Getting handgun w/no history or paperwork

[JerseyDevil 0]

I'm trying to talk a friend of mine into giving me his old unused (for 30+years) Ruger. I don't recall if it was a Blackhawk or Redhawk in .357.

My concern is that he bought it from a pawnshop in Texas in the 1960's. Has dragged it around from place to place and he has been living in NYC for 20 yrs.

He has nothing to prove ownership and is not legal in NYC anyway.

 

If I get it into my sweaty hands. What do I need to do on my end?

Do I just get a P2P and bring it into my local FFL?

Does he need to be present?

 

The gun looks fine despite it's age. It was last fired in the 70's so I plan to take it to a gunsmith to have it checked out and make any needed repairs. Maybe send it to Ruger?

 

[ogfarmer 138]

he needs to ship it or bring it to your ffl. You can't take possession of it otherwise.

 

your ffl will do the transfer to you given you have P2P.

[siderman 1,139]

how would he ship a hg thats currently illegal for him possess/transport in  the first place? and would an ffl have an issue with that? interesting.

[ogfarmer 138]

i guess smuggle it to a ffl outside of nyc

[Barms 98]

If smuggle is the idea. Then why stop at FFL. Just snuggle right Into OPs basement.

[JerseyDevil 0]

If it somehow found it's way to an FFL (not saying how it would get there) would I have any trouble getting the paperwork done?

[JerseyDevil 0]

If smuggle is the idea. Then why stop at FFL. Just snuggle right Into OPs basement.

I'm way to paranoid for that.

I want to be able to take it to the range without pooping on myself in the 1:10000000 chance I get stopped for some reason

[RS1200XL 4]

First...I'm not a lawyer but....

 

Why cant you have him take it to an upstate NY ffl and ship it to an NJ FFL?  When selling a gun I don't think it matters where the previous owner bought it from and what not.  So long as the serial is clear you should be good to go.  The only time I'd be concerned about a gun is if it was used in a crime...

[njpilot 671]

If it somehow found it's way to an FFL (not saying how it would get there) would I have any trouble getting the paperwork done?

Shouldn't. If he was a resident of PA and drove to your FFL with it it would be the same thing as far as the FFL should be concerned.

[Barms 98]

I'm way to paranoid for that.

I want to be able to take it to the range without pooping on myself in the 1:10000000 chance I get stopped for some reason

And what happens when you get stopped? Are you saying you don't have an FID nor would you transporting said firearm in a prohibited way? If you answer that you have your FID and would transport it legally I'm back to "so what happens if you get stopped with that firearm?

 

I'm not trying to be an antagonist I'm just rehashing a point that comes up here repeatedly.

[maintenanceguy 510]

I am not a lawyer but...

 

If he's transporting in NYC, I'm sure he's committing a crime there but I don't see any way not to commit a crime there at this point, even having it at home in NYC is probably a crime.

 

Once he makes it across the Holland Tunnel, If he's transporting to a ffl in NJ, he's within one of the exemptions and not breaking the law - unloaded and cased of course.

 

And since he purchased it before the the national firearms act of 1968, he's legal to own it. (except for the NYC thing).

[siderman 1,139]

I dont think FOPA's Safe Passage act would apply as an exemption here because it requires the firearm to be legal at the point of origin-NYC, its not- and the destination. IANAL too and have been wrong before but other than having a FFL make a house call to pick it up (can they do that?) Is this one of those screwy things with no legal out? I'd like to hear an FFLs point of view.

[PK90 3,573]

I dont think FOPA's Safe Passage act would apply as an exemption here because it requires the firearm to be legal at the point of origin-NYC, its not- and the destination. IANAL too and have been wrong before but other than having a FFL make a house call to pick it up (can they do that?) Is this one of those screwy things with no legal out? I'd like to hear an FFLs point of view.

 

Once the car is in motion, who's to say where it originated?

[bhunted 887]

My only concerned would be it's history. Who's to say it wasn't used illegally somewhere.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[siderman 1,139]

Once the car is in motion, who's to say where it originated?

so if you were a NJ FFL you would not have an issue facilitating the sale/transfer of this gun after seeing the sellers ID and thus place of origin knowing it was illegal for the seller to have/transport? if so problem solved...

[Babyface Finster 45]

My only concerned would be it's history. Who's to say it wasn't used illegally somewhere.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This would be my biggest issue. While you can never be completely sure when buying used, a purchase from a pawn shop 40 years ago and possession by someone who is ignorant/apathetic about the laws where he lives leaves too many unanswered questions for me.

 

Is there something special about this gun? Ruger .357's are not exactly scarce.

[tony357 386]

Google is your friend look up stolen gun registry run the serial #,  if it is good just fill out the p2p..   worse case scenario he can claim inheritance..

 

googled..

 

http://www.hotgunz.com/

[PK90 3,573]

so if you were a NJ FFL you would not have an issue facilitating the sale/transfer of this gun after seeing the sellers ID and thus place of origin knowing it was illegal for the seller to have/transport? if so problem solved...

