1 hour ago, VaBeach_Eagle said:

Scenario:

A man in his 90's who has cancer and dementia lives alone in an apartment. The apartment below him catches fire and the building has to be evacuated and is now unlivable. He is in REALLY, REALLY poor health and may not ever go home again, either because of passing away or because of being placed in a nursing home. 

Said man own three rifles, nothing special, a bolt action, a lever action and another one that I'm not sure of. All valued at probably less than a few hundred dollars each. Nothing at all special. Not that that matters, they're all still rifles. 

A woman who was helping him, is at the apartment and notices the maintenance guys kind of rummaging through things and 'admiring this and that'. She says something that makes them leave. So she takes possession of the rifles and a few other items that would surely vanish, if she didn't. 

So now she is in possession of these rifles (in Maryland), strictly for safe keeping while the man is in the hospital and decisions can be made. 

Said woman takes said rifles to one of her friends homes for safekeeping, said friend is a family member of mine whose son in law has now frightened her into thinking that she's now a federal felon for being in possession of 'unlicensed firearms'.

What is the best way to deal with these rifles? My initial thought is that if the man can't go back to living on his own and can't re-take possession of the rifles, call the State Police and see how they suggest to proceed. 

Any thoughts?

https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-ga-gun-check-override-20210211-qafvs4kwmfh3jibcuvl7k4axfe-story.html

 

Background check needed for all sales and transfers. 

I would consult with a MD-based lawyer who specializes in MD gun laws. 

Some may offer a free consult 

8 minutes ago, iladelphxx said:

Background check needed for all sales and transfers.

Technically this may be considered a 'transfer', but at this moment it's just to keep them safe so that they won't be stolen. They still belong to this man, he just can't safeguard them at this moment, and they WILL be stolen otherwise. He already had his grandfathers rifle (which was used in 'the war') stolen. He's 90, so what 'the war' means, I don't know. Civil War? Spanish American War? WWI? WWII? I'm imagining that we're back into the mid to late 1800's to be his grandfather. 

I told her (she's a family member), that if he passes away or otherwise can't retake possession I'd call around for her (she's in her mid 80's herself), and see what I could find out for her. Her son in law was afraid to even talk to her about them lol. 

1 hour ago, VaBeach_Eagle said:

Scenario:

A man in his 90's who has cancer and dementia lives alone in an apartment. The apartment below him catches fire and the building has to be evacuated and is now unlivable. He is in REALLY, REALLY poor health and may not ever go home again, either because of passing away or because of being placed in a nursing home. 

Said man own three rifles, nothing special, a bolt action, a lever action and another one that I'm not sure of. All valued at probably less than a few hundred dollars each. Nothing at all special. Not that that matters, they're all still rifles. 

A woman who was helping him, is at the apartment and notices the maintenance guys kind of rummaging through things and 'admiring this and that'. She says something that makes them leave. So she takes possession of the rifles and a few other items that would surely vanish, if she didn't. 

So now she is in possession of these rifles (in Maryland), strictly for safe keeping while the man is in the hospital and decisions can be made. 

Said woman takes said rifles to one of her friends homes for safekeeping, said friend is a family member of mine whose son in law has now frightened her into thinking that she's now a federal felon for being in possession of 'unlicensed firearms'.

What is the best way to deal with these rifles? My initial thought is that if the man can't go back to living on his own and can't re-take possession of the rifles, call the State Police and see how they suggest to proceed. 

Any thoughts?

Ex-cop. Not a lawyer, nor am I yours. Grain of salt, ymmv, etc.
 

There’s no federal possession of an unlicensed weapon charge, as there’s no way to license a firearm with the federal government. State laws can vary, but most states you don’t have to register a weapon with the government. You just buy it and it’s yours and nobody cares. 
 

There’s no theft involved because no one is possessing the property of another with the intent to deprive them of it. Someone is essentially holding on to it until you can figure out what to do with it. 
 

See if the guys has any NOK, and then get the firearms to them. That should about do it. 

3 minutes ago, Bill said:

Ex-cop. Not a lawyer, nor am I yours. Grain of salt, ymmv, etc.
 

There’s no federal possession of an unlicensed weapon charge, as there’s no way to license a firearm with the federal government. State laws can vary, but most states you don’t have to register a weapon with the government. You just buy it and it’s yours and nobody cares. 
 

There’s no theft involved because no one is possessing the property of another with the intent to deprive them of it. Someone is essentially holding on to it until you can figure out what to do with it. 
 

See if the guys has any NOK, and then get the firearms to them. That should about do it. 

Those were my thoughts too. Maryland has some strict laws concerning background checks and such, but these rifles aren't being owned by my family member, they're only being kept safe for now and there's no desire by anyone involved (other than the owner), to own these particular rifles. 

If they were given to me, I'd take them and put them away but I wouldn't really want to be bothered with them. Give me a nice 1903 and I'll be as happy as an Eagles fan holding a shiny new Lombardi trophy. Much short of that, though, and I'm not really interested. 

