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Firearm question


The Bearded Wonder

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11 minutes ago, The Bearded Wonder said:

How do you properly dispose of an unwanted/unsafe firearm?

 

Thanks,

The Bearded Wonder

Many years ago I had a junk pistol and took it to the Ontario, CA Police Department.  I left it in the car and went in to tell them what I had.  

 

BIG MISTAKE!  Four cops went out to the car and treated me like a criminal.  I was questioned rudely, manhandled, threatened, and called a liar.

 

Once they were done they took the gun and refused to give me a receipt for it.

 

I told them if I ever had another gun to dispose of I'd sell it the first person who came along or throw it in the river.

 

I had lived in Ontario for about 25 years at that time and had worked closely with the police as the high school campus proctor, and had a number of other jobs and was a good citizen.

 

Never again. Never.

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Dismantle it, maybe there's some parts you can salvage, then throw it in the garbage! No one will ever be the wiser! 

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1 minute ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Dismantle it, maybe there's some parts you can salvage, then throw it in the garbage! No one will ever be the wiser! 

The items in question are from a house fire. I thought about cutting the receiver in half then the barrel off the receiver but i do not want to be accussed of making an sbr/sbs

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1 hour ago, The Bearded Wonder said:

The items in question are from a house fire. I thought about cutting the receiver in half then the barrel off the receiver but i do not want to be accussed of making an sbr/sbs

No need to cut anything! I would would take the firing pin out and dismantle it as far as I could, wrap it in a plastic bag and throw it in your big garbage bag.

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Part out any internals that may be fitting to use, cut the receiver in half and throw it in the trash or the scrap metal bin. 

 

If it's one of the old cheapos made out of Zamac, you can melt it down using an acetylene torch.

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As a former police department armorer I was tasked with destroying surrendered firearms and ammunition. There was a receipt given for every gun and a report made. Pictures were taken before and after. With permission of the chief all useable parts were stripped including magazines the receivers were cut in half as was the barrel. Ammunition was inspected and if was factory and serviceable it was put in the squad room first the officers to destroy. Unserviceable ammunition was destroyed by burning 

 

 

 

 

 

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It was all long guns, shotguns and rifles, all got hot enough that the barrels and receivers are distorted, and are all covered with red rust. I do not believe that anything could be salvaged from these things. Definitely not wall hanger material.

 

But I was unaware of anykind of legalities of destroying them, And that was/is my main question. Sorry I should have been more specific.

 

Never did I think I would ever want to destroy a gun:(

 

 

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I'm surprised nobody yet suggested waiting for one of those so-called "gun buybacks" to happen in your area. Personally I would rather scrap my guns myself than ever take part in one of those things.

 

Personally I think the idea of calling the local police dept. and scheduling a time to drop them off with them is probably the best. While a junk gun is technically scrap metal, you don't want some ignorant person finding gun parts in the trash or recycling and calling the police over it.

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I wouldn't do the gun "Buy Back" thing. It just adds fuel to their fire. Every time they have one they tout the number of guns they "got off the street".

 

I would dismantle and destroy or drop in in a deep body of water.

 

And what Forty said is a definite possibility, and not just in California. I darn near experienced something similar in North Carolina, except I didn't bring the revolver with me. I just dropped in to ask about disposing of it with  them. You would have thought I was a fugitive or a convicted felon. That revolver now rests in 110 feet of water in Lake Norman.

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I wouldn't call the police with any inquiry concerning this subject, for the reasons reflected in 40s post. And I also speak as a long-time community member with a totally clean record and, indeed, I have often represented police agencies in lawsuits against them. You'll get all sorts of responses, except for happy thanks.

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2 hours ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

I'm surprised nobody yet suggested waiting for one of those so-called "gun buybacks" to happen in your area. Personally I would rather scrap my guns myself than ever take part in one of those things.

 

Personally I think the idea of calling the local police dept. and scheduling a time to drop them off with them is probably the best. While a junk gun is technically scrap metal, you don't want some ignorant person finding gun parts in the trash or recycling and calling the police over it.

I agree, the only problem is by supporting these stupid "buy back" programs you're encouraging them to do more of them! 

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8 hours ago, The Bearded Wonder said:

How do you properly dispose of an unwanted/unsafe firearm?

 

Thanks,

The Bearded Wonder

 

TBW:

     Badlands Bob provided an option in an earlier post today by Alpo.

 

     1691861403_PistolandWeatherBalloon.thumb.JPG.3edd4e4c58f20899d737e29dd18c9acf.JPG

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5 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Why do we consider that the police are in the firearms disposal business? Seems to me they have enough to do without that job.

 

Well then, maybe ATF should be. I still don't think dumping a gun in the trash or a deep lake is a good idea. Plenty of them end up there already for nefarious reasons.

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Howdy,

Very often those gun buyback events hand out gift cards for

a new pair of shoes such as running shoes or what ever.

OR stop by and leave it with a gunsmith.

You never know if someone is searching everywhere for a part on that gun.

You have not told us what guns are involved.

Some pard might be able to use parts......

I know Ruger has helped replace ruger guns in that exact situation.

Best

CR

 

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2 minutes ago, J. Mark Flint #31954 LIFE said:

I'd give them to a gunsmith if one would accept them.  Otherwise I would cut the receivers in half, drop em in a burn barrel and burn the wood off and let them rust away in the ash heap

 

I vote for sending them to the ATF with a rubber band attached to the trigger as part of the bump stock ban.

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I have two firearms that are still functional, but essentially worthless. The first is a .22 rifle made by Savage that my dad bought me back in my teens. It has a 10# trigger pull and is worth maybe $40 used. The second is a Jennings J-22 .22 pistol. It actually works fine but is your typical pot-metal "Ring of Fire" pistol commonly known as a Saturday Night Special. Value, maybe $50 tops. I have absolutely no use for either of these guns anymore, and have thought about pawning them off just to get rid of them. Unfortunately nobody wants to do that because the time spent having an employee process the 4473 and related paperwork would cost the shop more than any profit on these guns. I haven't contacted the local PD yet, but given the stories here maybe I shouldn't. So they just continue to take up room in the safe.

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1 hour ago, Chili Ron said:

Howdy,

Very often those gun buyback events hand out gift cards for

a new pair of shoes such as running shoes or what ever.

OR stop by and leave it with a gunsmith.

You never know if someone is searching everywhere for a part on that gun.

You have not told us what guns are involved.

Some pard might be able to use parts......

I know Ruger has helped replace ruger guns in that exact situation.

Best

CR

 

 

Sorry for being slow to respond, I  do not think there are any salvageable parts.

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Pics do not show it well but in person barrels are bent by at least 1/2 inch receivers are distorted, got the upper cover of the AK style and springs and such literally crumbled and fell out in pieces. The double has the barrels seperated almost all the way down

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I'd just cut the receiver in half with a reciprocating saw or a chop saw.  Then throw the two pieces in the trash.  If you take it to the local police department, you're just opening yourself up to possible hassle and them up to a bunch of extra paperwork.  

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3 hours ago, The Bearded Wonder said:

Pics do not show it well but in person barrels are bent by at least 1/2 inch receivers are distorted, got the upper cover of the AK style and springs and such literally crumbled and fell out in pieces. The double has the barrels seperated almost all the way down

It sounds like they were already put in a burn barrel. 

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