So this is a new area for me. A relative has possession of a .22 Colt Pistol used in a murder. He was the religous leader for the family of the victim and perpetrator. When the pistol was returned after the trial, they gave it to him. He is aging and would like to pass it along to me. It is sealed in an evidence bag with writing on the outside of the bag. Inside is the pistol, one loose round of .22 (from the chamber), and a partial loaded mag of .22 LR.

I honestly don't know what to tell him. It is a desirable pistol, but the history is disturbing and I don't know the legal implications of owning it or selling it.

The crime occured at least 30 years ago in an area far removed from where I live or where the realative lives now.

I'm looking for some good reasoned advice.

Legal implications? None. You're not going to take possession and get sued for owning a weapon used in a murder.

If it bothers you, then you won't be happy owning it. It will eat at you.

You will also be haunted.


I can provide you with my FFL's address, where you can have it sent, if you wish.

I'm already haunted. I don't care.

As for the pistol, it's just a chunk of metal which has been returned. It might have some collector value associated, but you're not incurring any legal penalties by taking possession.

On a moral ground, remember that the pistol didn't kill anyone. The person with their finger on the trigger did.

So the gun has been a sealed evidence bag for thirty years?
With that time,I guess it might not matter but who owns the pistol?
I guess it is up to you wither you want the pistol based on its history.
From a technical standpoint, I would wonder in what condition the pistol is after that amount of time.
Another issue would possibly be if the pistol was released by the agency with the correct paperwork showing it was released after the case was closed.

If I was in your position, I would tell the elderly relative "thank you".

I agree with DEPUTYBILL about the importance of the correct paperwork showing release.

I was one of many people who bought auction boats seized during DEA/Federal Marshal raids for drug smuggling back in 80's and 90's. Supposedly the paperwork was all done correctly removing these boats names/numbers from the hotlist.
However, I knew someone who bought a 36' sport fisherman at one of those auctions. He was rousted regularly by the Coast Guard and other agencies. That boat name/description was still on the drug "BOLO" list and the coasties and other groups would light them up. They would board them and hold guns on him and his wife (they were both in their late 60's) while they searched almost every time. There didn't seem to be any way to fix the problem, either-
Put a real damper on their Intracoastal Waterway travel. He was not pleased.

...anywhere, not in your pocket. Where it will be mixed in with the others and become just a coin. Which it is.


If it were someone I knew, it might bother me. If it bothers you, sell it on the auction sites, send it out into the world to become just another pistol. Take the money and do something good with it.

I have never heard of any “watch lists” for firearms. The only national data base I’m aware of lists stolen guns, and (possibly) lost guns. If it’s not listed there, I can’t imagine how it would ever be flagged somehow in a future transaction.

And if I were stopped at gunpoint and my vehicle searched without a warrant or clear probable cause to believe I’d committed a crime for no reason other than a bogus “watch list” entry someplace, I’d be hiring a good attorney. (Assuming I could find such a thing.)

There is no watch list outside of the Stolen gun file on NCIC. Once the case is closed and all appeals exhausted, property can be released.

Personally, bad juju with that one. and I know that is totally illogical.

Ya think all those military surplus weapons spent their lives in an Nunnery. I'm not afraid of ghosts.

We did business with an Arab gentleman, actually Turkish, in Dallas about 20 years ago. He kept a pistol in his desk with a sticker on it that stated "Exhibit A". It seems this gentleman was threatened at his place of business. He shot and killed his attacker, was arrested, and tried for murder. He beat all charges and was released. He kept the pistol around to prove to anyone his prowess with a handgun

Ok, so any "Haunting" Concerns aside there don't seem to be any legal issues.

It is a Colt Woodsman and it has weathered it's storage well. We were just gifted another Colt .22 from this relative and at the very least, the evidence gun can be a parts gun for the other.

Attitudes differ. My Uncle had a hard streak, not to say mean streak, and was very proud of the .32 S&W HE that had been used in a killing.

I own a gun that was used for a suicide. The gun didn’t do the deal, it was the person. That gun, to me anyway, is like the others in the safe.

I can't speak to legal issues. Given what you describe as the chain of ownership, and the age of the gun, I doubt there is anyone around who could question or prove how you came to have it. As long as the gun isn't stolen or was not "disappeared" from the police and isn't on, as someone related regarding a boat, some "list". Given the age, it likely isn't. You're probably okay.

As for the the "juju", it probably depends on the circumstances for most people. Most people would not want to have anything to do with anything that had to do with the death or someone they cared about, or an "innocent".

Either way, IMO, there is nothing having to do with the gun, it is more it's association with circumstances that might bother people. Not because of some supernatural connection, just plain ole association.

If it doesn't bother you and you don't think it would bother anyone you care about, I don't see any issue.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
...sell it on the auction sites, send it out into the world to become just another pistol. Take the money and do something good with it.

What it is.

Well at least they didn't give the offending bullet(s) back.

While I sort of understand the sentiment, it's ultimately illogical. And misplaced. Think of all the souls dispatched by those mil-surp rifles and pistols that are in private hands and collections. Are those haunted by their past as well? Well if they were, they don't seem to be offing persons left and right today.

The gun was merely the tool. The person is the perpetrator. More than likely if an axe or chainsaw or tire iron had been handier in the moment, the person would have used any one of those instead. As with all inanimate objects, guns only do what people direct them to do. It can just as easily lead to saving a life than killing one.

I have a surplused weapon I got from a property room auction.

No big deal.

The case number scribed on the barrel and frame with an electric engraver gives away its background

Let's think about this logically. Assuming your state doesn't have pistol registration and you're acquiring it through a private party (no FFL, no 4473), what paperwork is ivolved that would alert anyone that the pistol has changed ownership? Even if it was through an FFL, the 4473 just stays on file, it's not submitted to some database. And it's not like firearms have some imbedded RFID chip where you walk by some kiosk and it's tracked.

In short, the only time the history of the pistol would come up is if it was used in a crime again.

And as soggy pointed out, tons of milsurp, trade in, etc. firearms could easily have been used to take a life previously. I built a Yugo AK variant that appears to have been used in the '90s Balkan Wars. Did the guy who had it ever fire it? Ever hit anything? Who knows? Also a Romanian Model 63 that could've been used to execute Ceaușescu for all I know (though very highly unlikely). I also have a No4 Mk1* that may or may not have seen WWII combat. And several police trade in pistols that may have been used in the line of duty. I'll never know. The only difference is you do know, but it doesn't change anything.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I have never heard of any “watch lists” for firearms. The only national data base I’m aware of lists stolen guns, and (possibly) lost guns. If it’s not listed there, I can’t imagine how it would ever be flagged somehow in a future transaction.

And if I were stopped at gunpoint and my vehicle searched without a warrant or clear probable cause to believe I’d committed a crime for no reason other than a bogus “watch list” entry someplace, I’d be hiring a good attorney. (Assuming I could find such a thing.)

The usual reason that this happens is that the person/agency that created and owns the record did not keep it updated as the case progressed (called packing the record).

Several cases on this have been litigated, and not in favor of the owner of the record.

In one local case, a local MOS had his car stolen and it was entered into NCIS. The vehicle was recovered but the record was never updated.

One day the MOS was off duty driving and was pulled over. The case was resolved easily and the record corrected but someone in management asked the PD if he was carrying. He wasn't.

His department had a rule that you had to carry when off duty................