Inheriting long guns from out of state?

[dustnrust 2]

First off, I should make it clear that I live in NJ, but have lived in PA and just recently sold my house in PA. I was living in PA, but when my father passed three years ago, I inherited his house here. Since the NJ residence was paid for, I sold my place in PA to get clear of a big mortgage and moved here, for now.

When my father passed away he left me about 30 old rifles and shotguns, most of which were handed down to him from my grandfather, great grandfather and a few uncles over the years. Most are single shot and side by side shot guns, a few pump shot guns, a few sporterized m1903's, a couple britsh 303's and a bunch of misc .22 rifles. There are no handguns.

They were in the house when I bought it from the estate and as an only child, his will left me all and everything if that matters.

Now more recently, over the past two years I lost two uncles who resided in PA, as the last remaining relative, the task of handling their estates falls to me.

Both were rather avid collectors of old guns, again, no handguns, just hunting rifles and shotguns. About 60 in all, or at least 60 that I care to keep due to the fact they have family history.  I already had a local (PA) gun dealer make an offer and buy everything that wasn't NJ legal and anything I just didn't want.

My question is, first, what do I need to do to keep these as a NJ resident?

I do not have a fire arms ID card, I was told at the local PD I didn't need one when my dad passed but apparently I do to buy ammo here???

I've got two answers from gun shops on what to do with the guns in PA, a few said that since I have taken possession of those guns in PA, they are mine and I can bring them here with no issues, a few others said that I cannot transport them across state lines and that they need to be shipped one at a time by a PA gun dealer to a NJ gun dealer and held by that dealer until I obtain an FID card here?

The way I read it, the FID card is only to purchase a gun, I'm not purchasing anything.

I asked a few shops in PA and was given various prices, ranging from $35 to $100 per gun to ship them to an gun shop here, and there would be another charge here for the NJ gun shop to receive and hand me each gun.

Can anyone here tell me which is correct? I get different answers from everyone I ask.

I do intend to get an FID card, but from what I'm told that don't happen over night. What I'm looking at right now is that I'd like to sell the property in PA where they are stored and be done with it asap. When I asked how long it would take to get an FID card I was told 5 to 6 months. I need the PA property gone by then. I go to FL in the winter and don't care to still be dealing with all this while in FL.

I also am not a rich man, I live on a fixed income and paying hundreds of dollars to just ship and receive what is already rightfully mine doesn't make sense. Some of the older rifles are over 150 years old and belonged to my great grandfather and his brothers, a few were brought home from the Spanish American war, a few likely from the Civil War. The newest of everything is likely a few 1960's era Remington pump shotguns and a few Ithaca single shot shotguns, all else it older with the bulk of them being from the 1920's or 30's.

Bringing the lot of old guns from my uncle's here, combined with those my dad had here already would make the total in my gun safe here close to a hundred or so. Most of which will never get used or fired, to me their family heirlooms. I may take a few of the old .22 rifles out to a range just to try and if I got back into hunting, I suppose I'd use a few of the side by side shot guns again but the rest are more or less a matter of just keeping them in the family.

 

[W2MC 1,699]

They are yours...it doesn't matter that they happen to be in PA.  The PA gun shops saying you need to transfer via an FFL are incorrect.  For your possession;  FID card is not required; but is a good idea to get; as it makes life with firearms easier in NJ.  See the link below - particularly #9, for more info.

https://www.njsp.org/firearms/firearms-faqs.shtml

[oldguysrule649 397]

I concur with W2MC.  As long as they are NJ legal, you should be good to go.

Regarding ammo, in NJ you need the NJFID to purchase Handgun (not long gun) ammo.  You can also purchase ammo online.  Depending on the vendor, you may need to provide a copy of your NJFID.  Plenty of threads here on that topic.

You will also note in the faq above that registration is voluntary. Do not volunteer anything. Nothing good will come of it.

regards