How to "turn in a gun"?

[twoblink]

Friend of a friend asked me this; and I didn't really know how to reply, and so I thought I'd ask.

He wanted to turn in a gun but didn't know how to do it without getting arrested. (Oh the irony of the predicament of someone trying to comply with the laws)

First, the gun (to me) seems to be quite dangerous. Saw'ed of shotgun. I'm talking like maybe a 6" barrel left on the thing. He sawwed it himself. So please don't even bother asking about the legality of it (in the PRK).

So now that he's turned to being on the up and up; he'd like to turn this gun in; as this is the only "illegal" gun he's got in the collection.

So how do you turn this gun in, without getting XXX'ed by the cops?

I figure THR would have some interesting answers..

I'll tell you what he has done so far, that seems like a decent idea.

He buried it in the ground somewhere; and called the anonymous phone tip line of his local police station. He asked if he reported a gun found "somewhere" buried, would the officer "close the case" on the gun after the found the gun..

They replied that they would have to do a ballistics test on it, so they can find out if it's a gun used in any reported crimes, but if it came back clean; they MIGHT just close it. So he asked me if this was the way to go..

Ok, smart people, give me some feedback.

 

[Yohan]

He could wrap it with about 10 rolls of duct tape, and then put it in a duffel bag, seal with more duct tape, and throw it away. Would the workers be willing to unwind all that duct tape? What I'm trying to say is, why doesn't he just disable the gun so no one can use it, and throw it away? Seems like the logical thing to do. He could disassemble the thing and throw it away part by part.

 

[rhedley]

DUMP it

Take the barrel off, destroy it. Keep the remaining part, then start looking for a standard long barrel. It is not illegal to have a barrelless receiver. The barrel is the only *bad* thing to have

This is not a good place to talk about this..

 

[Devonai]

I agree with Rhedley. If the weapon can be made legal, then do it. Otherwise render it inoperable and look for a nice deep body of water.

 

[El Tejon]

Boy, two, never seen that!

 

[KarlG]

I second Rhedley's idea. That is what I was thinking as I started reading.

As I read farther, it occurred to me he could combine Rhedley's idea with Yohan's. He could extend the barrel with toilet paper rolls and use the ten roles of duct tape to strengthen the new barrel.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Have your friend remove the barrel, drop it in a trash container behind a business, and buy a replacement barrel—and avoid activities in the future that result in a guilty conscience.

 

[rhedley]

great

KarlG

All right, then it could be called your "HOMELAND SECURITY GUN"

 

[samualt]

twoblink:
rhedley is right. Remove the barrel and keep the rest.
There is nothing illegal about destroying a barrel. Just cut it a couple more times to make it un-useable and throw it away.

Then, chant:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me."...Dune.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

I would think it would be best not to get the authorities involved. Remove the barrel and either destroy it or get rid of it. Maybe fill it with lead first. Buy a new barrel and you still have the gun.

-SquirrelNuts

 

[Kristofer]

Definitely replacing the barrel would be the way to go. Hypothetically, whats the legality of keeping the shortened barrel? Removed from the reciever of course.

 

[MAKOwner]

If they find the gun will they not run the serial numbers or something and track it back to him, and then wonder how it got to be out there in the ground with a sawed off barrel? Then they'll wonder why he didn't report it stolen, etc? I'd probably try to torch cut the reciever or something to render it inoperable and throw it away.

 

[Kahr carrier]

Just toss the barrel like the other posters said.

 

[Triad]

I would remove the barrel and destroy it, then find a legal replacement and keep the gun. If he does anything else it could come back to haunt him.

 

[Feanaro]

I pretty much second getting rid of the barrel and keeping the stock and such. Dissolve in acid, throw it in a bayou or whatever is his preference but give it a good finger print wiping, just in case.

Or grease it up, stick it in a box and find a spot in the woods. Never know.

 

[JohnBT]

All the sawed-offs I've ever seen in the movies had the stock cut off at the pistol grip. I guess he could toss everything but the receiver and then look for a new stock and barrel, but turning the whole thing in might be the right thing to do if he's turned over a new leaf so to speak.

A new 870 Express isn't but a couple of hundred bucks or so.

John

 

[Edward429451]

Toss it or rebuild it. Why bolster a cops arrest record? Generally speaking, they are not your friend. Even if the cop wanted to be cool about it, the word may come down from above to charge him anyway.

'Ooohh, we got a terrorist gun off the street... :banghead:

 

[ahenry]

Or he could be a man and rectify whatever wrong he's done.

 

[RustyHammer]

... WHAT THEY SAID. Toss barrel, keep rest.

 

[coonan357]

I would take the barrel off the reciever and torch cut the length of the barrels thus destroying it Remove 1/4 of the diameter or cut the barrel/s in half lengthwise so it cannot be put back together again dispose of these at 2 seperate facilities so they can not be reassembled as long as its not part of the reciever (which contains the serial number ) you should be ok .and procure a new barrel assy . or turn the reciever in when they have a buyback program . and tell them you can't find the barrel assy .

 

[TallPine]

Couldn't you just hammer the shotgun barrel flat? They're not very thick walled like rifle barrels.

 

[Guntalk]

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Remember those words. The "authorities" will not be happy that this person is being cooperative. They will be happy that they can arrest him and put him in jail for years.

It's only a pipe, but under the law, it's a felony pipe.

Some of the recommendations here are worth considering.

 

[twoblink]

Fairly old shotgun; a side by side; I don't think you can toss the barrel..

Hmmm...

OK, here's what he did..

First, found a friend in the "automotive industry" who has his own garage..

The gun got an acid bath...

Second, it was wrapped up, and dumped in a trashcan.

The authorities were called, informing them that there was "something" in the trashcan, and it was wrapped in a newspaper.

On the newspaper, was scribbled something like "Please mark this trashcan white if you will not continue the investigation."

Surprisingly, next day, the trashcan was sprayed with a few white dots...

So I assume all is over with...

 

[45R]

Could have turned it into an FFL and had the reciever destroyed.

 

[spacemanspiff]

you know, i dont see how this was such a tough question. without the barrel, isnt it a moot point? there are a thousand places you could find to dump the barrel and no one would be the wiser.