Another "What can I do?" thread..

[TheExiled]

My father had an old revolver when I was growing up, like the Peacemaker. Well he acquired it in the late 70's - early 80's as payment for work.. back when people didnt do transfers ect.

Back in '94, a neighbor took this gun as well as two shotguns and a small pocket pistol from my dad's closet when my dad left. AFAIK, he hasnt done anything with them since, and I have his contact information (the old neighbor).

How would I/can I/do I need to do anything to register the Revolver (or any of the others, which I dont really care about at this point). Im not sure of the makes and models of any of them, and not sure if theyre C&R ect. Thanks for any information.

[TheExiled]

Nothing? Id really like to go get this/these back, but wont bother if they cant be had legally.

[SoCal Bob]

Does the neighbor still have them? Is he just holding on to them or does he consider them to be his now? You said your Dad left, what is his status, might he come back and say they are his? My best guess is that you could do an OP Law on them as a father to son but there are a few details missing.

Good luck.

[ckprax]

Guns can only be loaned for 30 days so they are legally your neighbors property now. It would have been an illegal transfer at the time but the statute of limitations has long passed.

You will have to do a PPT at an ffl if you want them back. The handguns will then be registered to you.

[kielbasavw]

Oops

[Tiberius]

I'm going to disagree with some of the above, a little bit. I'm not so sure that if someone keeps a gun a past the 30 day borrowing limit (which for some reason I thought was for handguns but I admit I don't know for sure), that then they automatically own. After the 30 days, they may not be legally borrowing it anymore, but I don't think the law says it automatically transfers.

But . . . I could be wrong. You could tell the neighbor you want the guns back. If they're still your dad's, then you can register them through a family transfer. If they're now the neighbors (for example he registered them) then you'll need to go through an FFL. That doesn't really answer whose they are right now, but if everyone agrees they're your dad's, it could work. I guess, tho, maybe your dad's say in this would matter too, tho.

[TheExiled]

It would be possible to get my dad to go with me, but Im not even sure if they are registered to him.. I guess Ill have to find that out first. The old neighbor is cool about giving them back, he doesnt want them. Thanks fellas

[Lead Waster]

I'm no fancy law-talker, but common sense would seem to be for your Dad to go back and say "Hey, thanks for holding them for me" and get his guns back. Then he can transfer them to you. Especially if the nieghbor has no problem giving them back. It's like 10 years ago, your Dad put the guns in a closet, then now he's taking them out of the closet, no transactions or anything have been done with them since he "put them in the closet", no one has shot them or anything.

But then again guns are not the same as other "stuff".

Now, if your neighbor robbed and shot some guy in the intervening years and is now very happy to give them back to your Dad, that's another story!

Good luck with resolving this!

[SoCal Bob]

It would be possible to get my dad to go with me, but Im not even sure if they are registered to him.. I guess Ill have to find that out first. The old neighbor is cool about giving them back, he doesnt want them. Thanks fellas

It sounds like you are golden. There was no requirement to register a handgun PPT in to 70's & 80's so that is not an issue. He can just give you the long guns with no paperwork needed. He can give you the handguns but you will need to send the family transfer paperwork to DOJ, make sure you get a HSC first if you don't already have one.

[TheExiled]

It sounds like you are golden. There was no requirement to register a handgun PPT in to 70's & 80's so that is not an issue. He can just give you the long guns with no paperwork needed. He can give you the handguns but you will need to send the family transfer paperwork to DOJ, make sure you get a HSC first if you don't already have one.

Thank you, I will follow up here when I resolve this. And of corse, gun pron