Planning for the Future - Firearms and your Estate Planning

It always starts the same...

"Mr. Kennedy?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Well... my husband passed away."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you. It's just that he was a gun collector and..."

The rest of the conversation usually pans out the same way. Almost every time. The husband had lots of guns - maybe 20, maybe 50, maybe 100, maybe more. He died. She didn't realize how many he had, what they are, what they are worth, and (most importantly) who to trust.

The reason I get this call is that some buddy of the late Mr. Hoplophile is nosing around, knows a little (or a lot) about the collection and wants to help the widow by giving her some money to help her out by buying one (or more) of the guns - with a pained expression and at a cost WELL below retail. I received calls like this about once or twice a month while I was the Curator at the Cody Firearms Museum. I still get them through friends and acquaintances now. Maybe I seem to be the trustable sort. Maybe it's the boyish good looks, maybe it's the glazed look and the paunch, I don't know.

The sad thing is that it is preventable. As fanatical as many of us are with our guns while we are alive, we sure don't seem to care much about when we're dead. This needs to change.

Why is it always the Gun Guys?

I'll tell you why. It's because we did all we could to beg, borrow, and steal to get them in the first place and we don't want the government (or anyone else for that matter) to take them from us.

Take the guy from the opening scenes of Red Dawn for a case in point. Cue it up to 1:30 and enjoy. I'll wait.

Now. That guy isn't too far off from the truth. I have known... well... not this guy, but many like him. According to the American Firearms Institute (an organization devoted to defending gun rights) "there are 250 - 280 million firearms in the US" and "40 - 50% of US homes own a firearm, that's 120 - 150 million people". Easy math. that averages out to 2 per household in about half of the homes in America. However, as with most averages, there are outliers. I know many folks who own just one gun. I also know a couple guys who could outfit a small Latin American country, so long as they don't mind bolt actions from the two World Wars.

What is common amongst all of these people? They will not give up their gun(s) easily. If they are like this while they are alive, why do it when they are dead?

I don't know. 

I don't know if it is a lack of planning, an unrealistic belief that they will always have time to divest themselves of the collection before they pass on, or just simply believing that it will work itself out on it's own as part of the rest of the estate. But it drives me crazy and tells me that they care more for their guns than they do for their wife and family.  

T.C.B.!

Many gun owners arm themselves initially because they feel they need to TCB - Take Care of Business. This could be defending life and limb from an intruder or getting groceries through the barrel of a gun. However, we all protect ourselves and our families in other, less dramatic ways. Unless you are supporting your self solely on Social Security, you are taking care of business - financial business. 

Elvis (Mr. TCB) and a few of his guns - note the Luger on the left and the suppressor on the top right

Think about it. We all plan in the boring, mundane, "Gee, I hope the economy doesn't tank again before I retire or die, taking my nest egg with it" way. We set up retirement plans, 401(k)s, investments, stocks, bonds, annuities, and all sorts of other things that make me fall asleep. Some of these guys have retirement plans that cover EVERYTHING - except their guns. No plan, no inventory, no appraisals (scrawling a list of 100% values from the Blue Book doesn't count). I don't get it. But I have come to terms that it happens. Every day.

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail

Regardless of how you pass on, not having a plan for your guns is a bad, bad thing. Think about it. No matter how much warning you have, you cannot prepare. You die in your sleep of a heart attack (you eat red meat and stay off the treadmill, right?), you get an aneurysm on the floor of the gun show (we've all seen prices on guns that could lead to this...), or you stroke out on the golf course. 

Just kidding. That last one never happens to gun guys. They stroke out during a round of Sporting Clays.

During any of those, there is no time to prepare. But that's OK, you have emphysema, ALS (I know way too much about that one now), or the big 'C'. I'll have plenty of time. Sure. Once you get past "Depression" and on to "Acceptance", you have a short window. By that time, though, you will be hip-deep in medical bills, clinic appointments, and last checks on your bucket list. There will be time to take care of the guns later - besides, you may get better. You're right. You might. Lots don't.

