SVTP Gun owners need advice!

[tomustang]

Hard subject to follow so here goes..


My father ended up with a massive kidney failure, landed up in the ER. Extremely low blood pressure, severely dehydrated and committed into the ICU for 7 days. After he finally woken up from a brain shutdown (veg state) he still hasn't been 'all there'. He takes meds and are affecting his judgment but I believe he won't be back to his old self anymore, I am talking on a mental level and don't want him to own/posses/carry firearms or any weapons anymore, for our/his/anyone's safety. I'm in Pa, and from what I gathered is mental testing is subject to removal of the right to bear arms.

The thing is what the hell do I do with the guns?? I do not want them here, and would rather have someone else in the family hold them. How can I go about doing this since they are not my guns. One of the cops that were at the house told me to get rid of them and possibly store them somewhere else like a family members house. (I know most cops suggest the safer route but they don't turn out to be the best legal action)

But the thing is isn't it illegal to 'take' another persons guns?

The only thing I can think of that is allowing is have the cops seize the weapons but they can't be recovered after that

Furthermore I can't take them since I moved back in under harsh conditions of me being disabled.


Is there a state department where I can turn for answers, I was also considering calling the NRA for some advice :shrug:

Man what a rough year it has been.

 

[SNCBOOM]

I have no clue, your question will probably have a better response in the Donut Shop forum. If it were me and I was just looking for a short term solution I would maybe look into a cheap gun safe and keep them on his property. Then again, I do not know the legalities of this situation. I do wish the best for your father.

 

[SID297]

Is there a reason you don't want them in your house?

 

[tomustang]

I have no clue, your question will probably have a better response in the Donut Shop forum. If it were me and I was just looking for a short term solution I would maybe look into a cheap gun safe and keep them on his property. Then again, I do not know the legalities of this situation. I do wish the best for your father.

I stated about a cops prospective, I appreciate it but cops don't know every law so I don't want a small fault to cost all the guns.
I have never seen a safe big enough to hold everything. They are locked up but I don't know where all the keys are, I have found some but not all.

Is there a reason you don't want them in your house?

It is an arsenal, almost a burden to have so many guns (upkeep) It would put some texas gun toaders to shame :texaslove: :beer:

 

[SID297]

A gun safe in his house may be the way to go.

 

[03DOHC]

Why can't you put them in one room of the house and install a dead bolt if you don't want to buy one or more large gun safes? If he is mentally incompetent who is his legal guardian?

 

[tomustang]

All the cabinets are in the basement, there's a total of 4, we really don't have rooms down there but there is small room addition where I might be able to put them all. I don't know if I can do moving of everything since I have a fractured vertebrae and several slipped discs

If he is mentally incompetent who is his legal guardian?

At this point everything is in process, he was re-emitted to the HP, and by tomorrow will be evaluated and most likely committed

 

[03DOHC]

All the cabinets are in the basement, there's a total of 4, we really don't have rooms down there but there is small room addition where I might be able to put them all. I don't know if I can do moving of everything since I have a fractured vertebrae and several slipped discs

Then you should get help from the family or hire someone to do it and closely supervise them.

At this point everything is in process, he was re-emitted to the HP, and by tomorrow will be evaluated and most likely committed

Then once you have legal control you can make the decisions. However, you still have to deal with the twisted nonsense that is US firearms law. For that I would suggest contacting the NRA. It might even be worth it to get a membership if you're going to be asking for their services.

 

[EatonEggbeater]

If they're in cabinets now, couldn't you somehow restrict access to those cabinets and leave the weapons where they are?

 

[JohninMD]

If they're in cabinets now, couldn't you somehow restrict access to those cabinets and leave the weapons where they are?

Change the locks or combinations on them! Then they are still in your fathers house, legal. He also cannot get access to them if for some reasons he tried he would be locked out. All safe and secure, then you can take time and either sell them or take care of them however you wish without having to worry.

 

[Sonik Blur]

My advice is to call the police and tell them the situation. They will not simply come over and take everything. It's hard to tell you what to do because each state has somewhat different gun laws. My initial notion is go to a gun store with a list and serial number and apply for a transfer of firearms to your name. Then you can sell the firearms to a gun store or to someone else. Just be aware, that if sell a firearm, YOU HAVE TO SELL THROUGH A CERTIFIED GUN STORE TO A PERSON WITH A VALID FOID CARD.

I would post this is the Donut Shop section here on SVTP where Law Enforcement SVTP enthusiasts are. They may be able to give you more insight, there may even be a PA cop there. Good luck, I wish your family and especially your father nothing but the best.

-Mike

 

[AMNick]

PA gun law is interesting. From what I know, since he is your father he can gift the guns to you with no transfer paperwork involved. You could say that he gave them to you before he was incapacitated.

I highly recommend going to Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association Forums www.pafoa.org and looking for advice there. There are several local PA gun lawyers and LEO's on those boards that will be able to help you better.

You can sell long guns to any PA resident without any transfer paper work, hand guns require doing the transfer through a FFL or Sheriffs office.

