Buffalo to seize guns from families following owners' funerals

[EL1227]

What about a will ?

I legally added my firearm collection to my will which has been documented and registered as being bequeathed to my son. In conjunction with the collection I seperately keep an accurate inventory with model, serial number, description, and picture.

Doesn't NY's law and Buffalo's interpretation of their ability to confiscate legally owned firearms upon the death of their owner run afoul of NY (or MD) probate law ?

Will
A document in which a person specifies the method to be applied in the management and distribution of his estate after his death.

The right to dispose of property by a will is controlled completely by statute. Since the 1970s, many states have adopted all or parts of the Uniform Probate Code, which attempts to simplify the laws concerning wills and estates. When a person dies, the law of his domicile (permanent residence) will control the method of distribution of his personal property, such as money, stock, or automobiles. The real property, such as farm or vacant land, will pass to the intended heirs according to the law of the state in which the property is located. Though a testator may exercise much control over the distribution of property, state laws protect spouses and children by providing ways of guaranteeing that a spouse will receive a minimum amount of property, regardless of the provisions of the will.

MDS Legal Eagles, please chime in ...

 

[MrNiceGuy]

"A lawsuit to overturn the law was short-lived, so now the only option is repeal."

Well now that's not entirely true. Unless and until the SCOTUS takes up a case on the subject, we don't have final word from the courts (and even then, SCOTUS can simply reverse itself later). Further, Federal law can quite quickly stomp all over Maryland's restrictions with a simple abuse of the Interstate Commerce clause.

And who wouldn't love to see some die-hard anti-gun liberals in an uproar arguing for states' rights?

 

[gamer_jim]

Would be awesome if family sues and gets SAF involved to declare this unconstitutional. What would that even do for all registration schemes?

 

[Hawkeye]

A little background:

I was born and raised in the Syracuse area (Central New York, thank you very much...) and lived there until I was done with college. My dad had a NYS pistol permit (they used to make no differentiation between a permit to own and a permit to carry, now they issue "restricted" permits which are not good for general CCW), which are (or were) issued on a county-by-county basis, signed off on by a judge. Permits issued in NYS are not good in NYC without an endorsement from the NYPD, and good luck with that one.

When I last considered applying for a permit in NYS (in a county that would "restrict" to target and hunting purposes), the form wanted you to designate another permit holder to receive your guns in the event you lost your permit, became disabled/disqualified, or died.

Bingo.

The article suggests that the State can "hold" the guns for two years. Maybe that means that the beneficiaries would that time to effect some other kind of sale or transfer?

That's exactly what it is.

Doesn't NY's law and Buffalo's interpretation of their ability to confiscate legally owned firearms upon the death of their owner run afoul of NY (or MD) probate law ?

Nope.

Here's the deal, in a pretty simplified fashion:

In order to OWN a pistol at all in NYS you have to have a permit. On that permit, they list, by serial number, each pistol that you own and are licensed for. When you buy or sell a pistol it has to be registered on to or stricken from your permit. The state knows specifically which guns you own.

It is written into NYS law, and is contained in the packet of information that you get when you apply for a permit, that should you die and one of your heirs does NOT have a permit, your family is REQUIRED to turn the pistols over to local law enforcement (I believe it was specifically the Sheriff in the county where I grew up) for holding for up to two years while someone gets a permit that the pistols may be added to. There was a grace period for doing this after the death, I want to say it was a month or something, but it was a long time ago.

This is designed to keep your heirs from breaking the law by owning your pistols without a permit after you die.

Now, traditionally this wasn't (at least where I grew up) enforced by the police coming to take the pistols for storage, but I don't think it's outside the law as it's written because should someone die and his or her heirs continue to possess the pistols without a permit they are then breaking NYS law.

That said:

I don't particularly agree with what the Buffalo police are doing here, and I think that there are better ways to go about this if their aim is *really* to keep guns "off the street," which I don't believe is actually the case.

 

[Brooklyn]

Hum..what if the hiers do not reside in NYS?

 

[Hawkeye]

Hum..what if the hiers do not reside in NYS?

They can be transferred out of state, just like if you were buying /selling out of state. They go to an FFL in the state of the heir.

Also, I was wrong about the grace period: it's 15 days.
http://www.troopers.ny.gov/FAQs/Firearms/Permits.cfm

 

[Brooklyn]

So they can be at an out of state FFL long before the gun sqaud shows up for the photo op.. good.

New rule for estate planing..

Unless you like damaged guns... or needing proof of ownership to get them back..

Not kidding. Esp with valuable guns..

 

[Hawkeye]

New rule for estate planing..

Or old rule in NY, actually. I had to deal with this when my dad passed away 18 years ago.