Firearms Relinquishment - Page Under Construction

Seperate from surrending or selling, Relinquishment is for “justice involved persons” who are navigating the legal system. While some justice-involved persons are felons many are not and yet still may not be able to possess guns that are still lawful property. Are your firearms being held by a local Sheriff office or police department due to a court order such as a PFA (aka restraining order), habitual drunkard status, 302 (involuntarily committed to a mental institution and adjudicated mentally defective or risk of self harm ideation), or perhaps they are being held but are not evidence in a crime but due to an allegation of another crime you can not get them back? Persons who are experiencing situations like this can greatly benefit financially and legally from Shot Tec’s relinquishment services.

Certain court orders (like bail, probation, or PFAs) require temporary or permanent firearm relinquishment. Failing to comply can result in new charges, jail time, or violations that make your situation worse. While the Sheriff or police department can offer “free” storage, they may send out a 30-day notice to label your property “abandoned property” and then destroy them. Don’t let them destroy your equity. You paid for your guns and even if you cannot have them now or in the future, we can at least sell them on your behalf to unknown third parties.

Potentially, yes. Judges may view the use of a professional, licensed third party FFL as a proactive step toward compliance and de-escalation, which may positively influence your client’s case. It may be beneficial in a family or divorce court that your client has relinquished their firearms to get ahead of an expected frivolous allegation of harassment, stalking, abuse, etc. We have seen some clients use relinquishment of firearms that no longer have market value and cannot be readily sold but may be requested to be removed for a home at the behest of a Parol officer. Relinquishment with an FFL such as ours carries receipts which can then be used in court, with parole officers, or even for wellness checks or search warrants. 

Relinquishment is a separate program from surrendering, storage (such as through the Hold My Guns program for which we are a partner), and our other FFL services. Once the agreement has been made between the attorney or client and Shot Tec, Shot Tec staff will then pick up the guns at the police station or sheriff’s office. While there we will confirm that the reported list matches the list of guns and items picked up. Once at Shot Tec, the items are again cataloged. Pictures are taken of all the items and the condition of the items are reported to the attorney or client. Shot Tec then communicates for each item our strategy for sale, appraisal estimate, and pictures. When the items sale, a check is in the mail at the agreed upon intervals. Some guns may sell quickly and easily; some may take time and some may garner the greatest value with an aggressive auction such as at a Penny bid which typically attract more attention than high-reserve auctions. We communicate with you and take heavily into consideration how quickly you want to get paid for your items. Most sell within 2-3 weeks. Commission encourages us to maximize the value for your items and preventing government destruction of your items. 

Through our licensed liquidation process, firearms can be sold—turning what would otherwise be a financial loss into liquid funds your client can use for bail, legal fees, or restitution. Certain items may require greater care, attention, and research. Some items may require the enlistment of experts with specific knowledge on eclectic or historical items. Typically high value or rare guns require exceptionally greater communication to buyers and experts and care and thus more time on our part than typical items. We want to maximize the value of each of your items. Our recommendation is to get high end items out of evidence rooms where they can experience repeated harmful handling and risk being destroyed without compensation. Scratches, dings, dents, cracks, over-torquing screws, recreational handling, etc can drastically harm a gun and thereby its value so getting it to us quickly can help maximize the money the client receives.