Anyone ever own a murder/suicide gun before?

[BullSkater]

I traded in a model 19 357 that was then stolen from the store and used in a murder.

 

[A Person]

I don't nessicarily own a gun that was confiscated by police after being used in a crime, but, but if you own surplus/ ex military firearms, (such as SKS, Mosin Nagant) then you probably own a gun that was used to kill another human being. But to me, it actually does give a weird, maybe creepy feeling. I mean I know it's not the guns fault, but knowing what it was used for just..... oh, I don't know. Maybe i'm a bit paranoid.

 

[gp911]

My future father-in-law took a gun as collateral on a loan to his neighbor, handed it to me to assess its value, then told me the story. The guy gave it to him for a 50 dollar loan, his girlfriend shot herself in the chest with it years ago to end her life. Hadn't shot it since. The gun was an old S&W Hand Ejector in .32 S&W that had a shortened barrel, chrome plated, and about a quarter-inch of end-shake on the cylinder. It's a wonder it killed anyone without falling apart! I told him its worth the 50 bucks but that's about it. I think it still sits in a drawer somewhere with an ancient box of ammo.

 

[Hunterdad]

Its certainly all mental with me. I would never want a gun that a small child accidentally shot and killed herself with. But, I wouldn't mind an old revolver that was used to kill a train robber.

In my eyes, good people who die by being shot is a tragedy. While, a bad person being shot is pretty much one of the intended purpose of a firearm.

 

[Steel185]

Half the weapons I had in the military "had blood on them" the other half were brand new. But that was Fallujah.

 

[bromdenlong]

NavyLCDR:

The French didn't surrender in WWI. They did the majority of the fighting and dying for the Allies on the Western Front. Their generals were idiots, but their troops fought bravely. It is very possible your Lebel has fatally shot someone.

 

[22250Rem]

Back in the eighties a friend of mine used to work with a guy who had the revolver that his brother-in-law used to commit suicide. The cops had it for awhile, of course, but a couple years later he got it from his sister (the widow) who was the executor of the estate. The gun's history never seemed to bother him and I don't recall exactly what the gun was but it was something like a 357 or 44 mag and worth some money. I guess the new owner had wanted one of those and suddenly he had the opportunity to own this one for free or next to nothing and he couldn't refuse.

 

[gbran]

Back in 1991, my estranged wife shot her boyfriend in my kitchen with my Smith revolver. Fired 5 shots into him and 1 shot into my new fridge. Both were gonners. Took me about 2 years before I was able to get it back. Still have the gun.

 

[wannabeagunsmith]

Just because a gun was in the military dosen't mean it was used to kill. I wouldn't say most mosins and sks's were used to kill, some maybe but not all.

 

[jad0110]

My boss has the gun her father used to shoot himself (he did it while she was in the house). IIRC, it is a S&W Model 36. She still has it, doesn't bother her a bit. As she said, it is just a thing. Metal and wood, with no feeling either way on the matter.

Though I guess it's a bit silly (as I know objects don't have personalities of their own and if you own milsurp there is a good chance it might have been used in combat), anyone else ever feel odd owning one?

Not a bit. Who knows the history on these guns (my milsurps are pictured below), but the most likely candidate to have been used in combat would be the SA M1 Garand. The Drawing / Serial #s put its DOB in January 1941, the drawing # and date on the barrel also likely make it original (SA, Oct 1940). The Garand was in high demand and fairly short supply at the beginning of the war. The SKS was captured off an NVA soldier in the late 60s (my grandfather brought it back in the early 70s, the South Vietnamese gov presented it to him for services he performed working as a civilian advisor from DARPA), so who knows. The M-1 carbine (an Inland made in Jan '44) may have seen action as well. Same for the SAKO Finnish M39, and we all know what some Nazis liked to do with their Lugers. But again, none of this bothers me. As my boss put it, they are just things.

 

[gym]

Makes no difference to me, perhaps the guy who assembled, or owned, something I own was a murderer. You can't have regrets for things you can't control.

 

[Hardtarget]

I knew a man that killed himself, in his living room, in front of his wife. I was offered the gun but I declined because I worked for his brother. Just didn't want those "details" to come up between us.

Mark

 

[herkyguy]

NavyLCDR:

The French didn't surrender in WWI. They did the majority of the fighting and dying for the Allies on the Western Front. Their generals were idiots, but their troops fought bravely. It is very possible your Lebel has fatally shot someone.

Bromdenlong, I agree with you. The French thing is funny every now and then, but far from the truth. The French military must be separated from the political decisions that are the basis for the whole "France always retreats" thing. For goodness sakes, when the French left Vietnam, their military wrote detailed after action reports and recommendations about fighting a guerrilla war that the US completely and totally ignored before going into the same country and we know how that one went for us.

Let's not forget their help in achieving independence either.

We got into the fight in WWI late. I would take a lot of pride in owning a French firearm from WWI.

 

[sidibear]

I own a Taurus revolver that was left to me by my friend who shot himself with it. The police did an ok job of cleaning it, but getting the remainder out of the barrel was traumatic to say the least. I still shoot it, its a good gun, just reminds me of the good times we had.
I also have a 1886 Mauser, if only it could talk it would be a fascinating history lesson.

 

[WardenWolf]

My aunt had a revolver that her husband used to kill a train robber with,it was an old break top.I was given the gun.To my dismay,I had a smith check it over before firing it myself due to its age and it spit lead on his hands from being out of time,Left some nasty little cuts.He ended up getting it for free simply because I felt bad about the whole thing.

Sounds like it *almost* became a suicide gun, because firing an older gun without performing such a basic check is suicidal. I wouldn't have felt bad about it. I'd have taken it back and taken it to a smith that wasn't reckless. It doesn't take much effort to look down the barrel and see if the cylinder lines up. If it was misaligned enough, that gun could have blown up in his hand.

I have a number of milsurps that likely were used to kill, but all of my others were bought new.