Not one. I've bought several "assault weapons" from NJ residents. It has never been an issue and will never be one.

[Barms 98]

I didn't mean for the OP to drive across state lines with it. The SMUGGLE comment was referring to the seller to get it to the NJ location. Then the OP brought up "what happens if I ever get pulled over with the gun?" I interpreted that to mean IF he wasn't a prohibited person and IF he was traveling with firearm in lawful mode.

 

Then.....i said to him. "So now what?" The answer from reading this board a hundred times is: NOTHING HAPPENS have a nice day

[ogfarmer 138]

by me saying smuggle I wasn't referring to bringing it to NJ, I was just using the term loosely to bring it out of NYC, maybe to another NY FFL who knows...

[10X 3,306]

Once the car is in motion, who's to say where it originated?

So leave the ez-pass home that day.

[Oakridgefirearms 224]

So leave the ez-pass home that day.

You only pay to cross the Hudson from NJ INTO NYC - not from NYC to NJ - if he's leaving NYC EZ Pass wouldn't record it anyway.

[Bt Doctur 188]

And you thought the "Transporter" series was fake???????????? Anything, anywhere, anytine, for the right price. The service does exist.

[Smokin .50 1,907]

I'm trying to talk a friend of mine into giving me his old unused (for 30+years) Ruger. I don't recall if it was a Blackhawk or Redhawk in .357.

My concern is that he bought it from a pawnshop in Texas in the 1960's. Has dragged it around from place to place and he has been living in NYC for 20 yrs.

He has nothing to prove ownership and is not legal in NYC anyway.

 

If I get it into my sweaty hands. What do I need to do on my end?

Do I just get a P2P and bring it into my local FFL?

Does he need to be present?

 

The gun looks fine despite it's age. It was last fired in the 70's so I plan to take it to a gunsmith to have it checked out and make any needed repairs. Maybe send it to Ruger?

 

Some random thoughts in no particular order:

 

First and foremost (since nobody has mentioned it YET), you are trying to acquire a Blackhawk .357 (the term Redhawk wasn't on Bill Ruger's lips yet), which as you say was bought from a Pawn Shop in the 60's.  Since it wasn't until Ruger was successfully sued (for accidental discharges as a result of a dropped gun) that the transfer bar safety was factory-installed, circa 1973, once you legally obtain said revolver at the completion of the legal transfer process, you may wish to inspect said Blackhawk to ascertain whether or not the transfer bar safety was retro-fitted to that early example of the Gunmaker's art....and yes Kids, I'm showing both my age and experience with THAT one, lol!  For those unfamiliar with the need for a transfer bar in a Blackhawk, let me just say that without one, if the back of the hammer is hit with enough force, the gun could discharge IF the hammer is resting on a live round instead of an empty chamber.  The Old Wise Tale of resting the hammer of a six-gun on an empty chamber goes back to when black powder cap and ball revolvers first came onto the landscape!

 

And "Not for Nuthin'" as we say in Jersey, if you think that this Old Boy (the current owner) is the only hand gun owner that ever bought a gun at a Pawn Shop decades ago in a Free State and moved around the Country and wound-up in the Big City, well, I've got a bridge I wanna sell ya, lol!  News Flash:  Lots of Korean War and WW2 Vets that live in rent controlled apartments in what used to be nice NYC neighborhoods have war relics they brought home with them before NYC went communist........lots of Colt .45 ACP 1911's, Lugers, Walther P-38's, you name it!  These war relics are loaded and IN SERVICE as I type this (if you can't grasp this you're a FOOL)!  And lots of widows are left with these fully loaded hand guns when their husbands pass.  Since I'm not reading anywhere that the Nazi's are goin' house-to-house searching for war relics, I think Mr. and Mrs. Smith in Forest Hills (by the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center) can rest easy knowing they still have a HOOLIGAN TOOL (or more appropriately, a tool for Hooligans).   

 

So follow Paul's advice (PK-90) and take your friend and his UNLOADED and CASED Blackhawk for a trip out of the five Boroughs to facilitate the legal transfer of this nice specimen.

 

Dave

The Shootist

[Old School 611]

My Super Blackhawk has no transfer bar and never will.

 

Load one, skip one, load four, cock, and rest the hammer on an empty cylinder.

 

Five shooter

[JerseyDevil 0]

Google is your friend look up stolen gun registry run the serial #, if it is good just fill out the p2p.. worse case scenario he can claim inheritance..

 

googled..

 

http://www.hotgunz.com/

I would be suprised if there were any digitized records going back to 1962, but will check just in case.

[JerseyDevil 0]

This would be my biggest issue. While you can never be completely sure when buying used, a purchase from a pawn shop 40 years ago and possession by someone who is ignorant/apathetic about the laws where he lives leaves too many unanswered questions for me.

Is there something special about this gun? Ruger .357's are not exactly scarce.

Yes. It is special.

 

It would be free!! :-D