There are several auction companies in PA that specialize in gun auctions. Alderfers in Landsdale and Horst in Ephrida are two that I know of off hand that can help you sell the entire collection in one swoop. There is also a classifieds section on PAFOA forums that you could sell them individually.

I would not call the cops to seize the guns. There is probably a small fortune to be made selling them if there is 4 safes full that I am sure your father and family could use in their time of need right now.

 

[Jsko]

AMNick I was going to recommend the same site. Best way to go. With PA there is no "In his name." As far as I know there really shouldn't be any paperwork involved since there is no registration of firearms in PA just the 4473 is filled out when your father bought them.

You can sell out of state through an FFL. Either shipping to their FFL or meeting them at a FFL to transfer for you.

Id strongly recommend not letting the police seize them, if you decide to sell some, let me know, I have a few types of rifles I'm looking for.

 

[AMNick]

+1 To that.

And I'll emphasize again, giving them to the police is a bad idea. I am sure with the medical and home care bills you and your father will be facing, these guns could actually be a godsend. To give you an idea, when my grandfather died he had 2 guns in his attic. One was an antique Winchester .22 and the other was a WW2 Mauser. The Winchester was appraised at $300 but the Mauser ended up being a rather rare model, and even rarer to find in its condition, and was appraised over $3500. This was many years ago, so I am sure their values have gone up. I can only imagine the treasures your father may have saved up contained in four safes. The police will just destroy everything and you will not get a dime for it when they could be put to good use to help finance your father's care.

 

[txyaloo]

My advice is to call the police and tell them the situation. They will not simply come over and take everything. It's hard to tell you what to do because each state has somewhat different gun laws. My initial notion is go to a gun store with a list and serial number and apply for a transfer of firearms to your name. Then you can sell the firearms to a gun store or to someone else. Just be aware, that if sell a firearm, YOU HAVE TO SELL THROUGH A CERTIFIED GUN STORE TO A PERSON WITH A VALID FOID CARD.

I would post this is the Donut Shop section here on SVTP where Law Enforcement SVTP enthusiasts are. They may be able to give you more insight, there may even be a PA cop there. Good luck, I wish your family and especially your father nothing but the best.

-Mike

Gun laws in IL are 99% different than almost every other state in the US. Your example has no bearing on the OP's question.

Free states allow guns to be bought, transferred, and sold as per the federal statutes. There is no registration, FOID card, or any of that other crap that IL, CA, NJ, etc impose.

In the OP's situation, once he has POA over his father or is his legal guardian, he can dispose of the guns any way he pleases.

 

[Jsko]

+1 To that.

And I'll emphasize again, giving them to the police is a bad idea. I am sure with the medical and home care bills you and your father will be facing, these guns could actually be a godsend. To give you an idea, when my grandfather died he had 2 guns in his attic. One was an antique Winchester .22 and the other was a WW2 Mauser. The Winchester was appraised at $300 but the Mauser ended up being a rather rare model, and even rarer to find in its condition, and was appraised over $3500. This was many years ago, so I am sure their values have gone up. I can only imagine the treasures your father may have saved up contained in four safes. The police will just destroy everything and you will not get a dime for it when they could be put to good use to help finance your father's care.

Exactly, my friend sells cheap none sellable guns to Police Gun Turn in programs and gets 200$ per firearm. He told me during one he tried to make small talk, some guy in front of him said he had 2 rifles and some handgun. When it came his turn in line, it was his fathers 2 WWII Bring back k98 Mausers .....all matching, and a Lugar. Easily triple digits worth or firearms assuming they are all matching and vet bring backs. gave em up to the police for 600 to get destroyed :fm:

 

[Sonik Blur]

Gun laws in IL are 99% different than almost every other state in the US. Your example has no bearing on the OP's question.

Free states allow guns to be bought, transferred, and sold as per the federal statutes. There is no registration, FOID card, or any of that other crap that IL, CA, NJ, etc impose.

In the OP's situation, once he has POA over his father or is his legal guardian, he can dispose of the guns any way he pleases.

Chill out.

I told him to find out from someone who knows more about the situation from PA LEO. I never said I knew everything. I didn't know about other states gun laws.

Geeze.

-Mike

 

[txyaloo]

Chill out.

I told him to find out from someone who knows more about the situation from PA LEO. I never said I knew everything. I didn't know about other states gun laws.

Geeze.

-Mike

I'm perfectly chill. Just clarifying for the OP that your post doesn't impact his situation due to the messed up gun laws in IL.

 

[01SVTSnake]

Another +1 on PAFOA. Lots of good information there. Plus if you end up selling them, i may be interested in some

 

[tomustang]

First I'd like to thank everyone for the advice :thumbsup:

My mother has taken sole possession of everything, even down to the target paper, which is what I wanted. I hope she gets the most out of everything since it's her burden I worry about the most. Plans are to sell everything but she'll have to catalog it all first, which will take a while. I think the best thing to do now is to transfer it all over to the small room and replace the door with an real house door with a deadbolt