[poe_9999]

A guy I met the other day has a colt 1911 that he is looking to sell/trade at a reasonable price. I have always wanted a colt 1911, but I have never seen one at a reasonable price when I had money to spend. The guy then told me how he came into possession of the pistol. His brother-in-law bought it 30 years ago and used it to commit suicide. So his in-laws gave it to him because they wanted nothing more to do with it.

What do you guys think? Would any of you guys buy a gun that was used in a suicide? Your feelings please…

The whole thing just kinda makes me feel weird, not creeped out, just weird.

[Alex45ACP]

I wouldn't have a problem with it, as long as it was clean :uhoh:

[Pilgrim]

At least you know it works.

Pilgrim

[Standing Wolf]

Would any of you guys buy a gun that was used in a suicide?

Sure, although I'd look it over very carefully, since blood tends to corrode steel in short order.

[Grump]

Remember, the object is neutral, the user and uses made thereof determine the good and the bad, purely at the hands of the person acting.

The user and the bad use are long gone.

I also don't subscribe to the theory of premium values (even so slight) of "blood guns", weapons either used in battle with confirmed kills, or law enforcement pieces known to have saved the life of the user. The history is in the humans, the object is no more and no less special because of its history of use.

I reluctantly concede to the "premium" value of famous prior _owners_ of particular firearms.

[gulogulo1970]

I could not have one that I knew was used in a suicide. I would think about that fact every time I handled it. It would lessen the joy that a fine gun brings me. Not worth a bargin to me anyway.

[mikep99]

I don't think I would purchase it if it was consulted to take someones life. That's just me though.

[thebucket]

For me, those "blood guns" reinforce the idea that this chunk of metal in my hand is a deadly weapon and should be treated with the proper respect and safety. I wouldn't have a problem with such a gun as it would serve to remind me that it is not a toy. It also makes me think of the person who used it. Did the user of an old war relic protect himself with it and make it safely home or did he fall to the enemy? Did he fall emptying the gun into his foes or was he caught in an ambush without a chance?
But are "blood guns" worth extra money? No, I don't think so.

[duck_god827]

I would buy the gun. If when you get it you get creeped out then turn around and use it to get one that does not have the past of said gun.

[MikeJackmin]

I collect milsurp rifles - including Russian and Japanese and Nazi arms that were probably involved in terrible things.

I think of it as sort of like adopting stray dogs and giving them a good home. They don't know their owners were bad. They aren't bad. They just belong where they are wanted.

Yes, that sounds very weird, but hey...

So if you don't want it, I'm interested!

Oh, yeah, that earlier poster made a good point - be sure to check it for pitting, blood is basically salt water and it just eats steel.

[joab]

I have to agree with Grump on this one.

It is an inanimate object nothing more nothing less.

So someone misused it, so what.

[rem]

I could not have one that I knew was used in a suicide. I would think about that fact every time I handled it. It would lessen the joy that a fine gun brings me. Not worth a bargin to me anyway.

My thoughts exactly.

[jobu07]

I collect milsurp rifles - including Russian and Japanese and Nazi arms that were probably involved in terrible things.

Those were my thoughts on the subject too. There are firearms out there that have been used in things far worse than suicides. And millions of us in America pay for them each and everyday. If it is a good deal, and you want that particular model, go for it. Like someone else said, if it really creeps you out, trade it.

[Stevie-Ray]

I would buy the gun. If when you get it you get creeped out then turn around and use it to get one that does not have the past of said gun. I couldn't have said it any better.

[Selfdfenz]

I wouldn't want the thing.
Too old school I guess.

S-

[M2 Carbine]

It's just a piece of steel, no more, no less.

[1911user]

The weapon is just a tool with no memory or soul. It doesn't bother me at all to shoot a weapon that was used in a suicide, BTDT. It was returned to the family and has since been passed down.

[manhattan23]

I can think of no better way to renew/reinvent the guns karma than using it to protect/preserve life by carrying it.

[joab]

I can think of no better way to renew/reinvent the guns karma than using it to protect/preserve life by carrying it. There you go, if you need it

[Hardtarget]

I was offered one, once, years ago. I declined only because of very close association with the mans brother. Other than that, I wouldn't have had a problem with owning the gun.
Mark.

[bosshoff]

Pilgrim, you response was right there. I always like it when someone injects a little brevity to a serious situation. I was not expecting your quick minded response. Good show. :)
One thing to remember, a 1911 is not a house. You are under no obligation to disclose anything about the firearms past. I say get that bad juju out of the safe, and trade it in at your gunshop, or list it on Gunbroker. Use the proceeds to fit your fancy. It's not like your relatives wouldn't understand this.

[poe_9999]

premium values (even so slight) of "blood guns"

I have never heard of this before. Is there really a premium market out there for weapons that were used to kill someone? I googled “blood guns” but didn’t find anything related. I find it rather sick that someone would petal a gun at an inflated value because it was used to kill a criminal.

