STG 44 Turn In

[james m]

Comments?
Jim
http://www.necn.com/12/08/12/WW2-wea...9&feedID=11106

[DaveR]

really nice of the cops to not accept it as a turn in, and allow it to be sold so it wont be destroyed. no doubt the old lady that brought it in could use a few bucks. you just never know what is still out there in some closet.

[Bill Grist]

It can only be sold if it was registered under the 1968 amnesty.. If not it is just a parts gun.... And not worth anywhere near 30,000,,, maybe $12,000 to $15,000 if properly papered...BILL

[petopoint]

Wish

I live near there, (suburb of Hartford) and if I had only known.

[me6_130]

I doubt that officer is a real weapon historian:

"Usually, this rifle would be issued to SS troops,” said Officer John Cavanna of the Hartford Police.

Cavanna is a gun historian.

“In excellent condition, this gun is rated at $30,000 to $40,000,” Cavanna said.



and $30.000


Carles

[pete]

.

Great!

A pity I have seen an RZM marked PPK and a Borchardt Pistol plus rig turned in and destroyed!



Pete

[scotty1418]

Nice that they referred to it as a 'German gun' as opposed to 'Nazi rifle'.

I'm also confused how they'll be able to auction the rifle - perhaps its legal and the owner didnt know... who knows.

[james m]

As far as legality goes; the only thing I can figure is that it was amnesty registered in 1968 and, when the woman was told the value, she was able to prove it. Otherwise short of finding a suitable museum,police dept, military installation etc. to accept it for display the only alternative would have been demilling/destruction.
I commend that police department for acting responsibly in this matter.

As an aside:
I sold a demilled STG 44 parts set mounted on a dummy receiver as a display with the torch cut original receiver parts for $2500 a couple of years ago.
Jim

[Gene]

It's cool the way the cops responded to the acquisition of this rifle, and the way they spoke matter of factly on camera. No "We must destroy this evil Nazi weapon. . . think how many GI's might have been killed with it??? Think of the children!!" garbage. In any event I'm sure it won't be cut up and will hopefully find a museum (and remain unneutered) if it cannot be sold.

[robcox1]

Yes indeed, kudos to the officers! Cut him slack on the SS identification, at least he knew what it was and that it shouldn't be shredded.

[IMBLITZVT]

Its hard to say... If she had official paperwork allowing the rifle to be brought back into the country, you can force the ATF to register the gun even if not registered in 68. That 68 amnesty was the last point of register a gun illegally in the country. However if you have federal bring back paperwork the ATF will register the gun from what I have heard.

Value today seems to be somewhere around $18K...

[petopoint]

Stg

Since this happened in my backyard I think she was directed to an arms dealer near me that has a dealers licence for automatics. A few years ago I upgraded my cable TV and the tech was telling me a story about his grandfather (he noticed my WWII armory) from Italy. He took an MP40 from a deceased German soldier and mailed it to his US relatives piecemeal and then reassembled it once he came over here too.

[Alan Smith]

NFA registration status is usually pretty easy to confirm with the NFA Branch of BATFE. My guess is that the local LE have already reached out to BATFE (but probably only to a local field office and not NFA Branch) to make a registration status inquiry. If unregistered, the BATFE guys need to be told to NOT take custody of the gun [which will mandate that they log it into BATFE's internal investigation/activity records system] because, if they do, then BATFE internal policy will prevent the gun from ever being transferring outside of the federal system (i.e. a state/local museum or LE can't receive it and if no federal agency wants it, it must be destroyed). This situation is not well understood by rank-and-file BATFE agents who can easily step into this administrative trap even while trying to "do good" in finding museum homes for unregistered C&R guns. As such, with guns of uncertain registration status it is best to leave them in the custody of the state/local LE until registration status can be confirmed AND a decision is made on how to dispose of the gun.

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Surprising amount of both knowledge and respect for history here, this is very unusual and a refreshing change of pace from the usual routine.

[DennyB]

In the early '80s an older lady requested that the Galveston Texas police take her deceased husband's gun out of the closet and dispose of it.
It turned out to be a .45 acp "Grease Gun" that her husband had been issued while stationed with the coastal batteries in Galveston and simply never turned back in.
The police were able to get it papered and traded it to a dealer for two AR-15s.