If you own the gun legally and it is registered, I would call the local police and “donate” it to them. If you have the gun illegally, then you will probably have to dispose of it illegally. I don’t think giving advice on how to be a criminal would be prudent.
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- To permanently disable a gun, you place it (unloaded) on a concrete sidewalk or floor and then smash the barrel flat with a sledgehammer or ball-peen hammer. For a revolver, pound the entire cylinder flat also. With a cheap gun this is not difficult to do. You can also pound out the serial number if you’re really paranoid, but then again if the way you aquired it didn’t involve official paperwork, the police finding it and being able to read the serial number doesn’t mean much to you as they can’t track it to you.
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- To permanently disable a gun, you place it (unloaded) on a concrete sidewalk or floor and then smash the barrel flat with a sledgehammer or ball-peen hammer. For a revolver, pound the entire cylinder flat also. With a cheap gun this is not difficult to do. You can also pound out the serial number if you’re really paranoid, but then again if the way you aquired it didn’t involve official paperwork, the police finding it and being able to read the serial number doesn’t mean much to you as they can’t track it to you.
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- The pounding is really just to insure that some kid won’t see it in the trash can, pull it out and find bullets for it–the police do not perform full CSI-style investigations on guns they find discarded anymore, except if they have a recent incident of a known gun type or caliber that matches the gun you are disposing of–and they can’t do any ballistics testing on a gun with a flattened barrel and cylinder anyway. After flattening it, then you just wrap it in a fast-food bag and toss it in a wal-mart or shopping mall trash can next time you’re out.
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If you are 100% certain that possession of the gun is legal, why not sell it?? Just go to a gun show and ask a few dealers what they’d be willing to pay for it. Even if it’s worth $10, it’s better than nothing.
I don’t like giving police firearms. Most of the time a submitted firearm is not destroyed, no matter what they tell you. They’ll check it out, and if it’s worth anything at all, one of the cops will keep it for his private collection. Or he’ll sell it. (I have no hard data to support this; it’s simply based on hearsay from many posters on firearms boards over the years.)
depending on the caliber, I might buy it. Lemme know
Do not destroy the serial number except in the process of totaly destroying the whole gun! Defacing the serial number, or possessing a gun wiith a defaced serial number is a whole separate crime.
Personally, if it was safe to do so I would sell it or its parts, if not I would bury it if its functional or throw it in a body of water if its not.
If I were you, I’d find out what kind it is(usually engraved on the slide), and go check out the 2004 Gun Digest and get an idea of what it’s worth- Gun Digest is kind of like the bible for gun collectors and traders- like a Blue Book for guns.
Then, take it to your local gun store and either sell it to them, or maybe sell it on consignment. There’s no point in just getting rid of it without getting some sort of compensation- they don’t quit working unless they’re terribly rusty or mistreated usually. My grandfather’s 1943 issue 45 automatic still fires as well as the day it was made!
I had a junkie 25 auto that I had no use for. (too small) Also the gun had been recalled due to a safety defect. I took it to a local pawn and they loaned $50 bucks on it. Heck, I would have $5.00.
I probably could have sold it for more but I didn’t wish to mess with it.
whats the legal thing to do if your seriel number becomes damaged?
good question
The proper way to destroy a handgun is to dissassemble it completely. Do not attempt to bend the barrel. All that will do is create a weapon that will explode if fired. You should plug the barrel. You can do this with a squeeze tube of cement filler, molten lead, any of several very hard epoxies, etc.
Go piece by piece and destroy the functionality. Pay particular attention to the firing pin.
At this point it is not longer a weapon and may be disposed of in the trash.
How and why do you know this?
I think guns should be melted and used in sculptures, myself.
I destroyed my grandfather’s guns when we moved him into a nursing home.
About trying to bend barrels I remember from riflery courses. A bent barrel is a recipe for disaster and will not prevent an idiot from trying to fire a bullet through it.
A plugged barrel is useless but typically still retains serial numbers for identification purposes. You are not defacing them, so the former gun can still be identified.
If you destroy the functionality of each piece of a gun, it is no longer a gun, just so much scrap metal.
I did this according to the directions of my grandfather who was a retired NYC police chief
It never hurts to ask the police (well, usually) and if you’re trully paranoid, call anonomously from a payphone. Some of the amnesty programs mentioned would be a good bet as well.
As far as the suggestions on defacing and destroying the firearm go, I don’t know if I’d want to be seen on my front sidewalk smashing a handgun with a ballpeen hammer. Also imagine the hassle you’d face if you were seen tossing a handgun sized package into the local river.
Many police agencies, especially in larger cities, will offer nominal rewards for guns to be taken out of circulation.
If you have access to a welder, weld it shut at all corners.
What I thought was the obvious choice: bring it to the police. If you think they’re going to arrest you for taking a gun off of the street, think about it. They not going care if it’s illegal, as long as it’s out of circulation. Your situation, provided it’s true, reeks of honesty and good intent. You don’t want the gun to be used anymore, so the best option would be to let Law Enforcement handle it.
You can call them up from your house and ask what to do about it. If you’re that paranoid, call from a payphone like someone said.
You can probably just go to the police, and say, “I’ve got a gun at home, I don’t know if it’s legal or not. A friend gave it to me 20-someodd years ago, and I don’t want it to be a possible danger to my family.”, then there shouldn’t be a problem. However, my brother has a few friends who are cops, so I’ll have him ask…
Just get the damned thing in the hands of a responsible group: that’s the police, not a pawn shop, not a gun shop.
Take it from someone who lost a friend to suicide with a gun, just 3 months ago.
I wouldn’t trust the police. Could you dig a deep hole and bury it?
Now that I think about it, your advice is the best, and I retract what I said about calling an attorney. He doesnt need an attorney, and Im sorry I even brought it up. Attorneys are for people who want to get away with whatever they are doing. This guy seems like he wants to do the right thing.
If it is illegal in his state to possess an unregistered gun, he would be admitting to a crime of course, since if it was illegal, he DID commit a crime. There is nothing wrong with admiting to what you did.
Do the right think. Call the police and confess.
If it is illegal, then I’m sure you will not be punished for more than whatever penalty there might be for whatever, if ever, crime you may or may not have committted.
Wrap it up and drop it in Wal-Mart’s “Toys For Tots” box. 
just to clarify things, it is not necessary to"register" a gun. Owning a gun is either legal or illegal depending on where you live. I think that many people confuse “registering” guns with “registering for a carry permit”. A permit allows you to carry a handgun concealed on your person. You do not need any such documentation to merely own a gun.
As to the OP, just call your local police. As has already been mentioned they have many buyback programs designed for just such situations as yours. Don’t be so afraid of involving the authorities.