How to "turn in a gun"?

[Don Gwinn]

I agree. Remove barrel, smash with hammer, cut with torch or saw, fill with cement, or otherwise rendet it a non-barrel, and he's legal again. There is no way for him to "turn it in" without risking arrest, as I understand it.

Musta been a cheapie for him to cut it off in the first place.

Gave it an acid bath and put it in a dead drop? Very Le Carre, but whatever. Sure seems like a lot of trouble to go to.

Ahenry, if the "wrong he has done" is owning a gun that is forbidden to peasantry, then destroying the gun would be the closest thing to "rectifying the wrong he has done," wouldn't it? You're surely not suggesting that the only way for him to remain a man is to accept a prison sentence because he owns a gun with a short barrel, are you?

 

[Bonker]

If it's an old gun and you couldn't find a new barrel then I would have found a Class 3 dealer to take the 5 dollar tax and get it registered.


Otherwise I'd toss the barrel and start looking for a new one at gun shows.


Or you could just do what we do around here. Get a muffler shop to weld inside the barrel where you'd normally put the shells to make it inoperable. Then you have a nice, legal wall hanger.

 

[Coronach]

Turn it in for $50 at the next gun buyback/amnesty whatever.

There is no need for drama.

Mike

 

[synoptic]

Looks like it is too late, but cali has a lot of small rivers and lakes and ponds, find one that stays pretty cloudy and unclear and doesn't dry out and toss the barrel in...

 

[ahenry]

Ahenry, if the "wrong he has done" is owning a gun that is forbidden to peasantry, then destroying the gun would be the closest thing to "rectifying the wrong he has done," wouldn't it?

IF that was the only wrong, yes. Based on the comments twoblink made, I think its a fairly logical jump to assume that there was more to it than a simple “prohibited weaponâ€. Moreover, even if the sole illegal action was the short barrel, this is a perfect opportunity to take the issue to court. Precedent you know...

You're surely not suggesting that the only way for him to remain a man is to accept a prison sentence because he owns a gun with a short barrel, are you?

Nope. I am suggesting that unless he is purposely seeking to subvert a law (for a reason like eliminating an immoral law) then I question whether he really has the character that I believe is essential to being “a man†(not a male of certain age, but a real man). Granted we all make mistakes growing up, just ask my parents. Part of being a man is recognizing those mistakes and taking responsibility for them.

 

[spacemanspiff]

how often do you have to feed that high horse? is it difficult to find a way off it seeing how the saddle is waaaaaaay up there?

 

[ahenry]

What high-horse? I never said I don't make mistakes (see above post). I never said I haven't tried to hide them either. I've never even tried to call myself a "real man". I try to be one, but whether I am or not is for somebody else to decide. Nevertheless, I do know what one is and remain perfectly capable of describing particular actions as less than honorable and lacking of character.

 

[Feanaro]

I'm not sure what your aim is henry. Are you saying he should turn it in? If so, that's a nice way to serve time for a simple mistake.

 

[Coronach]

No, its not a mistake. It was a deliberate breaking of a law. Yes, its a stupid law, but it was still deliberate. It was not a mistake.

I hear all the time how people "just made a mistake."

Yeah...you thought you were kicking down your own door. I gotcha. Lemme get those cuffs off of you...

Mike

 

[Feanaro]

mis·take
n.
An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness

: a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention;

 

[ahenry]

I'm not sure what your aim is henry. Are you saying he should turn it in? If so, that's a nice way to serve time for a simple mistake.

I’m saying he should choose to deliberately break the law and by so doing provide himself with an opportunity to change the law (civil disobedience), or he should own up to his mistake (which is it by either definition you provided) and deal with the consequences like a man instead of hiding like a mouse. Its a simple answer really, should he do the right thing or the easy thing? You’ve heard my recommendation. Whats yours?

 

[Edward429451]

Couldn't you just hammer the shotgun barrel flat? They're not very thick walled like rifle barrels.

You really think you could hammer a barrel flat while cold?

LOL. I think not.

 

[Feanaro]

My recommendation is to drop the barrel after an acid bath, if at all possible. It seems to fit his needs, he doesn't want to be arrested. I would not have sawed it off in the first place and if I had I would turn it in but that's ME.

 

[12.7x99mm]

take a boat ride in a deep area and dump the barrel or find a friend with welding equipment and melt it into a nice blob for a coffee table conversation piece or paper weight

 

[Kestryll]

You really think you could hammer a barrel flat while cold?

You let me set it on my anvil and whack it with my 4lb cross peen and I bet you I can make that barrel flat!
Cold or hot, the anvil doesn't care!

 

[synoptic]

Its a simple answer really, should he do the right thing or the easy thing?

An old co-worker of my dad's a while back suddenly found out copying software was illegal. He destroyed the copies and threw everything he had away. Should he instead have turned himself in to the authorities and risked prosecution?

Dumping the entire gun would be irresponsible, but destroying it sounds reasonable enough to me...How does this not seem like the right thing to do to you? What seems wrong about it? I am genuinely interested to know why you feel the way you do. Everyone keeps saying he needs to do the right thing, be a man, etc... Give some reasoning behind it, why does he need to turn it in to the police as opposed to destroying it? He has made the decision to be on the "up an up". He has taken the initiative to dispose of the gun. Sounds like a "real man" to me. What would be the point in getting arrested now, he has realized the error in his ways.

