How to Dispose of a Gun Legally (Step by Step)

If you have an unwanted firearm in your possession and aren’t sure what to do with it, we’ll walk you through the legal options available for disposing of it safely and responsibly.

There are four main ways to legally get rid of your unwanted gun:

1. Give / Sell it to someone else
2. Destroy it
3. Surrender it to law enforcement
4. Donate it to an organization

First, let’s take a quick look at what “disposing” of a firearm actually means.

The common use of the term “dispose” is to throw away. However, for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), “dispose” simply means to remove it from inventory – this can be through selling it to a customer, transferring it to another FFL, or destroying it.

FFLs must keep a main inventory log of all firearms they’ve received (acquired) and gotten rid of (disposed) – this log is called the Acquisition and Disposition Book (A&D Book).

If you’re an FFL, you dispose the firearm by logging it off of the A&D book in accordance with ATF regulations – be careful here: some FFLs use paper records for this but with options like FFLSafe, which is 100% free A&D software for all FFLs, it only makes sense to use electronic records to be fully complaint with the law.

Selling an Unwanted Firearm

If you’d like to sell the firearm (rifle, shotgun, or handgun), or even just give it away to someone else, then federal law allows you to do this on your own as long as you have no reason to believe that the person you’re selling or giving it to is a prohibited person.

However, some states require that all private firearm sales go through a licensed firearms dealer (FFL). If you already have your FFL because you took our Get Your FFL course, then you can just handle the transaction from your licensed location (which can be your own house if you have a home-based FFL).

If you don’t have your FFL, you can contact a local licensed firearm dealer and coordinate the transaction with them.

They can either purchase it directly from you to sell on their own, take it as a firearm for sale on consignment, or you can have the person you’re going to sell it to meet you there for the transaction.

Check with the FFL to see what they charge for these services – the buyer will have to satisfy the background check requirements and fill out some paperwork before they become the new gun owner.

Contrary to what many believe, there is no federal registry for standard firearms. However, by going through an FFL, it creates a proper paper trail the the firearm is with someone else so you don’t have to worry about the gun being used in a crime in the future and you accidentally being blamed for it.

Destroying an Unwanted Firearm

Unless you’re an FFL and/or you really know what you’re doing, I advise against trying to destroy a firearm yourself. 

First, there is a specified method of destroying certain firearms from the ATF for them to truly be considered “destroyed.”

Second, you might unwittingly commit a crime. For example, this anti-gun Congressional Candidate tried to show-off destroying a firearm but she started with the barrel and thereby made an unlawful unregistered NFA firearm, a Short Barreled Rifle (SBR).

Surrendering an Unwanted Firearm to Law Enforcement

If you feel that a gun is unsafe or that there is something otherwise wrong with the firearm and you don’t want it sold or given to someone else, you can surrender the weapon to a law enforcement agency.

Be very careful here.

First, call ahead to determine where you should bring the firearm and how they’d like to handle the process. Do NOT just walk into a police department holding a gun.

Second, if the firearm has been illegally modified or it is an unregistered firearm,  you might be opening yourself up to some unwanted scrutiny from the police.

Some police departments host an event called a “gun buyback” where they’l accept surrendered firearms, usually with a “no questions asked” policy, and you might even get a gift card out of it.

Donate the Firearm to an Organization

Some charities or museums will accept firearms, especially if they have a unique value, as donations. 

Work with the organization to see what they’ll accept and how – you might end up needing to use an FFL just like if you were going to sell it.

How NOT to Dispose of a Firearm

Whatever you do, do NOT just throw the gun in the trash or in the woods.

It is far too easy for someone who shouldn’t have access to firearms to find the weapon and if there is anything bad that happens with it, it is going to look very suspicious. 

Disposing Unwanted Ammunition

If you’d like to get rid of unwanted ammunition, your options are largely the same as they are with firearms, however, it’s unlikely and organization will want it donated.

AUTHOR

Ryan Cleckner

Check out Ryan Cleckner 's Courses

Ryan Cleckner is a former special operations sniper and current attorney specializing in firearms law/ATF compliance and is a firearms industry executive (former govt. relations manager for NSSF, Vice President of Remington Outdoor Company, and a SAAMI voting board member).