[cracked butt]

I have never heard of this before. Is there really a premium market out there for weapons that were used to kill someone?

Yup, mostly with military rifles. A k98 or an Arisaka that has 'Blood pitting' could bring a premium price. Unfortunately there is no easy way to tell the difference between blood pitting and pitting caused by bubba leaving the rifle in the corner of his barn for 20years.

[cracked butt]

What do you guys think? Would any of you guys buy a gun that was used in a suicide? Your feelings please…

Every gun deserves a second chance. ;)

[Russ]

I own a couple of M-1 Carbines. One actually saw service in WW II. While the second one was likely used in Korea. I would be surprised if they did not kill someone. My conclusion is that the gun is just a tool. I don't really know for sure and I don't care. As they say, guns don't kill people, people do. I can see the family of the suicide not wanting it around anymore but you didn't do it. An inanimate object is not to be feared in a case like this. Don't worry on it. My nephew fell off some rocks in Turkey a number of years back and died. I don't blame rocks for his death. Neither do I think you should blame the gun.

[jefnvk]

I collect milsurp rifles - including Russian and Japanese and Nazi arms that were probably involved in terrible things.

A big +1 on that. I got an Arisaka that was taken from a cave in Okinawa, and an Enfield that came back from France. Knowing that the Japs usually fought to the death, and that the Enfields were used by our allies, them being picked up on the field means that their owners were probably both KIA.

[Pilgrim]

In the town of Avenal, CA where I worked, the village idiot's father killed himself with a Ruger pistol. The idiot wanted his father's pistol and went so far as to get a court order requiring the Sheriff to give the pistol to him.

The village idiot was later observed showing the pistol off to his friends saying, "It's almost brand new, only been fired once."

Pilgrim

[Selfdfenz]

Lot of mention being made of mil surps which to my mind is not what the original post was about.

I would have no personal issue owning a dozen battle rifles or handguns used in actual combat and for the same reason I would not be bothered in the least living in a house where a civil war battle was fought, people died etc. Heck for all I know any number of the ex-military weapons I've owned killed somebody.

I knew/was close to an individual that committed suicide. Don't want anything to do with a place or thing touched by that level of tragedy. Wouldn't care to try making an extra buck on such an item and sure would not want someone to sell me one. Just me, just the kind of shadow that sort of thing casts.

And yeah..I know....it's just a hunk of steel.

S-

[Gunwalker.44]

Poe 9999,
I feel that if you feel strongly enough to post here you probably
should not keep the gun. Trade or sell. I have several milsurp rifles
and have no problems either, but that's me, follow your feelings.

[Hardware]

An ex-roommate and good friend of mine committed suicide in his car with a shotgun. We had the police destroy the shotgun and let the car go to the impound lot for eventual disposal. He had no relatives and I just didn't have it in me to clean my friend's blood and brains out of the car and off the shotgun. I've still got his mortuary toe tag on my keyring as a memento, so it's not the state of death that bothers me. I'd just get bad karma from the last item he held/sat in when he decided to end it all.

Just my $0.02.

[GRB]

How good is the price on this one? If good enough and you do not want it, send me the seller's number.

[Matthew748]

I thought about this for a while and think I would pass on buying the gun. Chalk it up to superstition on my part.

[OF]

I would pass. It would just creep me out. Plenty of 1911's out there, no need to grab one up that you feel uncomfortable about, for whatever reason.

[Onmilo]

The gun didn't kill the guy, he killed himself.
Why feel creepy about an inanimate object.
I own a couple 'blooded guns' and they don't creep me out but then I have never feared the ghosts of my own conscience either.

[logical]

We can't all talk about special feelings we have for our first guns or ones we got from relatives or ones we used to bag a prized animal...and then turn around and say the suicide gun is just a hunk of metal. The gun has baggage and I just don't need that to think about. There are too many other guns in the world to buy one where the seller spoiled it for me by disclosing something I really didn't need to know. It's like the toothbrush that fell in the toilet...you can boil and radiate it all you want but I ain't sticking it in my mouth ever again.

[Taurus 66]

Would anyone here turn in their pistol if the weapon was involved in a justifiable homicide? So why should one involved in a suicide be looked at any different?

[duckslayer]

Have you ever bought a used gun before? If so, how do you know any of them weren't used in a similar circumstance?

I am sure someone has choked to death by swallowing a coin...how do you know of of those coins aren't in your pocket right now?

Ever wrecked your truck and gone to the junk yard to get a bumper off of one for your truck...how do you know that bumper wasn't used to run over someone?

My point is, I don't buy the superstition that just because someone used that gun to do something like that, that kharma or whatever will haunt you. It is sad that someone would kill themself, but their method doesn't really matter. The gun didn't kill him...he did.

