wish I had the bayonet. :)

[Fido969]

“We got a very unusual vintage Japanese rifle from World War II with a bayonet,”

Probably an Ariska 99 with a bayonet. I think I have a few of those around here.

[Charles Martel]

This is the second such article in just a few days; the other one dealt with an unregistered German STG44 that was turned in. The cops told the woman to contact a museum that could accept it, rather than see it destroyed.

So yes, as we've always suspected - not all of the guns that are handed in are necessarily going to be destroyed.

[jaydubya2]

"...to people who anonymously turned in guns"

Great way to dump a gun used in a crime.

[Little Ray]

I don't think Arisakas are particularly valuable, esp. with a defaced Imperial Chrysanthemum marking. An original bayonet might be worth more than the rifle!
Or, if they were issued as set, with matching serial numbers, the rifle/bayonet set might be worth something.

[BobinIL]

Not worth more than a couple hundred bucks. Unless it was in pristine condition with intact mum and accessories or a sniper version or Paratrooper break down model. Those are worth some serious money.

[Iron Munro]

Liberal Porn