Related question: What’s the most responsible way to dispose of an unwanted gun if your chief concern is keeping it out of the hands of criminal and/or irresponsible users, rather than getting the most money you can for it? Should you hand it over to the cops? Sell it to an established gun dealer with close ties to a known local clientele rather than to a pawnshop?
I guess the best way would be to sell/give it to someone who wants it whom you personally know and trust, but failing that, what should you do?
Kimstu, I think all those options are reasonable. As I said before if you give it to the cops it may end up at a dealer anyway depending on where you live. A dealer will take required steps such as background check but obviously there is no absolute guarantee it cannot end up in the hands of a bad guy unless you personally know who it’s going to. It’s an issue I think about. While I rarely sell guns I own I usually go throgh gunbroker.com (which is ultimately through a licensed dealer) and have never sold one at a gun show.
Do make sure it’s a legal firearm before you do any of this otherwise it might be a good idea to contact your own lawyer first. There are a lot of things that can potentially make a weapon illegal by it’s construction, operation, features or (lack of) registration.
Margeuerite, do you have any relatives that hunt?
I’m sure that a responsible youngster that was raised in a hunting family would love his/her own shotgun.
I know I would have been thrilled to have been given one.
Please don’t be too quick to get rid of a valuable gun just because you don’t have experience with them.
Please don’t get caught up in the notion that all guns are no good because they are used for crimes.
I personally have several that have never been pointed at a human being.
Not all gun shop owners will take advantage of you.
If you really want to make sure it is not used in a crime please contact your local Pheasants forever or ducks unlimited chapter and tell them you have a shotgun to donate. They will use the proceeds to help buy habitat land.
You can’t really “keep a gun out of criminal hands” any more than you can “keep money or drugs out of criminal hands”. Most guns criminals use are stolen in burglaries or purchased legally by straw buyers. There’s not a lot you can do to prevent either from occurring.
In the US you can give a gun to the police for “disposal” but they certainly won’t give you anything in exchange for it, and if it is in good working order it will end up being auctioned off anyway. The police won’t keep it for their own use unless it is in very good condition and it is identical to a model of weapon they already use regularly.
Your best bet is to sell it through a storefront gun dealer in your area. -Someone who runs a gun shop as a public business that is, not someone who sells guns out of their home (-or if you donate it to any hunting or sportsmans groups, they will probably have you take it to a dealer this way anyway). A shop dealer won’t have much incentive to break any laws for one minor purchase. What it’s worth you won’t know until it sells, but the main thing you want to get out of the deal is a receipt that shows when and to whom the sale was made–proving that you transferred the gun to someone else legally. And keep that paper safe. If, by some strange course of events, you are alleged to have done something illegal with it, you will really want a paper record proving where and when you got rid of it.
As for the shells, to throw them in the trash you should first cut a couple holes in the shot-end (an ice pick will work for this) and then let them soak in a bucket of soapy water for a few days. Then you can just toss them in the regular trash (don’t tell the trashmen or they will refuse it).
…I had a few hundred rounds of old/unreliable rifle ammo to get rid of once and couldn’t find any other way to do it. I called a couple local gun shops and they had no ideas either. The only people that operate ammo dumps are the military, and there’s no places anywhere near for that and I would not have been allowed to dump what I had there anyway. So I ended up throwing them out with the regular trash bit-by-bit.
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You can’t really “keep a gun out of criminal hands” any more than you can “keep money or drugs out of criminal hands”. Most guns criminals use are stolen in burglaries or purchased legally by straw buyers. There’s not a lot you can do to prevent either from occurring.
Well I agree you can’t keep a gun out of criminal hands BUT you can see to it that it is in the hands of a responsible person.
Most hunters would only let you use his gun if he knew you.
Face it most guns are in safe hands.
Its the exception that gets air time on CNN.
Please do not throw ammunition in the trash. Not only is it toxic waste because but it’s dangerous. Old ammunition can be disassembled with simple equipment so the bullets and cases can be recycled and the propellant and primer disposed of. Smokeless propellant can be safely burned in the open as it will not explode. Primers are most safely disposed of by discharghing them in a firearm. Some folks suggest soaking primers in oil to “kill” them but it’s my understanding this isn’t reliable with modern lead styphnate primers. If you must dispose of ammunition try to find someone who does handloading as they may have the right tools.