Another question of etiquette...

I have no immediate plans to pursue this, but I can't help but wonder from time to time if there is a respectful, non offensive way to handle the following scenario or if I should just leave it alone.

I had been at a 2nd home of some people from out of state doing electrical work and I had to do some wiring in the crawl space and came across a motherload of case quantity .223/9mm and also lots of 30-06 and .380. The home belongs to an elderly couple and the older man put off a very ex-state police vibe and there were framed newspaper clippings of crimes and investigations and stuff. Very serious guy and obviously very enthusiastic about guns, I had to go down through a hatch in the bedroom closet and he was definitely a "gun guy".

We did the work and left and about a year or so later we got called back to do some other stuff and unfortunately the man had passed due to illness. I'm just curious if it would be in poor taste to make an offer to the widow and what you guys may think. One of the things that kind of makes me think it could come off as offensive is that I am basically a stranger. I feel it would be different if I knew them in basically any other way.

I don't think I will, I think in this case there is too great a chance of coming off as insensitive and like I was eyeballing their stuff, which in truth I was because I'm into it and just can't help but think that a woman in her 80's probably isn't making any use of the ammo and there is a chance she doesn't even know it exists since it was pretty well hidden. I would hate to offend someone grieving a loss of a loved one but part of me wonders if she might be relieved to have the financial boost and what's the harm in throwing out an offer.

Would it be so different if there was a bass boat in the garage and somebody randomly inquired about it? Idk. Thoughts?

Odd Job said:

Did you get called back and worked on site?
If so, I would make a remark whilst in the house that it is a shame the fellow has passed, he being an obvious gun guy like yourself. Then see where that leads.
If you already had the second visit and now you don't have any more jobs there, you missed the opportunity in my opinion.

Click to expand...

We got called back but on our second visit the house was unoccupied. I wrote a note and was going to leave it on the counter but I decided not to at the last second. You're probably right, missed opportunity. It just pops up in my head from time to time. It's probably been almost a year since I've been there.

nofendertom said:

You could always play the safety card---
"Ma'am, while working in your crawl space, I noticed your husband had stored some ammo. It really isn't safe to store it this way. If you would like, I would
help you to store it more securely or if you want to get rid of it, I would be interested in buying it."

Click to expand...

That's a good point, I would probably just point out that it's a very moisture prone environment and suggest some Dessicant for long term storage or alternatively if she wished to sell it I would make an offer...

It's scary to think of what could come of your guns if your wife is totally ignorant about firearms. There was a woman who hauled an entire Coleman cooler full of .38spl ammo to the scrap yard and was asking if she could dispose of it. My "buddy" offered to take it off her hands and then sold it to a different buddy for like $150 because he owed me $50 and apparently didn't want to address his debt with me at the time.

I would explain that the current prices are inflated and be honest and up front about it. Although I would not even be a little bit interested if she wanted to hold out for current market prices. I can get ammo at current market prices, that hasn't been sitting in a crawl space. I'd be up front about the fact that if I was to shoot or sell it, I'd be looking for a deal.

I would inform her that she could potentially get a better price if she or her family placed an ad or hunted for a different buyer, but I wouldn't be looking to pay current market prices and would be straight up about that. I'd give her time to think about or talk it over with family, etc and they may know someone that could give them a better price. That would obviously not be ideal for me but at least I'd know it wasn't rotting away in a crawlspace.

There's a chance she might just want it gone, even though she's elderly the one time I met her she seemed like a woman who knew how to handle her affairs. I'll have to kick it around a lil bit and figure out the best way to make contact.

Kevin Keith said:

If she has children/grandchildren you should make an effort to contact them about it. I'd be very pissed if someone tried to talk to my recently widowed, vunerable, and elderly mother about off loading my dead dad's stuff. That way you might avoid looking like a predatory guy looking to rip off a little old lady.

Click to expand...

I definitely see where you're coming from, but I think I'd leave that up to her. I imagine all it would take is a member of her family to punch in "9mm ammo" on gunbroker and find some listing of $1.50/rd and kill the deal. I wouldn't take her over the coals but I'm also not trying to pick my own pocket.