Gun Registration

[tmackpa]

A relative's deceased husband had a number of handguns, rifles, and shotguns that she wants to give to me. I am not aware of any registration paperwork on any of these. Will I need to take these somewhere to register them when I acquire them from her? I'm completely unfamiliar with laws concerning firearms but want to do this legally. Can anyone advise? thanks.

[Frenchy]

Unless the relative was your direct relative, you will probably want to do some paper trails, If i am not wrong, your local Sheriff's office can do the transfers.

Short arms, pistol/revolvers definately need a paper trail, long arms shotgun/rifles do not however. Never the less, always good to have a paper train in the background, if some one down the way wants to dispute that you have a gun his Great Grand father said he was going to give to him in your posession, you can show the papers stating it is now yours.

[knight0334]

I second Frenchy's post ^

[Steve in PA]

If the relative is the wife of the deceased she can transfer them to you by provding proof that she is in fact the surviving wife and a copy of the death certificate. The handguns can them be tranfered over to you.

As for the long guns, draw up a simple letter stating that she is giving you the guns, "I, Mrs Jane Doe give the following x, y and z to Mr Joe Blow", etc....or something like that. Both of you can sign it and each can keep a copy.

[tmackpa]

Unless the relative was your direct relative, you will probably want to do some paper trails, If i am not wrong, your local Sheriff's office can do the transfers.

Short arms, pistol/revolvers definately need a paper trail, long arms shotgun/rifles do not however. Never the less, always good to have a paper train in the background, if some one down the way wants to dispute that you have a gun his Great Grand father said he was going to give to him in your posession, you can show the papers stating it is now yours.

F.
Here's the situation. My aunt's husband died 15 years ago. She's now incapacitated and I'm her Power of Attorney and Executor. The firearms will likely be sold. I've had them appraised and I'll retain a few of them by purchasing from her at appraised value. I'm not going to accept them as a gift because I don't want any appearance of self-dealing. I was able to find purchase receipts on several items, however, most have no paper trail. Would I just take these items to my local county sheriff's office for the registration? Thanks, guys.

[Frenchy]

Best of my knowledge, you dont need to prove they have any paper on them, Many gun owners could not find the papers on their guns if they had to, Myself included, I was flooded during Ivan... No papers even lost my Canadian Passport during the flooding.

The sheriff should be able to arange to get the proper papers, its the Governement's duty to keep those records, not ours. Certainly not yours in this instance, chances are you might find some papers with the guns, but there is certainly nothing that says you need them. The guns legally belong to your Aunt at this time, If she chooses to sell them, or give the m the options are the same. Short arms will need FFL transfers, Long arms only need a signed paper. In order to keep your self free of any burden of these guns as you are the last person touching or handeling them, I would go FFl all the way, although you do not need them for the Long arms, there is no harm in having the paperwork or at least signed documents.

I had a friend who was executor of her uncles will, and she did say you are allowed a certain "salary" for this burden, look into it, you could be paid in guns

[tmackpa]

F.
I'll touch base with the Sheriff's office to get the details on the transfer. You're right, I want to do it properly.
Yes, an executor is entitled to compensation, however, in a situation with multiple heirs it's best to avoid even the appearance of self-dealing or allowing diminution of the estate.
Really appreciate the prompt and knowledgable responses on this forum. Thanks.