Does anyone know the procedure if you win a storage auction and you find guns inside?

In NJ?? BOHICA!

Does anyone know the procedure if you win a storage auction and you find guns inside?

 

Yours to keep I guess? I was debating this with my buddy as well. While I've never done an auction myself, he and his brother did one and found an M2A1 ammo can that had a bunch of 30 round magazines in it. They aren't gun owners, nor did they have FPIDs, so they ended up turning them in to the local PD after I told them they were horribly illegal.

 

I mean, when you win the unit, I assume everything inside becomes your property... so I guess you can turn the guns into the police and let them hold it until the original owner tries to claim them? Then release them back to you if you have a valid FPID?

Yours to keep I guess? I was debating this with my buddy as well. While I've never done an auction myself, he and his brother did one and found an M2A1 ammo can that had a bunch of 30 round magazines in it. They aren't gun owners, nor did they have FPIDs, so they ended up turning them in to the local PD after I told them they were horribly illegal.

 

I mean, when you win the unit, I assume everything inside becomes your property... so I guess you can turn the guns into the police and let them hold it until the original owner tries to claim them? Then release them back to you if you have a valid FPID?

 

Walking into a NJ PD with a bag full of guns would be a pretty nerve-wracking experience, even if legal.

Walking into a NJ PD with a bag full of guns would be a pretty nerve-wracking experience, even if legal.

 

What are they gonna do? Arrest you for being a good citizen? These things happen. Just make sure they're unloaded, and make sure you get a receipt for the items you turned in. After you win the auction, they're technically your guns, so you don't want them getting lost in some PD's storage closet.

 

Maybe an alternative is to bring them to an FFL? Then they can somehow transfer them to you? I dunno how that magic works though as it may cause headaches when it comes to their ATF book-keeping. They can probably file them under some kind of 'estate sale' as they would after someone passes away...

 

The other option (which exists in a legal grey-area) is to just keep them. That is: if they meet NJ's firearms laws. If they violate NJ's AWB, then maybe you can ship them out of state? As long as you're not a prohibited person (felon) you may be in the clear on this. But who knows?

What are they gonna do? Arrest you for being a good citizen? These things happen. Just make sure they're unloaded, and make sure you get a receipt for the items you turned in. After you win the auction, they're technically your guns, so you don't want them getting lost in some PD's storage closet.

 

Maybe an alternative is to bring them to an FFL? Then they can somehow transfer them to you? I dunno how that magic works though as it may cause headaches when it comes to their ATF book-keeping. They can probably file them under some kind of 'estate sale' as they would after someone passes away...

 

The other option (which exists in a legal grey-area) is to just keep them. That is: if they meet NJ's firearms laws. If they violate NJ's AWB, then maybe you can ship them out of state? As long as you're not a prohibited person (felon) you may be in the clear on this. But who knows?

This..EXACTLY. You wouldnt BELIEVE the number of people who come in to turn guns in for various reasons. hell i know that We try to steer them to an FFL before we take them, just because it's a hop in the a&& to deal with them once they're in our custody..not to mention depressing to destroy them (Thanks NJ AG's Office). Funny thing though I was also wondering about this after watching one of those storage-wars shows where a guy found a bunch of guns in a locker he'd bought. Long guns wouldnt be an Issue IMO other thaqn compliance Issues...HANDGUNS..with NJ's screwy laws that MIGHT be a problem, although IMO it Shouldnt be since you bought the locker legally. the only sticking point might be the OGAM exception, and this seems like one of the situations the exception rule was written for in the first place.

This..EXACTLY. You wouldnt BELIEVE the number of people who come in to turn guns in for various reasons. hell i know that We try to steer them to an FFL before we take them, just because it's a hop in the a&& to deal with them once they're in our custody..not to mention depressing to destroy them (Thanks NJ AG's Office). Funny thing though I was also wondering about this after watching one of those storage-wars shows where a guy found a bunch of guns in a locker he'd bought. Long guns wouldnt be an Issue IMO other thaqn compliance Issues...HANDGUNS..with NJ's screwy laws that MIGHT be a problem, although IMO it Shouldnt be since you bought the locker legally. the only sticking point might be the OGAM exception, and this seems like one of the situations the exception rule was written for in the first place.

 

Right. The more I think about this: just bring em to an FFL first. If they are not NJ-compliant, have them Gunbroker it for you... or transfer it to a residence out of state. If they are NJ compliant, just have them transfer them. For pistols you may or may not need a PP since the guns are yours... Who the fugg knows. Prolly just easier to sell them all on the auction sites than keep em.

Right. The more I think about this: just bring em to an FFL first. If they are not NJ-compliant, have them Gunbroker it for you... or transfer it to a residence out of state. If they are NJ compliant, just have them transfer them. For pistols you may or may not need a PP since the guns are yours... Who the fugg knows. Prolly just easier to sell them all on the auction sites than keep em.

