Ok, so lets assume this is a hypothetical situation...

 

A friend (no, not me, really!) has inherited a few pistols from his father who passed away. He is a NJ resident who, has an FID card. Amongst this small collection is a pistol that has no serial numbers, however this pistol HAD a serial number at one time, but now, it does not, rendering it illegal to posses (correct so far?)

 

So, obviously he should not keep said pistol, and now wants to get rid of it. What would the best way to handle this? call the local PD, explain to them the situation and ask them to come and retrieve it?

 

What would you do?

Wait for a gun buy back and dump it there to avoid an investigation into my family. /tinfoilhatoff

 

 

What would you do?

 

Take it apart, run the pieces through a bandsaw till it just looks like some scrap metal.

 

If no bandsaw, take it apart as much as possible, separate the pieces and throw them out somewhere discreetly in different places. If nothing else, find a bridge over some water and let 'er fly.

can you see where it was?

How old is gun?

What Dan and Tony said, and also, were the guns willed to him, or was he the last or next person in line to get the guns when his father passed away??

If nothing else, find a bridge over some water and let 'er fly.

 

Wipe your prints before you toss it!

The gun in this story would appear to be from the 80's time frame, and you can plainly see where the numbers were. I don't know the specifics on how they were "willed" to him, I believe his father told him were the collection was in the house. Parents were divorced, he was the primary care giver and had power of attorney over his father

Well, everything is legal to have except the frame. Take it down to the frame, sell the parts, torch cut the frame in 3 places diagonally and you are good to go. Or as suggested, gun buy-back! You get money and its clear from you %100.

This is what we call a "burner", keep it around it may come in "handy".

Thanks guys, the buy back is a good suggestion. When he told me about it, I told him to get rid of it asap, and he said he would just take it to PD. I was like, uh, well, ok, your just gonna walk into the police station with a gun in a paper bag or something and be like, Hey officer, i have this here gun with no serial numbers, would you just take it from me and i'll be on my way?

Bummer it is from the 80's i was hoping it was before serialization...

OK, so thats not cool.. that gun is some bad mojo..

Delibertly defaced or worn off?

Yeah was it defaced or did it get banged around and the #'s are hard to read? I would assume defaced.

 

Tough call for me. I personally think I would bury that thing in the ground for safe keeping. Tell nobody about it and let it be. This way, if the SHTF and I lost my guns, I could dig one up

If it's obvious that the serial number was removed, you'd be best served getting into as many pieces as possible and throwing it into a lake or something. Or, you could wait for one of those "no questions asked" gun turn-in things that various cities will do from time to time. Even those, I'm leary of, but that's just me.

To all you guys suggesting that he just chucks it into a lake: WTF. What if it's something awesome like an old Delta Elite or a Bren Ten?

To all you guys suggesting that he just chucks it into a lake: WTF. What if it's something awesome like an old Delta Elite or a Bren Ten?

 

Let me pose a question to you. Suppose you could choose between $5000 in one hand VS a possible $30,000 debt, possible jail time and permanent loss of the right to own a firearm. Would you consider that a good trade?

 

I know I wouldn't. The chances are likely the gun is worth $300 or less, even if it wasn't defaced.

To all you guys suggesting that he just chucks it into a lake: WTF. What if it's something awesome like an old Delta Elite or a Bren Ten?

 

 

You're not really serious, are you?

NJS 2C:39-3d

Any person who knowingly has in his possession any firearm which has been defaced, except an antique firearm or an antique handgun, is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

 

IMHO, your "friend" should turn it into his local police department.

Honestly... there are a lot of variables in this situation. If it was some junky Taurus-type pistol, I would be strongly encouraged to just be rid of it via a buyback. Seeing as how the serial is removed, it probably is stolen and/or killed someone. If its a 1911, Id destroy the frame and buy a new one. Other than that... Id be tempted to cosmoline the thing and bury it with some ammo in a PVC pipe. Highly illegal, but its a cool story.

 

Realistically, get rid of the frame. The rest of the parts determine if its any worth buying a new frame, otherwise send it all off at a gun buyback.

To all you guys suggesting that he just chucks it into a lake: WTF. What if it's something awesome like an old Delta Elite or a Bren Ten?

 

Who gives a blue damn WHAT it is..if it has a defaced serial number it could cost him ALL his guns.

If it were me I would choose the fastest path to being a law abiding citizen again. So in order that would be:

 

Band Saw or Torch.

 

Unfortunatly I have some experience coming across illicit weapons and involving LE. From those experiences I would only choose this route if I didnt have a band saw or torch......

"Who gives a blue damn WHAT it is..if it has a defaced serial number it could cost him ALL his guns."

 

I agree! Its almost like saying hey I found a k of coke and I was going to turn it in but, its worth like $300,000 so I wanna keep it LOL

if it was me, i'd strip it of all the parts and turn the frame in to the local pd. although i know the guys in the local PD and would have no trouble calling ahead, explaining the situation, and then bringing it up. i'd probably, at the same time, be applying for a new pistol permit, in order to buy a new frame (should be a lot cheaper than an entire gun). for example, a 1911 frame costs $200-300 at brownells. so even if i pay someone to fit the parts, i get a new 1911 for maybe a lot cheaper than i could buy one.

 

things i would not do under any circumstance:

 

keep it

wait for a gun buyback program

write about it on the internet

have my friend write about it on the internet

if it was defaced but the serial was once stamped on, NJSP can still recover the serial number.

The reason I gave for turning it in is that more than likely this firearm was going to be used, or has been used in a crime. Why else would the serial number be defaced? Also, sometimes there is more than one serial number on the firearm. So if it was used in a crime, the victim of this crime, it may be YOU, would much appreciate that the police have a possible tool to solving this crime and bring the perpetrator to justice. As corny as this may sound, there is a possibility that it could happen. Serial numbers can be raised and ballistics from this firearm may match evidence left at a crime seen.

I wouldn't have asked on an open public forum what to do with it. Nice throw down however.

strange question... but when they "check ballistics" like to match bullets to those used in crimes.. doesn't the barrel have something to do with that.. and if so wouldn't taking that barrel and sticking it on another gun.. kind of put you in an odd spot where if something bad did ever come up.. and they examined the ballistics of your newly "made gun" they could hypothetically match those involved in a crime.. or several crimes..

yes

The reason I gave for turning it in is that more than likely this firearm was going to be used, or has been used in a crime. Why else would the serial number be defaced? Also, sometimes there is more than one serial number on the firearm. So if it was used in a crime, the victim of this crime, it may be YOU, would much appreciate that the police have a possible tool to solving this crime and bring the perpetrator to justice. As corny as this may sound, there is a possibility that it could happen. Serial numbers can be raised and ballistics from this firearm may match evidence left at a crime seen.

 

...and you find out your dad was a serial killer. Bring on the bandsaw!

...and you find out your dad was a serial killer. Bring on the bandsaw!

 

while there may be something wrong with me.. or this response.. I would rather know.. my ability to sleep at night shouldn't come at the price of someone else not being able to....

as much as I dread the thought and the questions.. and the potential drama.. I think I would turn the gun in also..