HIDDEN TREASURE but IS IT KOSHER???

[E5RANGER375]

DISCLAIMER: this is not a situation that has happened to me nor do i know anyone who it has happened to. its purely hypothetical, ive always wondered about it.

what if a guys grandpa died and the guy was a WWII vet and has like 2 tommy guns he brought back from WWII and kept in his attic until he died, and going through the estate the family found them. Is there any legal way they could register them and then own them? that would be the most awesome thing in the world if that happened and you could own them.

again this is PURELY HYPOTHETICAL guys, i seriously am just currious. If it ever happened to me i wouldnt post crap!! i would make annonamous calls to class 3 dealers, lol. it would suck if historic guns like that would get melted down or end up in a fed vault just because they hadnt been registered in 1986 or something. thanks in advance for the info.

 

[sp3worker]

If you want to keep it, I'd say this pretty much sums up your best option.

May be able to donate to a museum? I believe I've heard of cases where unregistered MG's that were of historical value could be donated to military museums.

 

[E5RANGER375]

pictures like that make me physicaly ill. id rather see a decapitation than a piece of history destroyed. thats what i figured the answer would be. i hope i never get put into that situation then

 

[curraheeguns]

I am about to take a plasma torch to 11 like new original M3A1's.

This is government for you. They try and "find" money for local law enforcement to help with crime, but they make them torch $160k worth of WWII machineguns that would more then likely never be used in a crime if sold to a individual via NFA regs.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Well, in most cases there are only 2 options.

#1 donate to a museum
#2 hide them in hopes of another amnesty

There is another option, but it requires finding other things as well. First of all, be absolutely sure that you haven't overlooked paperwork. It could be hidden, it could be in a long forgotten safety-deposit box. It could be almost anywhere, so look everywhere. If you can't find registration paperwork, there is some other paperwork that may help you. If you can find legal "bring-back" paperwork (paperwork authorizing that person to bring those weapons home as war trophies) then you may be able to get them registered. You will need a good lawyer that is very well versed in NFA laws, and preferably has some experience in this area (it's been done before).

The case that is close to the front of my mind was the case of a guy that had several war-trophies given to him by his father I believe. He had the paperwork for it. He was also able to prove that he was serving in Vietnam during the amnesty and therefore had no way to legally register them. I believe he finally pursued the registration in the 80's or 90's and won, had all of them amnesty registered. This may still be possible if you can find bring-back paperwork, even though the person doesn't have any defense for not registering them during the amnesty, but the chances are slim, and will likely have to sell the NFA items off the pay the lawyer. But its still possible.

One note, under the client confidentiality stuff, the lawyer cannot, and will not tell them who has these weapons, so I don't believe they can come after you until the case is settled. At that point they will probably say you must turn them over or let a museum have them.

IMHO, I'd just bury them in hopes of another amnesty.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I am about to take a plasma torch to 11 like new original M3A1's.

This is government for you. They try and "find" money for local law enforcement to help with crime, but they make them torch $160k worth of WWII machineguns that would more then likely never be used in a crime if sold to a individual via NFA regs.

Story on this?
I thought all PD guns had to be registered, so wouldn't these be transferable?

 

[curraheeguns]

IMHO, I'd just bury them in hopes of another amnesty.

I don't think advising someone to break federal law on a public website is a very good idea for anyone......including the website.

 

[curraheeguns]

Story on this?
I thought all PD guns had to be registered, so wouldn't these be transferable?

Sorry, but I can't give the background story until it is all over at request of the PD.

But no, they are not transferable. We have already taken the whole story to the head of ATF's NFA branch.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I don't think advising someone to break federal law on a public website is a very good idea for anyone......including the website.

yeah correy i agree with you!!!

 

[printcraft]

I am about to take a plasma torch to 11 like new original M3A1's.
................................

erp..... I just puked a little, I need some pepto.

 

[knobcreeknut]

If they were never registered, they are virtually worthless. they can NEVER be put into the registry as transferable. I don't remeber the exact details , but a few years ago a German machine gun documented to have been captured by Alvin York was found stashed away in a small town libraries attic. they had to go through a lot of trouble just to try to get them into a museum before they got torched. the only value such guns would have would be the value of the parts, minus the receiver. Personally I don't think i would want to be in posseion of them long enough to tear them apart.

 

[curraheeguns]

If they were never registered, they are virtually worthless. they can NEVER be put into the registry as transferable. I don't remeber the exact details , but a few years ago a German machine gun documented to have been captured by Alvin York was found stashed away in a small town libraries attic. they had to go through a lot of trouble just to try to get them into a museum before they got torched. the only value such guns would have would be the value of the parts, minus the receiver. Personally I don't think i would want to be in posseion of them long enough to tear them apart.

+1

The York gun was documented in a Small Arms Review article. Great story and a great example of the unbendable NFA rules.

You are correct about these having never been in the NFA registry which means short of an amnesty they never will be.

However, the PD has the choice of putting them on Form 10's which means they are pretty much worthless and can only be sold to other Govt. agencies, or torching them and maybe getting $1k each out of them.

So for them $11k is better then almost giving them away to other PD's

 

[CountryBoy19]

I don't think advising someone to break federal law on a public website is a very good idea for anyone......including the website.

Sorry, that didn't come out right. I wasn't trying to advise him what to do, I was trying to say what some may, and some likely have done. The firearms have gone that long without notice, so it can't hurt to bury them in hopes of another amnesty. Worst case scenario they're found and can't be traced back to anybody (if buried/hidden properly).

 

[tenring]

Politics will be the ruination of us all.

 

[samot]

\

I don't think advising someone to break federal law on a public website is a very good idea for anyone......including the website.

This cracks me up, The BIG TIME 03 SOTs ......
Ya ever think maybe he was kidding ???

 

[IndyMonkey]

Cant you use a band saw, so we at least have a chance of welding them back together if times change?

 

[MoparMan]

erp..... I just puked a little, I need some pepto.

I need a tissue. How can you have the heart to do such cruel things?

 

[shooter521]

Cant you use a band saw, so we at least have a chance of welding them back together if times change?

ATF regs specify torch cutting in at least 3 specific places, IIRC, to prevent just such a thing.

Ya ever think maybe he was kidding ???

Ya ever think maybe he wasn't?

 

[CountryBoy19]

Ya ever think maybe he wasn't?

Yes, to clear it up, I wasn't kidding.

That is certainly an option (although illegal) that such a person would have. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was advising somebody to do that, just throwing it out there as a possible option.

 

[remymartin]

That is all.