[gulogulo1970]

What I don't know won't bother me. I may own a gun that may or may not have been ever used in a suicide, murder. I own quite a few used guns, so it is a possiblity. But I don't know it for a fact, so I have nothing to worry about. If I knew it would be a different story.

A Marine awarded a medal for bravery knows it is made of metal and cloth. But, I would bet you it means more to him than the sum of its parts. Perception is what it is all about.

[logical]

Have you ever bought a used gun before? If so, how do you know any of them weren't used in a similar circumstance?

I am sure someone has choked to death by swallowing a coin...how do you know of of those coins aren't in your pocket right now?

Ever wrecked your truck and gone to the junk yard to get a bumper off of one for your truck...how do you know that bumper wasn't used to run over someone?

My point is, I don't buy the superstition that just because someone used that gun to do something like that, that kharma or whatever will haunt you. It is sad that someone would kill themself, but their method doesn't really matter. The gun didn't kill him...he did.

The differance with all of that is the "you don't know" part. I agree it's not the gun that's eveil but i just plain don't want a gun that I specifically know was involved in something untidy. I'm not afraid it is "haunted" or anything but I just plain don't want to be reminded.

[torpid]

Would anyone here turn in their pistol if the weapon was involved in a justifiable homicide? So why should one involved in a suicide be looked at any different?

Some folks here may draw a distinction between justifiable homicide and suicide.

(One was used to protect life, the other to self-destruct.)




.

[dev_null]

That's kinda creepy. Not Stephen King scary, but ...creepy. I think I'd have to heft it and see if I got a wierd feeling from it or not.

[duckslayer]

Maybe I'm just a jerk or something (I've been called worse:)) but if it wasn't a family member or close friend I don't think it would bother me, but everyone is different.

[Fred Fuller]

Would it make any difference if you didn't know the history? It's just an inanimate object with no volition of its own, if you've ever bought a used gun from a dealer etc. and didn't know its history, how do you know what it was ever used for? Can't see that it makes any diference personally, all it takes to divorce the object from its history is to not tell the next owner. But if it bothers you, leave it be.

[centac]

I would at least field strip it first and check the condition internally. Guns used in close-range shootings pick up a lot of, um, debris. As the gun cycles material can get in side. Blood and gray matter are very corrosive and will cause pitting if left uncleaned.

If it was my decision the background of the gun wouldnt matter. I doubt that it is the one that'll collect on Cooper's offer to pay for a gun that could fire itself.

[joab]

We can't all talk about special feelings we have for our first guns or ones we got from relatives or ones we used to bag a prized animal...and then turn around and say the suicide gun is just a hunk of metal. We also can't preach "Guns don't kill people blah blah blah" and then turn around and say that a gun is tainted because a person killed someone with it

[BlackCat]

So, umm...

Is it weird for my great uncle to have the rifle his dad (my great-grandfather) killed himself with?

I'd buy the 1911, unless I was close to the person who killed themself, even then I'd consider it.

[SnWnMe]

Guns don't kill people.

[Sir Aardvark]

Seems to be a 'personal choice' sort of thing.

How about those guns you own now that you bought used - they could very well have some sort of dark past also - are you going to get rid of those too?.

I don't think it would bother me much, but, if it did, I would buy the gun cheap, re-sell it, and use the proceeds to buy a different gun.

[woerm]

A good friend passed away last May, and as executor of the estate I got the revolver he used to depart this veil.

I cleaned it, and hefted it and very promptly sold it to help pay the estate costs.

It didn't feel any different from any one of about 1000 or so guns I have handled over the years but

It was a revolver and I use autos (.32 1903 thankee Lord for JMB)

It was and is just a hunk of steel.

the 1903 is verrry old and looks like it spent most of the last 90 years in toolboxes and leather holsters.
it looks very used.

but in my paw it feels like a part of my hand

I haven't found any revolver that does that (yet)

given the age of the 1903 I don't doubt it has a 'past' but it is a

hunk of steel

that being said it is a personal choice. I wouldn't randomly buy a revolver and I didn't desire to aquire that specific one. My Wife who shoots only revolvers hefted the thing and passed (rotten egromonics for her) :banghead: (I was hoping she would upgrade from the .38 she uses, his was a .357) So poof it went.

r

[gbran]

My ex wife used one of my handguns to kill her boyfriend (in my kitchen). She got off on justifiable homocide (which I disagreed with). Anyway, after several months the sheriff's dept released the gun back to me. I kept it another few years and sold it because it was a piece of crap. This was in 1991 and the gun was an older Taurus 357.

[MechAg94]

It is just a piece of steel. Treat the buy like any other. If it is a good deal, buy it. If you can't get back the emotion of it, resell it or trade for a similar one. Just don't tell the buyer so you can end this emotional train.