OT Question

[Thunderbox]

I have a off topic question that I needed to get out to our friends in the UK.

I have a friend, who lives here in the States now, who's father recently passed in the Uk and has left him a pile of shotguns/rifles. I have instructed him to obtain the proper documents, if applicable, in his state for legal ownership. An importer is not the issue but rather, the procedure he need to do in the UK. I know he is required to notify the local police and possibly apply for a temp. permit to allow him the access to the firearms to move them to a proper place for storage but can he just move to export them ? Any help in this procedure would be greatly appreciated. I would hate to see such a fine family heirloom go to waste.

First question: in whose possession are the rifles & shotguns now? If the deceased dad was the licence holder, then the weapons will now have to be either with an RFD (registered firearms dealer) for safekeeping, or the Police. If its the Police, the weapons may already be scrap, depending upon the circumstances of the case.

Second question: if the firearms still exist, is ownership proven by an executed will or other document? If not, the firearms will not be going anywhere.

If the weapons are in the possession of an RFD, then they should simply be passed to a specialist firearms exporter/freight forwarder. There are a few that specialise in the (careful) packing of guns for export.

For a non-resident foreigner to try and get a temporary certificate to hold the weapons is probably going to be very complicated and time-consuming, even if its possible. Normally, temporary certs are issued to those bringing guns into the country on a temporary basis (eg sportsmen). I have to confess I do not know about temporary certification to acquire and export guns.