 

[ahenry]

Dumping the entire gun would be irresponsible, but destroying it sounds reasonable enough to me...How does this not seem like the right thing to do to you?

Because there is much more going on than just the cut down barrel. As I said to Don, if that was the only thing and he wasn’t interested in trying to change the law through the court system then go ahead and destroy it, I wouldn't really fault him.

why does he need to turn it in to the police as opposed to destroying it?

I already responded to this question, but I’ll do so again. The posts Twoblink made about this gentleman sets off red flags about whats going on. As I told Don, I could be misreading things, but it doesn’t appear that the only “judgment error†that occurred was a sawed off barrel when he was “young and dumbâ€. Based on that (admitted assumption and leap of logic), it appears that he is trying to hide other “judgment errors†he made when he was “young and dumbâ€. Hence the recommendation that he grow up act like a man and take whats coming to him. IF sawing down the barrel was the only mistake this guy had made then I wouldn’t really fault him for just destroying the gun. I personally have a little bit more positive view of the police and I (based on my exposure to cops here in TX) don’t think he would have to worry about taking it to them and telling them he made a mistake as a kid and wants to make it right. But I understand police in other places can be a lot different so whatever...

 

[Edward429451]

With all due respect, with regard to turning himself in, thats absurd. The guy wants to get legal and you speculate that he's probably guilty of more so should rise up to that...You sound like a prosecuter.

Some of us see a cool gun on a movie, and want to buy one. Maybe he watched MadMax and saw a cheap & easy way to get his SG that was so cool.

Any evidence of victimization of anyone? No. If the guy was out killing people with it or even robbing with it do you really think he'd be asking around about how to get legal with the gun? Criminals dont think like that Mr prosecuter.

Any evidence of conscience? You bet, he's asking about the right way to do it. His conscience bugs him about it and he knows he might get in trouble if caught with it. This is not criminal mindset oaf. Its reasonable to believe that he cut it off and it sat in his home until the novelty wore off and clear thinking set in. So he asked about how to do it right, thats good man with a conscience mindset with no hint of criminality. Oh, he cut it down below JBT recognized legal length? Throw the book at him, right? You'll make a fine JBT, better go apply right away. But do be sure and set a court date for yourself for all those times you sped a little, jaywalked, or did a rolling stop, cause you DO want to be a man about it, right? Pffft.:banghead:

 

[4v50 Gary]

Like Coronach (Mike) says...

Wait for a buyback that has no questions asked. That's at least $50 or some tickets.

Skip the duct tape routine. Duct tape will pick up fingerprints.

 

[synoptic]

Sorry ahenry, that wasn't necessarily a personal attack on you...I guess we are just looking into it differently. I read twoblink's post giving the shotgun owner the benefit of the doubt, that the worst he had done was cut the barrel too short, and now has decided to rectify the situation by getting rid of the gun in some form or fashion.

You seem to think there is more to it than merely a sawed off barrel. If this is the case I agree with you whole heartedly. I guess it just took me some time to realize we were looking at it with different perspectives.
Again, i apologize

 

[TallPine]

You really think you could hammer a barrel flat while cold?

Heck, I am an old country boy / shade tree mechanic / junk collector and I have ruined many a fine peice of pipe by using it as a prybar or as a tool extension.

I don't think a mere shotgun barrel could resist my vast experience at mutilating things ...

You just need a bigger hammer, that is all

(afterwards, you could restore it with some duct tape)

And the colder I am, the harder I would have to hammer just to warm myself up.

 

[twoblink]

First, I don't think "doing time" for a piece of hardware that he was kind of scared to shoot was really worth it.

Second, I give him credit for trying to go straight.

Third, The problem is; you are all gun people; you might know that removal of the barrel makes the gun legal, but given the scare tactics in the PRK and ignorance of the law; he was definitely in a panic.

So don't be too hard on him.. The man is trying to go from the crooked road to the straight and narrow.

 

[Edward429451]

You just need a bigger hammer, that is all

Agree with that. Original poster implied it would be easy though, the way I read it. Perhaps they were looking at the muzzle edge of barrel for thickness and this SG is cut way back where thicker and reinforced.

It'd definitly be a workout at the least and may take all day even for an energetic country boy with a large sledge!

Couldn't he braze the chamber inoperable and make a table lamp out of it and be legal?

 

[twoblink]

One of the things I thought about telling him was, take it all apart, and auction off the internal parts as spare parts...

A big hammer... A nice sledgehammer would have done it I think..

of course, an acid bath in the nice battery acid bin probably gave it that nice (shiny) look that you can only get from acid errosion...

 

[Russ]

Take the wood off and dump the rest in the Pacific as far out as he can go. A deep lake would do also. Then he could burn the wood or saw it up until unrecognizable.

If he turns it in, he will likely be arrested. Will that make him feel better? I knew a guy who sawed off his shotgun barrel some 20+ or more years ago. He never did anything with it. He was just young and dumb. He didn't even know it was illegal. Would it help him to go to jail now?

All it would do is help the attorney representing him to clean him out. The rest of he gun collection will be confiscated.