Our HOA has a pretty robust private message board on our website. 933 homes makes for some good info on safety issues, garage sales, complaining about trash service, etc. It's a pretty busy job monitoring that site to keep it clean and friendly, and I've been doing it since around 2009.
Early last year, one of our neighbors sent in a question to the Board of Directors, asking if it was OK to sell a gun on the message board. I'm not on the Board, but I do get copied on all their mails, and I watched the BoD waffle around for about 4-5 hours on a bunch of BoD-only emails wondering if it would be OK, if it would offend anyone, etc.
So, I quickly responded to the neighbor, and copied the full BoD. "Yes, of course you can sell. It's no different then selling a guitar or a pair of shoes - perfectly legal. By the way, what do you have?"
We shared a few private emails back and forth, and then nothing came of it. I contacted him about 2 months later, and he explained that he was fighting a cancer battle, and that was the reason for selling - but he was too tired to do it just yet.
A month or two later, I received a call, not from him, but from his daughter. "My dad passed away, and we found your email trail on his phone. We found a BUNCH of guns here. We never knew he had them, and I think a bunch are loaded. Can you come help us?"
I said yes, but she asked me to delay a few weeks until she got back in town. She lived in Austria, and was in helping her mom after her dad's passing. She had to return home, and would be back in late August.
Late August came, and so did Harvey. Their house flooded, and they lost most of their possessions. I came to secure the guns for them (all the pistols were loaded), and I've been helping them sell off the small collection:
- Colt 1991
- Ruger 22/45 with a lot of customization on it
- High Standard 22 revolver
- Glock 23
- Colt Pony Pocketlite
- LCP
- Bushmaster AR
- 9 M1 Carbines (varied manufacturers)
Last weekend, I dropped another couple thousand at their house for more of the guns that have sold.
And then today happened. I received an email, "Many thanks for your support. I just finished cleaning out the garage and found loads of ammunition. We would like to give it to you to do whatever you want to with."
So I just finished inventory and stocking the ammo that she gave me:
- 380: 450 rounds
- 9mm: 90 rounds
- 22lr: 1700 rounds
- 45: 260 rounds + two more mags for the 45 I picked up from the list above
- 40: 230 rounds
- 223: 1600 rounds + 5 PMags
- 30 cal: 1950 rounds + 8 standard 15-round mags and two extended 30-round mags for my (new to me) M1 Carbine.