Plus it saves your local PD some space and dozens of man-hours of paperwork to deal with them. Which is continuously added to as our Esteemed Madame Attorney General, seems to find it amusing to change the Evidence Destruction regs every few months. I have stuff from the 80's..that have been adjudicated for decades, with the people involved (even the investigating detectives) DEAD, and we have to jump through hoops to get rid of the stuff.

I called state police and they said we have no idea lol no one ever asked that question according to the detective I was just wondering if you try to sell them and they were used in a crime I can see you having trouble to prove they were in the auction you won

Does anyone know the procedure if you win a storage auction and you find guns inside?

 

So, have you actually been to a storage auction? Are they crazy crowded now with all the reality storage auction shows, or are they still sane? Are prices reasonable? Is it anything like what you see on TV, or as completely different as I suspect they might be?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

So, have you actually been to a storage auction? Are they crazy crowded now with all the reality storage auction shows, or are they still sane? Are prices reasonable? Is it anything like what you see on TV, or as completely different as I suspect they might be?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

Probably out of proportion to what it used to be ebcause of the shows

So, have you actually been to a storage auction? Are they crazy crowded now with all the reality storage auction shows, or are they still sane? Are prices reasonable? Is it anything like what you see on TV, or as completely different as I suspect they might be?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

As I mentioned earlier, my friend did one recently. They won an auction at their local storage thing for like $150... a lot of it was mainly office chairs, tables, desks, etc. They took the items home, sorted them, and craigslisted them. Ended up making a decent chunk of change off all that, and they priced things to move quick (their mom didn't want the garage full of crap lol)

subscribed.

Nope gonna do it tomm

Because the owner of the storage place becomes the owner of the guns by default he has to transfer them to you. I guess its like a Face to Face sale. OR at least thats what I've heard, and I can't find information to back that up so take that bit of advice at your own risk.

 

I'd love to go to one of these auctions and just see whats in the units. Just something I've always wanted to do, but knowing my luck I'd get the one unit thats filled with junk.

Because the owner of the storage place becomes the owner of the guns by default he has to transfer them to you. I guess its like a Face to Face sale. OR at least thats what I've heard, and I can't find information to back that up so take that bit of advice at your own risk.

 

I'd love to go to one of these auctions and just see whats in the units. Just something I've always wanted to do, but knowing my luck I'd get the one unit thats filled with junk.

At least from the SHOW it appears that you cant actually ENTER the locker, you have to decide what it's worth to you by what you see..I don't believe the Storage Site Owner knows whats in them either.

At least from the SHOW it appears that you cant actually ENTER the locker, you have to decide what it's worth to you by what you see..I don't believe the Storage Site Owner knows whats in them either.

 

 

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeahup!

Heads up-

I know a guy who used to manage a storage location, he would request all of his friends save all their appliance boxes for him. He would throw them into the lockers and load em up with junk left out back, to bait the buyer into thinking there was a tv, stereo, washer, etc. Yes, he was a d@ck !

I thought about going to some of these auctions since I do go to equipment and gun auctions sometimes, and then I thought, what would I do with all the crap I don't want? I don't own a consignment shop like the people on those shows.

I'd keep my mouth shut. I wouldn't tell anyone. Clean it, lube it, put it in the safe and after 5 years your good (IIRC).

I thought about going to some of these auctions since I do go to equipment and gun auctions sometimes, and then I thought, what would I do with all the crap I don't want? I don't own a consignment shop like the people on those shows.

 

Craigslist....

First of all, don't believe ANY of the things you see on those storage auction reality shows, they're all BS. I've been to many of those storage auctions, I never used to see anything but urine stained mattresses and old dirty clothes, broken furniture, bald tires, old TVs and a lot of JUNK! I've heard of people making great finds, but your more likely to win the lottery than find a valuable antique (especially a gun) in New Jersey. As far as I know, all of the NJ storage outfits ban guns and ammo from being stored there. Anyway, the reason most storage lockers are abandoned is because the stuff in them isn't worth paying the rent to keep it, so they just abandon it and let someone else get rid of it. Remember, when you buy a storage unit you have maybe 24 hours to clear it out or YOU start paying rent on the space. Years ago you could usually dump the junk in them for free or for low cost, not any more. It might cost more to dispose of the junk you bought than the unit had cost! They never mention that in those dopey TV shows. Those 2 clowns from Auction Hunters have found more rare guns than are in some museums, yeah right! Attendance at these auctions is up something like a 1000% since these shows became popular. Bids are now up so high because everybody thinks that they're going to make a fortune in what they find, that there is not much money to be made in them anymore. I gave up going to them years ago because there was not enough good stuff in them to suit me, it's worse now.

Craigslist....

Yeah, I know, but that could be a lot of work to move, store, list, meet buyers, and sell the junk to make $20 or $30 per transaction. Sure the high end stuff or collectibles would be more worth while to list on Craigslist or Ebay but I don't think I'd want the hassle of dealing with the crap.