So. While you are still healthy, wealthy, and (hopefully) wise, here are some things to do to prep your collection for your demise, sudden or otherwise.

1. Inventory - Get a list with make, model, and serial number (separate from any bound book you may keep as an FFL or C&R). Tag the guns - you can use those little hangtags they sell at most office supply stores. For Pete's sake, no tape, no markers, no pens, pencils, sticky dots, or other adhesive badness. 
2. Photograph - Get digital pictures of it all. Use a generic mount (you can use a range sled/sandbags with a nice cloth over the mount). Get both sides and necessary details (barrel address/sns are not necessary but inscriptions/engraving are). Have a card in frame showing make, model, and sn. Use decent lighting - a shop light behind the camera on the left and right should be good - prevents flash shadows. Use a tripod. Use a neutral background - not a plaid tablecloth. VERIFY that all of the pictures are clear.
3. Appraise - Get a legitimate appraisal. If it is a few nice guns, you can Blue Book it. Write it down. Again, record make, model, and serial number with the value, the source for your estimation, and why you think it fits in a certain grade/%. Depending on the size or value of your collection (and your insurer's limits), you may want to go to one of the major national GUN auction firms or a private appraiser. Repeat this at least every five years - or if something happened that would otherwise increase the value of your collection. Legitimate appraisers will charge you for their time, per gun, etc. If they charge a percentage, they benefit from high-balling your collection. 
4. Insure - Theft, fire, or any number of other things can happen. Now that you know what you have, insure it. Most reputable companies have a firearms policy rider. Boost the limit to whatever you are willing to go to, not surpassing the value of the collection. If you think the value has gone up, get it reappraised and insure accordingly.
5. Secure - Keep it locked up. Keep it in a safe. Keep it in a locked display case. Keep it in a locked room. Ask a trusted (industrious) buddy to figure out how he would steal your guns. Fix what he would do. Why? Because someone will try to steal them (with a check or otherwise) after you are gone. Also - make sure someone trusted stays at the house while you are in the hospital or the casket.
6. Allocate - Figure out where they go. Now. Just like anything else in your will (the house, property, etc.), this should be established well before you are de-established. Which ones go to your son or daughter. Which ones go to which friends. Make conditions (with a list of prices) to allow private sales (helps with the 'buddy' mentioned above). ID which guns go to an auction house. Figure out which ones go to a museum.  Figure out which ones go to other non-profits (If you plan to send them to the NRA, let the NRA know first).
7. Note on Museums - Make arrangements with any museum AHEAD of time. I have had to refuse gifts from the deceased because of conditions they set. There are things responsible museums cannot agree to, in good faith. I am certain they were small issues that could have been resolved simply through a discussion beforehand, but legal conditions are exactly that.
8. Organize - Keep all of the documentation on ALL of the above in hardcopy and on a USB thumb drive. Keep these in at least two places - with the guns and off site (safe deposit box if you have it). 

I recognize that some of this appears to be expensive. That's because it is. Ask yourself how much you spend on investment counseling, overhead fees on your IRA, or your accountant. Now ask how much you are willing to spend to take care of your family in this way.

Step up. Do it.

Now, on to the ammunition...

You got your Chocolate in my Peanut Butter!!! Adventures in Museum Free Days

It's a rare day when my geek side runs smackdab into my museum side...

I checked one of my favorite web comics today and experienced it with a smile. Real Life Comics, a semi-autobiographical comic by Greg Dean, is usually about gaming, technology, Pepsi, Star Trek, and retro-scifi references. Today, it had a cautionary tale of how a museum "Free Day" can backfire...

I think a lot of us in the museum field have seen this and, unfortunately, a lot of our visitors have experienced it. I understand how it happens and have pushed for them myself. We (the well-intentioned on the inside of the museum) see that the visitation may not be what we want, the visitors may be mostly Vanilla - older, sedate, wealthier, white people, or we may just be trying to generate some buzz.

