If you die tomorrow does your family know what to do with your guns?

My wife has been instructed on who to contact in regards.
I do have a complete inventory of everything including original sales records.

22250Rem said:

How many times have you heard of a widow selling one of her late husband's guns for peanut

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I was at the LGS recently when a recently widowed older woman came in with a plastic bag, laid it on the counter and said, "My husband brought this back from Germany, I don't want it. Please dispose of it for me."
Inside was a fully loaded, Nazi-marked Mauser Hsc.
The owner attempted to pay her for it, but it quickly became apparent she hated guns, had no living descendants, and wanted it melted down. After about ten minutes of discussing the historical significance and value of the gun she agreed to let him sell it for a $100 donation to charity.
Before she left, we got the gentleman's name and service info so the story could go with the gun.

medalguy said:

I have made a list of my guns and current value

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This is what Ive done as well. Everything is inventoried and clearly marked. The ledger described the item, its serial number, and how much it is worth, both private sale and to a dealer.
My daughters are both avid shooters, and each has a handgun and a rifle of their own, but neither would really want to take on a big collection. I did mark a few of my prized pieces as "Would like to save for Grandkids, use your best judgement."

My 686 is marked "Bury me with this."

Mine go to my children. I've told my wife that if hard times happen, there are a few people she can call to help match mags to guns. The internet can tell her about values.

IF I'm "dead", will I really care???

DM

I thought I'd add to this thread that, as a result of working in law enforcement, I've seen a lot of people trying to dispose of gun collections over the years. I think the biggest problems come up when one spouse (a gun person) dies, and the other surviving spouse is either rabidly anti-gun, or totally disinterested and scared of guns. These are the times we see people trying to dispose of some very valuable items for nothing. We've had authentic German Lugers (war bring-backs) come into our station, along with 1911's that were on the beach and Normandy, and just about every other type of historically significant gun that you could imagine.

Some of the stuff we see even ends up being downright scary. One lady called us to her house because she was cleaning out the attic after his husband's death, and found some guns and "grenades" in his stuff. Fortunately one of the two officers who went on that call knew his stuff (he's a member of this forum). The first officer mistook it for a demilled novelty grenade, but this old lady actually had some live MKII high explosive fragmentation grenades in her house. I have no idea how viable they'd be after all of those years, but I'm damn glad our guys didn't have problems with them!

Anyway, the moral of the story for me is this: if your spouse is anti-gun, or totally disinterested in a major hobby of yours, make sure you leave some instructions for them!

DM~ said:

IF I'm "dead", will I really care???

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Ultimately, this is the main point.

Most of my family does not care about guns. I have told my brother, a cousin, my best friend and my daughter to take what they want.


Past that... the above quote applies. I do have a printed list of inventory, and both the cousin and best friend would have some sense of appropriate pricing. The best friend knows my collection rather well.

I know that my wife will keep one of my 1911's in 9mm (her favorite to shoot) and my son gets the rest...then again when the time comes will I really care?

This is a subject that I have given some thought as well. At almost 75, and not shooting very often anymore I have reduced my very small collection to what I consider just about the bare minimum, 8 handguns and an inexpensive 12 gauge for home defense. My wife is one of those who really, really dislikes guns, doesn't want to even touch one or talk about it (I consider it a victory that she does not really care at all that I carry daily and does not give me any grief about it). Ironically, of my five grown children, only the youngest has any interest in guns and he is the one I am least comfortable giving any firearms to (he had some trouble with the law when he was young). So despite my misgivings, I have told my wife to give him the one gun that has sentimental value for me, my nickle 4 inch S&W Model 19 that he has said he so admires (at least he has good taste in guns!). The others can be disposed of for whatever my wife is offered, but I have prepared a list with all the guns listed and what I think is a fair value for each. As to the ammo, I haven't really thought about it, but looking today at the cabinet I figure I have around $2,500 worth of factory ammo so it would be foolish for her to just give it away. Maybe I can get my son to agree to take it and sell it for her. What a depressing subject.

In a word,,,
YES!

I have an Excel spreadsheet attached to my will,,,
It lists each and evry gun (with accessories) that I own,,,
And the name and contact info for the recipient of each one of them.

When a good friend of mine passed away rather suddenly,,,
I updated the list to have a secondary recipient in case of this happening again.

I took a 1-day seminar at a local career tech school,,,
It was called "Putting your life in order".

Best $80.00 worth of advice/training I ever spent money on.

Aarond

.

Ever seen the T-Shirt that reads,,,

"Dear Lord, please don't let my wife sell my guns for the price I told her I paid for them."

.

It is all written down.

I'm in a sad way. I really have no family and live alone. I guess I'd better start divesting before it is too late.

Never really talked about it as I'm still a young buck by most accounts. My collection currently is rather meager and nothing is heirloom material.

I imagine my wife would probably keep my handguns and either sell or give to her father my AR and .308 rifle, either of which would be fine.

yeah keep em fed, keep em clean, and try not to let them wander off.....

Seriously weve never talked about it. Personally, I dont really care what happens to the guns i have when im gone, she would probably keep them for the kids tho.

P5 Guy said:

I'm in a sad way. I really have no family and live alone. I guess I'd better start divesting before it is too late.

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Same here. I've added a blurb in my will, that if my guns were no interest to my sister and brother, who have become my beneficiaries, AND are BOTH older than me, they are to be donated to the NRA. I'm seeing someone at present, but I can't believe at my age I'll get close enough to any of her family to warrant will changes, but who knows? If she and I end up clicking the way my late wife and I did, then maybe.

I don’t have enough to be an issue and with two sons that hunt and shoot I doubt many will leave unless they can make some $$ for the wife

I have mine in my will. I have a master list with the serial numbers, any interesting family history, any mounted accessories like scopes, triggers, custom barrels, ect. About the only thing thats not covered is my stash of lead and brass. While this does have some value, I don't have any or at least very little money in it. Except for the Lapua and Norma stuff that is! My sons have been informed about its value and instructed on how and where to sell it.

You might want to probate a will to cut off creditors claims, ensure that county/state/federal and the deceased’s tax returns are filed. And for other reasons. And, in my admittedly uneducated opinion, an executor should always transfer possession of a firearm through a FFL for liability reasons. But to each his or her own.

There's a file on my desktop with instructions and recommendations--particularly needful for the $15-20K in militaria I have.

There's something of an open question as to how long it will take for the parties involved to actually read that document. Even though the current will instructs on how and where to read the document. Sigh.

My FFL I use for transfers is going to liquidate my modest collection, minus my wife's Glock42 and S&W snub. I gave her the name of 5 guys at the club who will probably buy the modest stash of ammo and reloading stuff. I reload on a small budget, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Maybe $600 worth of powder, primers and bullets. Lee turret and 4 die heads. Not much there.

A bigger concern is the garage full of contractor equipment. I pretty much told her to just leave it there.

My son gets my stuff. I fear he will sell my old Smith's and buy Glocks. Oh well, it's his choice.

My son and daughter will pick the ones they like and share them.My son seem to be interested more in my long guns and my plastic handguns Taurus,Glock's, & Ruger's .My daughter like them all.

I am also making up a will at this time. There are no serious shooters in the family whatsoever, but they like to shoot once or twice a year-yet they envy my firearms. Well...I have been building BRs, that require one to know how to reload. Subtle, yes?

This will sort itself out after I am gone. Either they will learn to reload and become enthusiast such as ourselves, or they will sell them. Should the latter occur, whoever buys them are likely to experience an inordinate number of "unexplainable flyers".

just saying