My sister found some guns

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My sister is the world’s caretaker. She’s the mom who brings cookies to school for the birthdays of the kids whose moms don’t; she’s the one who circles back into the grocery store parking lot when she sees a senior citizen who looks like he needs a ride to get his groceries home.

Fifteen or so years ago, when she moved into her house with her new husband and her imminent baby, she adopted the neighbors a couple doors down. Jack and Diane. (If you think I made that up you’d be wrong.) Couple in their seventies, he a retired auto mechanic, she, well, the wife of a retired auto mechanic. No kids, no relatives, just the two of them, smoking themselves together into their graves.

Jack died, of lung cancer, about ten years ago. Diane, with no human contact besides my sister and her now four kids, doubled her cigarette intake; whether she was smoking for Jack, or just trying to speed up their reunion, I can’t tell you. But she was a tough old bird, and lived until a few weeks ago. When my sister found out that Diane had left everything in the world to my sister’s kids, estate to be managed my my sister.

So sissener’s been dealing with estate paperwork, taxes, debts, etc., and has only now begun to sort through Diane’s actual, physical estate. There isn’t much of value (anyone know how to get a TON of apparently collectible coins appraised? Bags and bags of buffalo nickels, silver dollars, etc.?), but today sissener came across a drawer containing six handguns.

Now, ideally, she’d like to realize some cash from disposing of them, but she wants to do so legally. Obviously any license for such guns does not perpetuate with the estate; sissener herself in other words is obviously not licensed to have these guns, even if Diane was. What should the process be for her to sell these guns legally? If that’s not possible, or prohibitively complicated, should she just notify the local police to come and take them away?

This is in Illinois, if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance in this matter.

2

Since you didn’t post this in GQ I’ll give you an answer that may or may not have any accuracy. My understanding at least in my state (which is not the same as yours) is that any liscensing etc. pertains more to how you can carry/transport the guns. I can have a hand gun in my house without any registration. Of course this could be totally wrong in your state… glad I could help.

But, for a quick hijack because the title of this reminded me. Myh wife’s friend was remodeling his kitchen and when tearing down the soffet (sp?) found about 4 rifles and two swords drywalled into the structure. I went and looked at them and after just a very brief search determined that one was a Japanese WWII rifle that was nothing special, but others were civil war era percussion caps that passed all the initial tests for genuine. One sword appeared to be German millitary and the other possibly a Tiffany Cival War sword. The first thing I told the guy was that if someone offered him a bunch of money do not take it until I had a chance to research them further. Next thing I knew he was extatic because someone gave him 18 hundred bucks and had driven 600+ miles to pick them up sight unseen.

3

Summary of Illinois Gun Laws

Private sales is item 12.

FOID = Firearms Owner Identification

Looks like your easiest legal option would be to dispose of them at a pawn shop. Unfortunately, you would take quite a hit on the value.

A little more research would be in order, many gun shop owners would probably be willing to advise you or broker a sale for a reasonable fee or commission.

Not even going to try to guess the headaches you’re in for if you’re in Chicago.

ETA: How about a list? Some of your fellow Dopers might be interested and shipping to an FFL reciever covers your legal back.

4

One would think that between you advising wifes friend not to sell until some research was completed and the apparent eagerness of the eventual buyer to get his mitts on the mini arsenol, wifes friend should have been clued into the fact that these has potential to be very, very valuable. Ah well, at least you tried

Reminds me of a rich kid in the neighborhood who grandpa died, leaving a collection of old coins, including many silver dollars to rich kids parents.

Rich kid wants something, and didnt have the ready $$$ to get it that min. so he went home and filched a handful of silver dollars to pay for whatever it was that he had to have so badly-----Turns out that the 15 or 20 silver dollars he spent (getting the face value of a dollar per coin) were worth several hundred bux each…

5

http://www.isp.state.il.us/foid/firearmsfaq.cfm

It looks like she shoud notify the ISP, and apply for a FIOD card. Then she can sell the guns following these rules:

A buyer is required to show his Firearms Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) when purchasing any firearms or ammunition. Any seller is required to withhold delivery of any handgun for 72 hours, and of any rifle or shotgun for 24 hours, after the buyer and seller reach an agreement to purchase a firearm.

The waiting period does not apply to a buyer who is a dealer, law enforcement officer, or a nonresident at a gun show recognized by the Illinois Department of State Police.