As a result of these desires, we can do a few different things, one of which is the "Free Day." Add in free food and you could have a catastrophe on your hands... OK, I don't see it getting too bad, but you get the idea. Your museum picks a date, advertises it, puts on extra volunteers and staff and you get more people in the door, providing a service to an underserved group of your constituency and earning some good press while you are doing it. You did call the paper, right? OK, good...

So, your visitation increases, your public image rises, but is the museum experience improved? Too often, there are the tales of woe - such as Greg, Liz, and little Harper's experience in Sacramento. If nothing else, this is a learning experience. If you get big lines for your free day, that is a good thing. Make a change in the future to accomodate:

• Make a Free Weekend
• Make more Free Days (quarterly, monthly, etc.)
• Give everyone in the local area a Free day to be used - track them by ID or print "Admit One Family" coupons in the paper.
• Get local governments and businesses in on the fun - Our local city government gave all of their employees a ticket to use for their families. We tracked the numbers and billed the city. OK, that wasn't free, but it was for the visitors.

Regardless of how you do it, make sure the experience is good. The expectation is already low. Say it with me: "you get what you pay for..."

If you make it special, keep the kids entertained, and make the adults feel like it was worth getting up from the TV or computer and driving (with the kids) to your place, you win.

Now, do something about the lines...

D&D&Kids - First in a series

OK, I'm a nerd. I think you may get that by now - especially if you check my Facebook profile. To clarify, I am a Star Wars watching, Lord of the Rings reading, D&D playing, computer programming, high school band marching nerd.


Anyway, I am now raising a pair of kids who are congenitally resigned to be nerds as well. My (almost) 7-year-old lives, eats, and breathes Star Wars, Harry Potter, and anything having to do with dragons. The great thing is that he not only wants to watch the movies and shows, he wants me to read them to him. So far, we are through Harry Potter to Goblet of Fire (waiting for him to get older til we read more). We are in the middle of Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain (one of my favorites from my youth). We are now safely in the realm of reading "grown-up books." He still likes looking at picture books, but he is definitely able to deal with the big books.


He has also been playing a few different Kids MMOs - Legos Universe (clunky and shutting down in January 2012), Free Realms (Sony Online, slick, but aimed at tweens), and Wizard 101. Wizard 101 is our overall favorite - especially since all of the NPC text is spoken to you and there are directional arrows for your quest objectives. 


So, one day when he was browsing through my old Monstrous Manual (he loves all of the art and reciting the monster names and alignments... I have NO idea), we started talking about D&D. We talked about me playing. We talked about his mom and I playing (and how our first big fight was because her character died while I was DMing...). One thing led to another and we decided we would play over Christmas break. Immediately, I started yearning for those halcyon days of my youth, hanging out at a certain Junior High teacher's home with about 15-20 other gamers while we beat up spiders, met gods, and made mischief with paper, pencil, and dice. My folks SO did not know what to make of me.


So, I start pulling out my old 2nd Edition books. I am going with 2nd Ed. simply because I don't have any later books except for the 3rd Edition Players Handbook. Besides, from everything I know of 3rd Edition and have heard of 4th Ed., they are all a bit too much for his age - "crunchy," if you will.


If nothing else, there is a HUGE volume of resource material for cheap online, if not on your bookshelf. I happen to have collected a pile (a couple of shelf feet) of 2nd Ed. stuff way back when, so I am set for background - not that a 7-year-old needs much more than to be given a simple hook and to be asked what he wants to do. I figured that much even before I began looking online for ideas from others.


If you are looking at doing something like this, I would recommend reading through the following: 

• Gaming with kids 
• A Guy who used to write a column about D&D with Kids for WOTC
• That same Guy's article on D&D Kids: Combat Encounters 
• Confessions of a D&D Camp Councilor 
• D&D For Kids

I'll let this go for now. As you can guess, I have much more to talk about - and I hope to get more in as I prep and we play!

Cheers!