Decluttering? Try Getting Rid of A Gun.
Here’s how I ended up in the parking lot of a strip mall in Texas, opening the trunk to unload three rifles…
Antiquated laptops. Toxic friends. Christmas tree tinsel. Add heirloom rifles to the list of stuff next to impossible to get out of your life responsibly.
The rifles in question came from my grandfather, a corporate executive, who loved to hunt. His avocation was writing detailed, countless guides identifying duck species for Field & Stream. My mother held on the rifles out of inertia — they hadn’t been fired for decades — until it was time for her to downsize.
The realtor was blunt. “You need to get the rifles out of here,” she said. “Even in Texas, guns on the wall can cut both ways with potential buyers.”
So, when a friend of my mother’s offered to take them, I thought, “Done deal.”
Then my husband reminded me that I was a liberal New York lawyer and a firm supporter of laws requiring licensed firearms dealers perform background checks on prospective purchasers. And, crucially, someone who believes there is a dangerous gap in federal law that allows private sellers to transfer firearms to unlicensed individuals at places like gun shows without these background checks.
I began to explore options on how to get rid of the rifles, safely, by just randomly asking anyone if they had any ideas. The home inspector doing a pre-sale examination of the house paused a minute to admire the rifles hanging on the wall.
Did he happen to know anything about local gun laws? “It’s Texas. You can just hand the rifles over. It’s harder to get rid of a microwave.”
Turns out he was right. A woman who runs estate sales said finding a buyer for the baby grand piano was going to be hard, but the rifles were a no-brainer. “Guns sell. It’s Texas.”
And any background checks? She was slightly more circumspect than the home inspector. “I have the buyer fill out a disclosure form that they have no criminal record, things like that,” she said.
I found a few firearms private sale templates on line, but it seemed like Boy’s Scout Honor. And what if the buyer flipped the guns?
Several Google searches (“How to get rid of a gun”) unearthed the idea of calling the local police department. In New York City, for example, guns can be turned in at local police precincts. My first phone call to the Austin Police Department was promising. I was told to check ahead, but that the rifles could probably be taken to the nearest station.
Then I called the local precinct. Some rifles are accepted for donation for training, but these didn’t make the grade. A helpful officer took pity on me, and suggested a local gun distributor favored by law enforcement.
There were only a few days of shopping before Christmas when I loaded the rifles in the trunk of the car. The gun store was decked out with traditional retail seasonal decorations like signs for stocking stuffers with painted mistletoe hung over pink mace and great gift idea tags festooned with a nutcracker tucked into ammunition displays. It was around 10 a.m. and there was a line at the cash register.
I walked in and placed my rifles on top of the long, glistening glass counter, right over the Glocks. A Winchester Model 12 Shotgun (1927), A Winchester 74 .22 (1954) and a Montgomery Ward & Co. Western Field Deluxe, 16 gauge (umm…I couldn’t figure the year out on that one).
A nearby customer was following up on a three-day hold placed on his gun purchase while the background check was completed. The salesperson consulted a computer, noted no further action had taken place, and said the sale could proceed.
Turns out that 91% of background checks conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System provide an answer within minutes about whether an individual is legally allowed to buy a gun, the remaining require further investigation and review by FBI and ATF agents.
Thanks to the “default proceed” rule, those agents only have three business days to conduct and finish their investigation. Under federal law, if a firearms dealer who has initiated a background check has not been notified within those three days that the sale would violate federal or state laws, the sale may proceed by default.
The salesperson jubiliantly declared, “An indictment is not a conviction. God bless America!”
Another customer was picking up his-and-her guns as gifts for himself and his girlfriend. He showed a badge to get a discount, and giddily spread good cheer as he walked out, “It’s new toy day! Merry Christmas everyone!”
While I was waiting for my number to be called, a sales trainee came to check out the rifles. He looked through the sights, felt the heft, admired the wood finish, and then confided: “You’d get more at a gun show where you could find a serious collector.”
Indeed. And no background check. I waited. In time, a salesman looked at the rifle’s condition, stared at the computer checking prices on line, scrolling and clicking, then consulting a colleague. After whispered deliberations, he offered me $200 for the three.
My own earlier cursory web search put the prices from $30 up to $725 per rifle. I didn’t care. I took the deal.
“It’s going to take me a while to do the paperwork,” said the dealer, who earlier told me he wouldn’t sell a gun privately without a background check. Still. He wasn’t a fan of the documentation involved. “There are federal laws and the ATF…”
His voice trailed off, apologetically. He didn’t understand it was just want I wanted to hear.