27 minutes ago, Bill said:

Ex-cop. Not a lawyer, nor am I yours. Grain of salt, ymmv, etc.
 

There’s no federal possession of an unlicensed weapon charge, as there’s no way to license a firearm with the federal government. State laws can vary, but most states you don’t have to register a weapon with the government. You just buy it and it’s yours and nobody cares. 
 

There’s no theft involved because no one is possessing the property of another with the intent to deprive them of it. Someone is essentially holding on to it until you can figure out what to do with it. 
 

See if the guys has any NOK, and then get the firearms to them. That should about do it. 

If it was PA, this would be my advice. 

MD is a different animal.... Not as bad as NJ or NY, but close enough. 

Do a Google search for gun stores in that area and find the one with the best reviews and call and ask them, if you don't want to talk to a lawyer. 

CMP approved to sell more than 100,000 surplus M14 rifles

https://www.militarytimes.com/industry/techwatch/2026/08/10/cmp-approved-to-sell-more-than-100000-surplus-m14-rifles/

The Civilian Marksmanship Program, a federally chartered non-profit created to promote firearm training, announced that it received special authorization to sell more than 100,000 surplus M14 rifles.

Although Congress authorized CMP to sell surplus weapons — and has sold 1911 handguns and M1 Garands in the past — this is the first time it will sell the historic M14.

Jerry O’Keefe, CMP’s chairman and chief executive officer, explained that the challenge was that the rifles were originally serialized as fully automatic firearms.

Although civilians can legally own machine guns, federal law requires both buyers and sellers to adhere to strict regulatory policies.

“We’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort thinking through every step in this process, working with our partners to get everybody in agreement,” O’Keefe said.

He explained that they worked closely with their federal partners and walked them “through every step in the conversion process” to show how they will make the M14s “permanently and irreversibly semi-automatic.”

The federal government created CMP in 1903 to promote marksmanship training among civilians, and in 1996, Congress privatized the organization and gave it authority to sell surplus military firearms.

According to a 2019 Government Accountability Office report, the Army has transferred more than 700,000 rifles and handguns to CMP, which has generated about $196.8 million in revenue from their sale.

While CMP initially announced that the M14s could be available as early as this year, O’Keefe clarified that the first sales will most likely occur in early 2027.

“We expected the demand for this to be extraordinary and frankly, the feedback on all the different forums and websites and YouTubes has even exceeded what we expected,” he said. “So we now know that we’re going to have to spend a few months building up a pretty large inventory of converted guns before we go to first sale.”

The M14 has a complicated military history but remains popular among firearms enthusiasts. Chambered in 7.62mm, it was developed from the M1 Garand and replaced the World War II-era rifle as the standard U.S. service rifle around 1957.

The M14 was intended to serve as an all-purpose infantry weapon. Its select-fire option was part of an effort to consolidate several weapons used by American troops into a single platform.

Ian McCollum, a firearms historian and host of the YouTube channel Forgotten Weapons, explained that the military wanted to combine the capabilities of the M1 carbine, M1 Garand, M3 Grease Gun and M1918A2 BAR into a single weapon.

That effort produced the M14 Infantry Rifle, as well as the M15 Light Machine Gun, which was essentially an M14 equipped with a bipod and pistol grip.

The M14, however, had a short service life. Springfield Armory — the historic military arsenal, not the current manufacturer that produces modernized M14s — designed the rifle but was not equipped for the kind of mass production the military ultimately demanded.

Once other manufacturers got involved, though, they made parts of inconsistent quality, which led to inconsistencies in the rifle’s overall performance.

The military ultimately bought about 1.38 million M14s before ending the program in 1964. The rifle entered combat during the Vietnam War, but its size and materials made it ill-suited for the dense jungle environment compared to the M16, which began replacing it in 1967.

“Tromping through a jungle, you are better off with something a little bit shorter than an M14, so ultimately, the M14 would end up being the U.S. service rifle with the shortest active service life of anything that the U.S. has ever issued,” McCollum said.

Many of the remaining M14s were subsequently destroyed, sold overseas or transferred to foreign militaries, according to McCollum. They also briefly made an appearance during the Global War on Terror. M14 variants were used in Afghanistan and Iraq, primarily as designated marksman and sniper rifles.

That makes CMP’s planned sale particularly notable for enthusiasts who have long viewed the M14 as an iconic American service rifle.

Brian C. Sheetz, the editor-in-chief of the American Rifleman, called it “one of the best general-purpose rifle choices for uncertain times” because it “offers a level of utility and capability — all in an understated package — not commonly encountered in many more modern firearms.”

When the surplus M14s finally go on sale, O’Keefe said they will cost around $2,000 apiece, and buyers should be able to purchase up to two rifles at a time.

From what I've read, they'll be at or under $2,000.