campergeek
Member
Reading recent posts about people who have been victims of firearms theft, in conjunction with posts about selling arms and appropriately documenting the sale, have got me thinking about how to prove my ownership of my own arms. The guns that I have were "inherited" from my father-in-law, not through a specific statement in his will or a ruling in probate court but through a verbal agreement before he passed which was known by all members of the family. Because it was verbal, there is no official record of the guns having passed from him to me.
The posts that I mentioned have begun to make me wonder about my own legal protection - or that of my mother-in-law, if these guns were ever stolen. For example, would I have trouble proving they were mine when reporting such a theft to the police? Or if one was used in a crime, might sales records (there is no long arm registration in MO) trace them back to my F-I-L, or in his absence, my M-I-L? On the other hand, when (if) selling the arms, might I have an issue if ever needed to prove that they were legally mine to sell?
These questions have me wondering if I should take steps to document the transfer of these guns into my ownership, and if so, what form would that take? Should I draft a document stating that they were given to me upon my F-I-L's death, listing the description and serial number of all arms involved, and have both my M-I-L and myself sign? Should such a document be notarized? Should this be one document, or one for each gun? Is there some other form such document should take? Am I worrying far too much about this issue?
The posts that I mentioned have begun to make me wonder about my own legal protection - or that of my mother-in-law, if these guns were ever stolen. For example, would I have trouble proving they were mine when reporting such a theft to the police? Or if one was used in a crime, might sales records (there is no long arm registration in MO) trace them back to my F-I-L, or in his absence, my M-I-L? On the other hand, when (if) selling the arms, might I have an issue if ever needed to prove that they were legally mine to sell?
These questions have me wondering if I should take steps to document the transfer of these guns into my ownership, and if so, what form would that take? Should I draft a document stating that they were given to me upon my F-I-L's death, listing the description and serial number of all arms involved, and have both my M-I-L and myself sign? Should such a document be notarized? Should this be one document, or one for each gun? Is there some other form such document should take? Am I worrying far too much about this issue?
