Newbie with FFL transfer question

[Matt67C10]

I'd like to introduce myself, I just found this site today when I was looking for a transfer question. Being a hunter, I've owned long guns for years, all obtained through local firearms dealers, but do not currently own any handguns.
My question is, my sister-in-law was cleaning out her grandfather's house and found his Beretta .22 pistol. He said he didn't want it; he's in the process of moving to assisted living and is suffering from dimentia. She asked if she could give it to me, he said yes. How do we go about legally transferring this pistol to me? Do I need to go to a FFL with him, even if he is ill? I want to do this legally, please help a newbie out. If it helps, I live in Lehigh County and the previous owner is in the Scranton area.
Thanks,
Matt

[Steve in PA]

She or someone else who is responsible for him needs to obtain power of attorney first, then the three of you (you, her and the gun) go to a FFL and have it transfered over to you.

If he is already exhibiting signs and syptoms of dimentia, I wouldn't use of option of just using him to sign it over.

[Matt67C10]

My bizarre sister-in-law freaked out and is making my brother take the pistol to the police station to "dispose of it" What a waste. Did I mention it was a Beretta?

[Steve in PA]

Well, that really sucks.......for you. What made her do that?

We do have several ourselves. Use them for training purposes.

[knight0334]

Damn.. that really sucks!

Looks like you gotta work on her "gun ethics".. I just converted a diehard anti this week(took 10 years). Maybe she will regret disposing of it someday.

[GRoPA]

That's a real waste of a good firearm.

[mauser]

Matt67C10
Can you get the help of another family member to try to talk her into doing the right thing? Maybe a few $$ would make her see the light. The $$ should rightfully go to Gramps, and that might be what it takes. Why not help the old boy with a few extra bucks? That's a win-win situation, her grandfather gets something back for something he is giving up, they both know that one of his posessions will be in good hands in the family, (even if not immediate family), you get a decent buy on a good gun and one of his treasures doesn't get destroyed.
Destroyed isn't going to help anyone, and may create hard feelings.

[Matt67C10]

I've got some hard feelings right now, I just feel that it's a total waste of a good firearm- a Beretta model 21 compact pistol- 22lr. I'm going to work on my brother to see if I can get him to try to help me out. I'd gladly pay gramps what the pistol is worth- just to see it not be destroyed. He's going into assisted living. My sister-in-law is more of an anti then I thought, it seems to me that she's freaking out about the "what-if" situations. The situation stinks. I'll keep you posted.

[PA Rifleman]

Originally Posted by Matt67C10

My bizarre sister-in-law freaked out and is making my brother take the pistol to the police station to "dispose of it" What a waste. Did I mention it was a Beretta?

Unfortunately, as an in-law, there isn't much you can do about it, unless the pistol was specifically willed to you. Your next move is to find out who's calling the shots. "Gramps" is responsible unless someone has invoked Power of Attorney. I'm in this situation with an aging parent right now.

If available, you might want to gently suggest to your brother to have his wife have a look at the will and copy it, as the pistol in question may have been allocated to someone. There also may be other previously unknown items allocated as well. If you have questions, don't wait. The window of time in which you can get an intelligent answer from Gramps is drawing to a close, fast.

Also, there are many creative (and nearly untraceable) ways to loot an estate before final distribution. In our case, many family hierlooms that were also very desirable antiques vanished in the final 10-20 years before the will was disclosed. By the time we got the full picture, many items mentioned were long gone without a trace.

Again, you may not be in a position to do much. If in doubt, contact their family attorney. If nothing else, to alert the attorney that the sister may be improperly disposing of gramp's property.

[Frenchy]

Correct me if Im wrong here, but Gramps give it to the gr/daughter, the gr/daughter gives it to her husband, who in turn gives it to his brother... all prefectly legal is it not? Its not like the gr/father gave it to an unknown, he will sit to his gr/daughter, legal, she in turn gives it to her husband, legal again and he in turn can give it to a sibbling, brother... If every one agrees this is what has happened and signs papers over to the other for posession, there is a trace of where it came from, where it went...