The seller must retain for 10 years a record of the transfer, including a description of the firearm (including serial number), the identity of the buyer, and the buyer’s FOID number.

6

Pretty sure it was a case of the money would cover the remodel and then some. They didn’t have much to start with and instead of being in the hole with a new kitchen they would be a little ahead with a new kitchen. Can’t say that if I was in their situation I wouldn’t have taken the quick money rather than waiting to see if something panned out. Just wish they would have called first since I would have easily matched that offer.

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Do you know whether that has to be an Illinois card, or whether an out-of-state buyer could present a concealed-carry permit or equivalent?

8

Oh man. Sounds like you acted a little too nobly. He was eager to make a quick buck and had no clue of the true value of the things, and you were the first to know about them? You shoulda made a (lowball, obviously) offer on the spot.

9

99% sure it has to be an Illinois FOID. As you may know, Illinois doesn’t have/recognize concealed-carry permits.

10

I’d call my local NRA office for advice on the local legalities, and possibly on how to sell them.

11

Not being a big fan of guns, I would probably just have called the police, told them I inherited them and asked what procedures I need to take to sell them.
I know others have posted in great depth, but my guess is that with some basic paperwork, showing how you came into possession, you should then be able to sell them to some licensed gun shop and be done with it.

12

The NRA call? That’s actually a really good idea. The police, not so much, they’ll probably just tell her to turn them in so they can melt them down. And if you can get a photo up, we could try to ID them. I’ve got a Jane’s book I picked up for three bucks. Not the best in the world, but it’s worth a shot.

13

Put up a photo. If they’re nice, I will PayPal some money and give you an address to mail them to. All legal.

14

How about the coins? Anyone know a good numismatist in Illinois? I don’t think buffalo nickles are worth much, but remember, pre-sixtysomething quarters and so on are silver.

15

some silver coins are common but the price for the silver is more than the face worth of the coins. it is worth looking into the coins and seeing if there is a hidden gem there.

16

lissener, if your sister is in the Seattle area, there’s a place on Lake City Way, at about 120th, I don’t remember the exact address, that buys guns. They’ll know exactly what she’ll need. When I’m out and about today I’ll get the exact name and address and sent it to you.

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Psst. Illinois, picunurse.

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I think samclem does coin dealing, perhaps he can point you in the right direction there. When my MIL died, one of the things the family inheirited was a trunk full of old coins, some were organized, some weren’t. One of the members took the time to organize them and present them to a coin dealer, etc, and we ended up netting a few thousand from them. A lot of them the dealer just wouldn’t buy in that bulk because tey were not worth much. Those were redistributed as memoirs to the family members.

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Sory, I missed that. lissener has lived in Seattle.

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First about the coins - please visit
http://www.cybercoins.net/cybercoinsfaq1.html
and maybe even print all that out. There are games in the coin business and you need some basic info before you do much of anything. Based on gray-sheet values right now a 1885 Morgan Dollar is about $30 in UNC - a 1885 CC in the same grade about $680. Some dealers will check the mints while you are standing there but trust me, I’m a professional numismatist ---------- we ALL check at some point. No matter how honest your local dealers are, a little time looking and reading can really pay off.

Buffalo nickels? Many even in good shape are missing the dates. If you have the time and the will, get an acid “date restorer” from a coin shop and give them a once-over. With acid cleaned dates you will get less (say 50% of the value based on grade) but it beats say the difference between a “dateless” example at 15 cents and an acid date 1921S at say 30 bucks.
Now – about those guns. Working for coin dealers for many years, I have seen many little gun “collections” like you describe and I even bought my personal firearm from such a stash.

  1. Assume they are loaded and treat them as such. Make sure none are pointed at anything you do not want shot. If you are not experienced in firearms, ask around your friends for someone who is and see if someone will offer to check them for basic safety.

  2. No matter what the state laws, the easiest people to sell to are USUALLY federally licensed dealers who have been in business over ten years. They know the rules and how to obey them and how to deal honestly with the public. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have lasted ten years. If the guns were purchased before 1968, they are probably not registered but bringing one forward to be registered carries an automatic amnesty (unless that has changed lately); there are laws like that that are good to know. If selling to an individual, still consider going through a licensed dealer for your own personal protection. No matter what state you live in, its nice having a professional between you and some jury — if the guy you sell to turns out to be psycho.