Kids and Weapons Play
April 2003
I inadvertantly inherited a number of guns (two revolvers and a
rifle) when we sold my father's house. I would like them out
of my house ASAP (I don't have any bullets, but I can't stand
having even the unloaded guns around), but I don't know exactly
what to do with them. I believe you can take guns to a police
department to have them destroyed. First, though, I would like
to make sure they are not of significant value. Does anyone
have recommendations about local gun stores? I looked in the
yellow pages and found listings for a number of stores, but I
don't know a thing about any of them. Also, is it a problem if
the guns are not registered? I do not know for sure that these
guns are unregistered, but they have been sitting around for
quite a while and I suspect that they are not.
Got to get rid of the guns!
[Editor] Four people recommended taking the guns to the
Old West Gun Room. See http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/services/gun.html
I appreciate that you do not want guns in your house. If you
feel strongly about the level of violence in our society, I would
suggest that you have the revolvers destroyed, even if they are
''worth something.'' Revolvers are made to kill or wound people,
period. Ultimately these revolvers could end up in the hands of a
killer (whether a ''criminal'' killer or just a ''self-defense''
killer). A rifle is a slightly different case; it can be used in
hunting. Whether you approve of hunting or not could have an
impact on what you decide to do with the rifle. But in your
shoes, I would take the revolvers to the police and have them
destroyed.
Peace,
pro-everybody's kids, anti-gun
While I have my strong philosophical
differences with them I have found no
group that gives better advice about
guns than the National Rifle Assn (707)
748-7900 Benicia, CA or National Rifle
Assn (916) 446-2455 Sacto. You might want
to call them and see if there is anyone
local that they can recc. to appraise
the guns to see if they have collector
value. They would also know best how to
dispose of them. Another thought on the same
line is that NRA folks, while VERY conservative
politically are VERY responsible with their guns.
As such if I owned a gun I didn't want I'd rather
see some responsible hobbyist buy it rather than have
it go to a shop where it could sold to someone
who might be less responsible.
jon
Thank you for your admirable conscience to rid yourself of the
guns you inherited. I'd call the local police department and
have someone come by and pick them up, rather than take them
somewhere, even to a shop to have them appraised. We can thank
people like actor Sean Penn for leaving guns in their car for
even a short period of time and they end up stolen and in
criminal hands, threatening us all. (It happened in Berkeley)
Again, thanks for your wisdom.
Tim
If I ever had to do anything with guns (can't imagine what), I
would go to the Old West Gun Room ...
But there is the issue of whether any gun, of value or not, should
be kept in circulation, even though 3 guns are not going to make
or break the difference in crime and violence.
If you take it to the police, it doesn't matter if it is
registered or not.
The same inheritance happened to us, and we solved it by going
to our local police department. I would recommend calling the
police non-emergency number in your city and asking them if you
can walk it in (in a paper bag). The officer I dealt with first
checked to make sure there were no bullets lodged in the
chamber, then put a plastic tag so no bullets could go in. He
then suggested trying to sell it to the local gun shop in el
cerrito (right below the revamped plaza). Pretty funny: he said
he didn't want to smelt it since it was a collectible. We didn't
have to worry about it not being registered, given the
inheritance circumstances. I ended up giving it to a responsible
friend who collects such things, and am very happy to get it out
of our lives.
good luck!
no gun household
First of all, you do not have to register guns in CA so do not
worry about that. You have to have a background check when you
buy one but you do not have to register them. But regardless, I
agree that you should get them out of your house for a lot of
reasons, mainly that they make you uncomfortable. Most police
departments have discontinued their buy back programs b/c
federal funds have been cut off for this. I wouldn't go that
route anyway b/c some antique guns are illegal under local
ordinances and you do not want the headache in case one of your
guns is banned. Besides, your guns may be worth money! I would
go to the Old West Gun Room in El Cerrito ....
this page was last updated: Feb 4, 2004
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