First of all, don't believe ANY of the things you see on those storage auction reality shows, they're all BS. I've been to many of those storage auctions, I never used to see anything but urine stained mattresses and old dirty clothes, broken furniture, bald tires, old TVs and a lot of JUNK! I've heard of people making great finds, but your more likely to win the lottery than find a valuable antique (especially a gun) in New Jersey. As far as I know, all of the NJ storage outfits ban guns and ammo from being stored there. Anyway, the reason most storage lockers are abandoned is because the stuff in them isn't worth paying the rent to keep it, so they just abandon it and let someone else get rid of it. Remember, when you buy a storage unit you have maybe 24 hours to clear it out or YOU start paying rent on the space. Years ago you could usually dump the junk in them for free or for low cost, not any more. It might cost more to dispose of the junk you bought than the unit had cost! They never mention that in those dopey TV shows. Those 2 clowns from Auction Hunters have found more rare guns than are in some museums, yeah right! Attendance at these auctions is up something like a 1000% since these shows became popular. Bids are now up so high because everybody thinks that they're going to make a fortune in what they find, that there is not much money to be made in them anymore. I gave up going to them years ago because there was not enough good stuff in them to suit me, it's worse now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree its amazing on auction hunters every auction they find rare guns and valuables. They never say how much leg work and time frame was involed in selling all the stuff either.

At my previous job, I had a client that was a property management company. They own several storage facilities. The main guy who ran them told me that any time they find guns from people who don't pay up or whatever, they can't sell 'em - they have to call the FBI to get them in to make sure the guns haven't been used in any crimes, etc. They all get surrendered.

I agree its amazing on auction hunters every auction they find rare guns and valuables. They never say how much leg work and time frame was involed in selling all the stuff either.

Read the 10 second disclaimer at the start of the show. They flat out say that what they are showing is the best (luckiest) purchases they made.

They probably only make out on <%20 of the lockers they buy.

Haha.. my wife and I talk about this all the time, because half the time on the show they find stuff worth more than what had to be owed on the locker to begin with.. I mean if you have 5 or 10k worth of stuff in a locker, who doesn't pay their bill in the first place? It's not like they don't send you 100 notices... watches? who puts them in storage? 3k worth of casino chips?

I will say this, my buddy recently just bought harpiscord from a person that buys storage units and this particular piece was in the storage unit. The people that bought the unit thought it was just a funky looking piano and listed it for 300 dollars, my buddy was the first to call, after he agreed to the price like 50 other people called for it saying how could you sell such a piece of music history for 300 dollars, my buddy ended up paying 500 dollars for it which is still an amazing deal considering everything he got has already been value at 12,000 dollars, yes you read that right, twelve thousand dollars.

 

So there are gems to be found if you know what your looking for but personally I wouldn't waste my time.

First of all, don't believe ANY of the things you see on those storage auction reality shows, they're all BS. I've been to many of those storage auctions, I never used to see anything but urine stained mattresses and old dirty clothes, broken furniture, bald tires, old TVs and a lot of JUNK! I've heard of people making great finds, but your more likely to win the lottery than find a valuable antique (especially a gun) in New Jersey. As far as I know, all of the NJ storage outfits ban guns and ammo from being stored there. Anyway, the reason most storage lockers are abandoned is because the stuff in them isn't worth paying the rent to keep it, so they just abandon it and let someone else get rid of it. Remember, when you buy a storage unit you have maybe 24 hours to clear it out or YOU start paying rent on the space. Years ago you could usually dump the junk in them for free or for low cost, not any more. It might cost more to dispose of the junk you bought than the unit had cost! They never mention that in those dopey TV shows. Those 2 clowns from Auction Hunters have found more rare guns than are in some museums, yeah right! Attendance at these auctions is up something like a 1000% since these shows became popular. Bids are now up so high because everybody thinks that they're going to make a fortune in what they find, that there is not much money to be made in them anymore. I gave up going to them years ago because there was not enough good stuff in them to suit me, it's worse now.

 

 

Wait, you mean stuff on TV reality shows isnt REAL???? next thing you're gonna say that Wrestling is faked

I will say this, my buddy recently just bought harpiscord from a person that buys storage units and this particular piece was in the storage unit. The people that bought the unit thought it was just a funky looking piano and listed it for 300 dollars, my buddy was the first to call, after he agreed to the price like 50 other people called for it saying how could you sell such a piece of music history for 300 dollars, my buddy ended up paying 500 dollars for it which is still an amazing deal considering everything he got has already been value at 12,000 dollars, yes you read that right, twelve thousand dollars.

 

So there are gems to be found if you know what your looking for but personally I wouldn't waste my time.

That's for Insurance purposes..actually SELLING it is probably a lot less..STILL a killing on his part though.. the wife loves that storage Wars show (Ok i like it too) and she wondered why i was laughing at when these guys were "Valuing" their finds.. they just toss numbers out of their butts for the benefit of the camera. about the only Honest one is the crazy old guy with the glasses