a Question for you all

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Depends on a couple of things. If they are registered, contact the ATF and they will walk you through it, or maybe let your attorney do it for you if your not comfortable with it.

If they are not registered, you have a couple of choices. The legal thing to do is just turn them in. You could have someone pull the parts and destroy the receivers. The receiver is the part that will get you in trouble, the parts are sellable. Then there is the "what did hubby want" thing. Maybe there are friends of his that will come make the problem go away.

There are a lot of real nice WWII bring backs still floating around that were never registered under the amnesty that are starting to show up due to the vets dieing at a fast rate now. They sat in the attic or a safe place and never bothered anyone, although they carry a stiff penalty if your caught with them. Unfortunately, they are contraband and no longer able to be registered, for some unknown reason that I've never understood. You would think they would want the revenue and to know where they were. Its ashame, but thats how it is.

Just curious, anything interesting in the collection?
 
If this is you, I'm sorry for your loss. One thing I would not not do, assuming all are legal and registered, is contact the BATFE. A better option would be getting in contact with a lawyer familiar with gun laws. He can look out for the best interests of the client (keeping the property) while making sure everything is ship-shape and the transfer to the widow is smooth.

From there it's up to what she wants to do - transfer them to other relatives, keep them, sell them.
 
If registered, and you no longer want them, find a reputable machine gun dealer and put them back on the market. You'll also pocket a considerable
amount of change in the process.

If not "on the books", well...you could always just leave them be, in case
of a rainy day. ;)
 
No it doesn't concern me. It was just one of those question that came to me out of the blue. Lets face it. A majority of the gun owners in the country are aging and dying. I've seen no posts or articles on what the surviving spouse should do when their SO was an owner of legal or illegal automitic weapons. Things like wills and such. We sould be receiving some guidance on how to handle automatic weapons that were left by the deceased spouse.
Have any of you made wills that state how you want your weapons handled. Heaven forbid the state makes the decision for you.
 
Have widow call me?:)
JK, I would get hold of a dealer and sell them if not wanted,
that way we don't loose more of the legal m.g's out there..
 
Keeping it High Road.

Since we're not allowed to advocate illegal (however morally right) activity, I'll not voice my opinion. Rather, mention this little snippet I read yesterday. It was in G&A, I believe. A woman called the cops to come get her now deceased husbands "deer rifle". That's what he told her, anyway. It was a WWII bring back. MG-15 in very nice condition. The good part is that it's been sent to a museum instead of destroyed.
 
Form 5 the items

IANAL BUT…

The case of death of the current owners of registered NFA weapons or other items (supressors etc.) is covered under the statute. The executor of the estate files an ATF Form 5 transferring the items to the heir or heirs as designated in the decedent’s will listing the reason for the transfer as inheritance. The items transfer with no tax due.

Unregistered items are contraband and need to be surrendered to the BATFE for destruction. The only hope for salvaging an unregistered item of historic value is finding an established museum will to except the item as a permanent exhibit. The item could then be Form 10’d to the museum for preservation. This has been done with WWI and WWII bring home trophies that were never registered or if registered the estate cannot locate the registration.

The state of the national firearms registry is such that even if the item was registered there is no guarantee the registration can be located. Anecdotal evidence indicates that people that have lost their registration papers have attempted to have the BATFE issue replacements only to be told there is no record of the original registration.
 
Becoming the unwitting owner of a fully-automatic weapon (found in the floorboards, or wherever) was talked about here a few weeks ago. It was said that either turning it in or keeping it could have the same outcome. I'd say more, but i won't lest 1911 guy is right, though i saw nothing about it in the forum rules.
 
A short story of a nice old lady in White Plains, New York. Her husband (died prior to '86) was a collector of all sorts of firearms, all legally owned. Among his collection were several WWII era mg's (I don't recall which, this was a long time ago) all legally transfered in the 60's to him. He passed, and his poor wife, not knowing what to do, called the White Plains PD BEFORE her lawyer. They said they'd "hold them" for her, and she gave them his machine guns. No reciept, just a verbal agreement between her and the trustworthy officer. When it came time to go over the estate with her lawyer, the WPPD denied any knowledge of any firearms being recovered/held for her. Her own fault, of course, but a real eye opener all the same.
 
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