what to do?

[tdoyka]

a friend of mine whose grandfather passed away, got his rifle collection. bolts, pumps, and a few others were part of his grandfather's collection. his grandfather was a ww2 vet and he brought home a german/english/american/japanese machine gun. my friend wants to get rid of it, but he doesn't want to have to take it to the scrapyard either. is there a way he can sell it? he doesn't have a class 3 or 4? licsense, no papers were found on the gun(he thinks its a war trophy). everything seems to be intact, no torches or saws that we could see were used.
can he go to the atf? how much does it cost to sell his grandfathers gun? or should he just take it to the scrapyard?

thanks for any help you can give.

[Theohazard]

There is no way to legally register an illegally-owned machine gun. Your friend should contact the ATF immediately, because he's breaking federal law by keeping it and he would be breaking federal law if he tried to sell it or otherwise transfer it.

[Machineguntony]

Technically, only the part with the serial number is considered the machine gun. On certain guns, it can get complicated as to what is the machine gun. If the gun doesn't have a serial number because it is a war trophy, then I would have no idea what to do.

If the gun has a serial number, most MG collectors would say to strip it and turn in the serialized part. Sometimes, the no serialized parts can be very rare and needed in the NFA MG collecting community.

This is not legal advice. Check with your lawyer to be certain.

[skizzums]

you could destroy the serialized part and sell the rest.

someone with better legal knowledge than me could answer, but I would think you could torch cut the receiver into three, and even sell the destroyed receiver with the whole package.

really sucks that we are forced to "turn-over" or "destroy" such historical things. makes me cry a little

[Machineguntony]

Your friend is also assuming that it is a war trophy. Don't assume that it is unregistered. Have it checked, as people sometimes lose the form 4 paperwork. Maybe your friend doesn't know what to look for.

If I came upon this situation, I would strip the gun down to the legal serialized part, then call ATF and see if the serialized part is registered. If it is registered, then you can transfer it to the estate, which can then sell it. I have purchased a registered MG from an estate. When I check a guns' serial number, I have my dealer run the serial number for me (he calls the ATF for me).

If the gun is not registered, then be prepared to surrender it to the ATF.

Any chance your friend can snap a picture, send it to you for upload? Redact the serial number. The MG you described could be anything and everything.

[9x19]

The first step is to properly identify it... pics are the easy way.

Second, how does he know it's a "machine gun"?

You can't always tell just by looking and it doesn't sound like your friend has much experience with firearms base on the description.

Once correctly identified, then the options are easier to discuss. If a true full auto or other NFA category, like MGTony said, first step is to determine if it's already in the NFA registry.

If it's just an evil looking semi-auto, then selling it is easy.

Good luck to your friend and my condolences on his grandfather's passing.

[TXAZ]

You need to find and talk to a NFA literate attorney ASAP, as you've publically indicated on the Internet actions that could significantly complicate your life with the federal government.

Good luck.
(This isn't legal advice and I am not a lawer)

[skizzums]

how does he know it's a "machine gun"?

even knowing a bit about guns, I wouldn't be able to make the distinction without dissecting the receiver. a lot of semi's look like "machine-guns"

[JohnKSa]

Don't assume that it is unregistered.

This is worth repeating. A friend of mine inherited a machinegun that his father owned. He thought it was unregistered but some checking revealed that it was legally owned, transferrable and therefore worth a lot of money.

[Mobuck]

Such a post on a forum like this is very likely to get you a free visit from BATFE any way.

[James K]

An unregistered machinegun in civilian hands in the U.S. is contraband. Period. Stripping it or removing parts would be destroying evidence and would make even more trouble. The owner can't make it legal by welding it up or converting it to semi-auto or do anything but abandon (surrender) it to the police or BATFE. Some will advise donating it to a museum, but I repeat - it is illegal to possess it, so just how one donates something that is illegal to have is never quite clear.

I strongly recommend contacting BATFE; they deal with that situation all the time. They can easily determine if the gun is registered and if it is, how to legally transfer ownership to the heirs. If it is not, they will take it, but there will be no repercussions. If you contact the local police, they may send the SWAT team to arrest everyone in sight on general principles.

Jim