hypothetical

[Tom Fury]

Someone asked me the other day about the legal way to ship a WW! bringback (long gun) from the UK to a relative in the US. How to heirloom it?

Oh yeah; they currently own it, but it isn't registered...

I would think the biggest problem would be legally getting it exported from the UK, then shipping costs, then finding an A&C FFL in the US to import/receive it.

It all sounds very expensive to me if it is possible...

Any input?
Thanks, TF

 

[rcmodel]

It's possible, but not cheap.

https://www.griffinhowe.com/importexport.cfm

rc

 

[CWL]

The hard part will be to get the firearm legally registered and a Firearms Certificate issued for it. If you have that, then there are companies in the UK which handles all the paperwork in exporting the gun and who will deal with US importers for you. That part just takes money.

I think your biggest problem is in figuring out how to register the gun "after the fact" in order to get a Firearms Certificate issued. The person should contact a Registered Firearms Dealer in his area and explain the situation. If it is possible, the RFD will take possession of it, lock it up, and run the paperwork for a new Firearms Cert. application. When that is issued (lots of hoops to jump through in order to do so), the rifle can be taken possession of and given to the exporter to ship to the USA.

I know this is how you do it with a "found" shotgun in the UK, but don't know if it is the same with a rifle. It may not be legal to have possession of war trophies at this point, I don't know.

 

[smalls]

https://www.griffinhowe.com/importexport.cfm

OUCH. I have a few rifles waiting for me in Canada when (hopefully not for a very very long time) my dad passes. They may just stay with a cousin, and I'll go shoot em when I visit. $1000 a gun plus the shipping dealers cost is pretty costly.

 

[GRIZ22]

The biggest problem is getting the gun legal in the UK so it can be exported.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Maybe if it were demil'ed, might make it easier.

 

[AlexanderA]

How much sentimental value does this particular gun have? You could probably find the same exact model in the U.S. for a lot less than what it would cost to legalize it and ship it from England. (Sending guns to the U.S. is like shipping coals to Newcastle.) As a compromise, you could strip the furniture (the stock, etc.), send the furniture over without paperwork, and combine it with the rifle you buy here. At least, then, you would have half the heirloom.

 

[USAF_Vet]

AlexA, can't speak for the OP, but sentimental value adds up to a lot. When my great grandfather's Remington Model 10 was ruined by an incompetent gunsmith, I thought about finding another Model 10, but decided against it because it wouldn't be the same gun he used to put meat on the table.

 

[CWL]

It isn't a simple matter of just registering it by paying money.

The actual sketchy part will be in letting the authorities know one is in possession of a unregistered firearm. In England, it might get the possessor in legal trouble, the kind that involves a jail sentence. England has been known to jail people for possessing ammunition without the correct documentation.

This is a matter for Registered Firearms Dealers and lawyers in England.