Max It Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Hi, this one is for the professional gunsmith, and others in the know:- what does the gunsmith do with firearms left a very long time and not retrieved? Laundry says 30 days? What rules apply? one shop sends a registered letter, and then is prepared to pay what they sold it for if the person comes back. What say you? Edited July 14, 2011 by Max It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 We keep them until someone claims them. We did have a customer die while the gun was in the shop (it was only a week before we were ready to send it back) but it took 2 years before someone from his estate got in touch with us. I voted forever since you didn't have anything over a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al503 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'm not a smith but if it was my fault for losing the contact info, I'd keep it for a very long (until it got ridiculous) time. If I sold it and the owner came back afterwards, I would try to work a fair deal for the price of the pistol minus the work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgford58 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Like Loves to shoot, we keep them until claimed. Legally you can set a time after which you can sell the firearm to recover the cost of the work and parts - However - you have to be able to demonstrate in court that the customer was notified to pick it up AND that they were aware of the requirement. In practice, people seem to come pretty quickly after you contact them that the weapon is complete - especially if you collect the charges up front, our SOP for custom work and special parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEH Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Some gun junkies don't tell a lot of people about and family about taking guns in for work,so it may be a year before someone in the family knows that one is gone,,so is forever to long ????????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Personally I'd pose this question to the ATF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Packer Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Voted Forever. We do lightweight work on guns and would keep it a long time before disposition. There would have to be lot's a failed attempts at returning it. While this has not happened to us I think we would pay the person/estate whatever we sold it for. Treating it more or less like a consignment sale if it got to that point. Pretty much the same idea as in the #3 post. As long as the firearm is transferred to a person who is not prohibited the BATFE doesn't have a dog in this race. That's my feeling on this aspect. edit - grammar Edited July 14, 2011 by MI_Packer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wakal Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 The current record in the Wakal gun shops (there are two, in two different states) is 31 years. And counting. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyro Shooter Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 The ATF’s advice for the repaired Colt Python, the Straw purchase attempt Bursa 380 and the illegally possessed private party transfer attempt Smith 64 is that I should keep them forever on my A&D book . . . my only other option is small claims court with the aforementioned notifications and letters being sent. . . it's much easier to just leave them in the safe and charge rent, when and if they ever show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg308 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 No right or wrong answer as long as you have a policy that is clearly posted and followed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max It Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Voted Forever. We do lightweight work on guns and would keep it a long time before disposition. There would have to be lot's a failed attempts at returning it. While this has not happened to us I think we would pay the person/estate whatever we sold it for. Treating it more or less like a consignment sale if it got to that point. Pretty much the same idea as in the #3 post. As long as the firearm is transferred to a person who is not prohibited the BATFE doesn't have a dog in this race. That's my feeling on this aspect. edit - grammar HI Packer and guys, lots of good answers. I like this approach myself. It's the inventory hassle, constantly pulling all them out and verifying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Oh, here is a funny one. We had a guy ship a custom pistol to us, and on the packing list it had our address and contact information and NO customer information. a couple years later, we got a call from a guy in Texas asking us if we had a XYZ gun in the safe. Apparently, he had planned on picking it up here, but he got deployed oversees before it got here and he didn't tell us about it. Then, he said he forgot who he bought it from, so he had no idea how to find the pistol until one day he remembered that he had it shipped to us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjanglin Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Their is an ATF rule on guns left after repair,its pretty cut and dryed, you will haveto look itup. Jim/Pa Sailors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max It Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 Their is an ATF rule on guns left after repair,its pretty cut and dryed, you will haveto look itup. Jim/Pa Sailors Jim/Pa, what a teaser! Where is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Darnit, the forum is acting up and my reply got eaten. I am not a "professional" gun smith in the fact that it's not my full time job. Though I try to think always like a professional, and do gunsmithing as a side job, real basic stuff, AR's mostly. I give each customer a claim form when they leave the item with me. On that form it says I'll keep it for 60 days after completion of repair and after 60 days storage fees will begin to apply. I don't think that is unreasonable. Any repair shop of any item would do similiar. I think that after a fair ammount of time the business should be able to liquidate the item. It's not realistic that they should hold onto the item a year or forever. Square footage of real estate costs money and beleive it or not a firearm laying around takes up space. I beleive that the customer must be made aware of this policy upfront however, and should be printed on any repair/claim forms. FWIW I have never had to hold onto anything I worked on longer than a week after it was done. Most people pick it up the next day. If I had a higher volume this would be a bigger concern. Personally i would think 120 days is more than reasonable, but I am glad to know there is an ATF law and will try to find that if I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max It Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hamma, if common sense ruled, you would be its judge. Since the shop in question did not put a disclaimer on their tickets (preprinted by Brownell's). They are going to have to go it alone. And yes most people do pick it up quickly. However the shop has some there over two years, and a couple left for a year or more after completion of repair,etc and notification to come. I am not quite sure the ATF has a opinion on this but would be glad if someone knew where to look. My preliminary reviews online produced nothing. Much obliged, Judge, Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Pistol Dynamics gives you 90 days, then they cancel the project and sell the gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjanglin Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Ihave not looked it up on the internet but have read in the ATF rules that if a gun is left for 30 days after repair you can sell it. Jim/Pa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matzka Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I would think any rules about the amount of time a business must keep a customer's property before gaining the ability to dispose of it would fall under state laws, and not the jurisdiction of the ATF. Since a gun is a tool and therefore a piece of property, unless there is interstate commerce involved I don't see how it would be any of the Federal Government's business how long a gunsmith/firearms repair facility kept the unredeemed property prior to liquidation. But I could be wrong. It has happened a time or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Curiosity question: Outside of any ATF type rules, does this fall under the "Mechanics lien" rules/laws? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanic%27s_lien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Combination of rules---federal, state, local. I would have my lawyer giving me advise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Curiosity question: Outside of any ATF type rules, does this fall under the "Mechanics lien" rules/laws? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanic%27s_lien FWIW, We are classified the same as a lawnmower/small engine repair shop by the fire department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohuskers Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Legally it's referred to as a 'bailment'. Beyond that you'll have to do your own research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Curiosity question: Outside of any ATF type rules, does this fall under the "Mechanics lien" rules/laws? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanic%27s_lien FWIW, We are classified the same as a lawnmower/small engine repair shop by the fire department. That it along the lines of what I thought. I know that different states have different "rules" on some things that go on top of the Federal rules and regs as well. Knowing what a convoluted mess the laws are in my industry (banking), with a firearm, I would sure as heck consult a *good* lawyer before doing anything beyond putting it on "inventoried perpetual storage." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcarter Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I would make it policy under written contract at the time the pistol is taken in for service. That way everyone should know what to expect if it is not claimed within a certain time period. As for the ones already being held I would hold until picked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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