Found/inherited a Thompson .45 full auto

[Red State]

So I was browsing in a gunshop today and an old gentleman walks in with a cased gun and he asked the guy behind the counter if he can help him his gun.

He proceeds to pull out a Thompson .45ACP submachine gun.

Apparently they guy received it from his father years and years ago and the gun has been sitting in his garage ever since.

The store manager said that he couldn't help the guy with a full auto and that he better not get pulled over by the police while he has that gun in the car.

What are the guy's legal options?

Destroy?
Surrender to police?
Get a special license?

 

[alsaqr]

The only legal option is to call the BATFE.

 

[exavid]

In Oregon all he'd have to do would be to get his federal permit and pay the $200 tax. Machine guns and silencers aren't illegal here as long as you have the ATF license.

 

[tyeo098]

If he wanted to get rid of it, ask him if he could transfer it to you

 

[230therapy]

Yikes!

 

[kingpin008]

Destroy?
Surrender to police?
Get a special license?

Destroy. What he has is contraband, and if he's caught with it he faces a very strong possibility of a decade-long stay at the grey-bar hotel.

There is no way to turn it into the police (or the ATF for that matter) without admitting you have it, other than leaving it on their doorstep with an anonymous note, and that's not really an option.

And there is no "special license". It's not in the NFA registry, therefore it's unable to be transferred or owned legally.

In Oregon all he'd have to do would be to get his federal permit and pay the $200 tax. Machine guns and silencers aren't illegal here as long as you have the ATF license.

Wrong. As I just mentioned, it is an unregistered war bring-back, and since there is no way to have it added to the registry, it is contraband and non-transferrable. No $200 tax stamp (not license) can be obtained for this weapon.

 

[nalioth]

The only legal option is to call the BATFE.

Sorry, wrong answer. You call your lawyer, and if necessary, you surrender the weapon to him and let him deal with the revenuers.

Destroy. What he has is contraband, and if he's caught with it he faces a very strong possibility of a decade-long stay at the grey-bar hotel.

There is no way to turn it into the police (or the ATF for that matter) without admitting you have it, other than leaving it on their doorstep with an anonymous note, and that's not really an option.

And there is no "special license". It's not in the NFA registry, therefore it's unable to be transferred or owned legally.

As I just mentioned, it is an unregistered war bring-back, and since there is no way to have it added to the registry, it is contraband and non-transferrable. No $200 tax stamp (not license) can be obtained for this weapon.

Whoa thar, buddy! You must have gotten some good exercise jumping to all of those conclusions.

Where are you getting this information? Nobody has said anything about where or when the father acquired the gun.

 

[Hanzo581]

Personally? I would bury it in the back yard in the hopes one day this country will come to its senses.

 

[TexasRifleman]

1) He needs to call a lawyer

2) And he needs to be quiet about it until #1 is done.

Maybe it's a transferable, maybe it's not, but speculating on that isn't going to help.

But, if it was never in the NFA database then there is no way to legally keep it.