Full Auto Carbine

[woodguru]

My wife's dad just died a few weeks ago. He was an officer in the Navy and was directly involved in the Normandy invasion with an LSC. The whole family has been blown away by the pictures, maps, charts, and letters he has which were never really talked about. There is a 6 page letter by the famous reporter Ernie Pyle who gave an incredible first hand story on what he was seeing right at the time of successfully securing the beach. If anyone is interested I can either scan the letter or simply transcribe it word for word.

I had talked to him about some of the military arms I've had like a .30 carbine and Rand .45 and he had told me about guns and rifles he brought home. He had an Ithaca .45 in dead mint condition, and had brought 2 full auto carbines, one of which he gave to his brother 30 or 40 years ago. Nobody in the family knew he had any guns whatsoever, probably because nobody in the family is into guns at all.

We had been talking about me getting the carbine but he was concerned about me getting in trouble with it. A friend had suggested I buy semi auto replacement parts and reciever and convert it so I can use it without worrys and I had not had a chance to discuss that with him before he died. Now the rifle seems to be gone, we don't know if he turned it in which is something he was perfectly capable of doing, or if he had it hidden well. The house will be sold and it bothers me to think it's still there.

I read yesterday somewhere that there is a military arms amnesty going on right now. Does this mean that things like this can be correctly registered or what?

The rifle appears to be gone but what are my options if it turns up?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Look here:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=423155

or here:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=421602

[Scorch]

A friend had suggested I buy semi auto replacement parts and reciever and convert it so I can use it without worrys and I had not had a chance to discuss that with him before he died.

Well, a few issues:
* Since the firearm was not registered during the registration period that ended decades ago, it would have to be surrendered to BATFE. Any "playing" with it will make you liable to prosecution.

* Since it is officially a Class III weapon, and since you are not the registered owner and tax stamp holder for the weapon (since it is an unregistered fully automatic weapon), you cannot work on it, clean it, put it in your gun vault for "eye candy", fondling, etc. In fact, merely possessing it is sufficient for the BATFE to charge you with a felony.

* You can acquire a semi-auto receiver, trigger group, stock, and operating parts to use as a substitute. Oh, wait, that's a whole rifle!! Yep, you can replace it, but you cannot change any part of it, since the mere act of posessing it makes you a felon, and disassembling it or destroying it is destruction of evidence.

[woodguru]

I just got off the phone from talking with my brother in law about possible hiding spots. He says there is some amnesty information he found amongst paperwork in the desk so we think there is a high liklihood he turned it in to the proper authorities in southern california. He is as straight arrow as anyone I have ever known and we knew he had issues with the idea of giving me something that could get me in that much trouble.

It's about a 99% chance that's what happened. I have two mint condition clips in the little 1943 military mag pouch.

[woodguru]

What about the Ithaca 1911 .45? Are those just a much looser issue? My dad paid something like $25 for the Remington Rand military .45 I had so it was legal, but that's not the case I don't believe with this one.

[Scorch]

AFAIK, military 1911s are not a problem in CA. Shouldn't be, they've been around for almost 75 years, far longer than that state has been trampling on your gun rights.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The 1911 is a non-issue, as long as it is legal to posess in your state, city, or town. It's simply a handgun.

Someone will be along to quote exact regs and dates, and such, I'm sure, but the Army isn't going to come come knocking on your door looking for it's .45

Keep it, sell it, shoot it, send it to me, do whatever you want with it.

[threecharley]

+1 on what scorch says!

[Ridge_Runner_5]

Also, the 1911 only has a 7+1 capacity, so you aren't anywhere near the mag cap limit...

[David Hineline]

When he brought the guns back he should have registered the machineguns at that time. They would have been legal at that point. He had another chance in 1968 as did everybody with the Amnesty paperwork that made all illegal NFA guns legal. If those were the amnesty papers found then that made the gun legal and did not mean he turned it in.

There is talk of amnesty for relatives of military documented bring backs but it has not happened yet. So if he did not register, then he did not amnesty register the gun is now only for agency use, not individual.

[medalguy]

If you found amnesty info it's possible he registered it during the 1968 amnesty. You can have an atttorney check with ATF for the status of registration if you locate the gun and have a serial number. I don't think ATF will tell you if a specific individual had a weapon registered to him.

[TJH3781]

You might consider that a Federal Registration may not make the weapon legal to possess in your state of residence. The attorney handling the estate needs to check both.

[WARRIOR I]

Woodguru,
I agree with what everyone else has said about complying with
the letter of the law, including surrendering the weapon if you find it.
I would also go over that house with a fine tooth comb, including a metal
detector before selling it.

That said, I find it disgusting that the state(fed) has the authority
and the will to take inherited property of any kind, especially in a situation
like this.

[highvel]

But that's the Government of US, uhh I mean U.S.

[JIMSPD9]

My aunt died the day after Christmas a couple years ago. She left her house to my wife and I. While cleaning out a storage shed I found two m-1 carbine 30 rnd mags and the clip that holds them together, but no gun.

After several days we found the carbine in an old Ted Williams gun case, stuck under the floor boards in the attic. She never said she even had one or that Uncle Ed ever mentioned a gun before he passed away. The carbine was in great shape but not a real treasure according to local gun shop. It shoots real good, so I'll keep it oiled and cleaned for my grandson.

Look very carefully before you sell the house.

Jim S.

[RWBlue01]

There is an exhibit of Ernie Pyle stuff at the Smithsonian the last time I was there. They might be interested in the original letter, copied or otherwise. If you give it to them, it is of course a right off.


Additionally, I would love to have a scanned copy. If you scan it please send me a PM and I will send you an email address.

BTW, The 1911, is probably worth a large chunk of change if it is in mint condition as you mentioned. Don't shoot the H out of it. Don't bugger it up. You can do that with a much cheaper new gun.

Good luck.

[RWBlue01]

If you found amnesty info it's possible he registered it during the 1968 amnesty. You can have an atttorney check with ATF for the status of registration if you locate the gun and have a serial number. I don't think ATF will tell you if a specific individual had a weapon registered to him.

The DB is so screw up at this point, I don't think they could tell you, even if they want to and they don't.

If I found a full auto in my grandparents house I would use and attorney to process the paperwork like it WAS registered. You could make a case that they know the DB is screwed up, you believe the gun was registered properly. The can not prove it wasn't.

[VUPDblue]

But the burden of proof would be on you to prove that it was