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Would you buy it?

loan sharkloan shark Member Posts: 130 ✭✭
edited October 2001 in General Discussion
A good friend called me over the weekend to tell me of a person he knows that just received some guns from his recently deceased father. Knowing my love for old Colts, he informed me that this guy had a 1940's era Colt Government model .45 in almost new condition with the original box that he wanted to get rid of. I went to the guys house this afternoon to look at it and immediately picked up on the fact that I was holding a gun worth at least $1,000 that he only wanted $600 for. Just about the time I was about to put the offer on the table he informed me that this gun was the one his father ended his life with. I couldn't put it down fast enough and walked out without buying it. The thing just gave me the willies and I knew I would never be able to pick it up and enjoy it without thinking about someone killing himself with it. Also got me to thinking about some of the other collectable war era guns I own that probably also killed someone in their lifetime. Is it just me or would you have bought it?
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  • loan sharkloan shark Member Posts: 130 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=64439884
    [:0]
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  • shaneshane Member Posts: 882 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would have done the same thing. I just don't think I could ever knowingly buy a gun that someone had taken there own life with. It just does not seem right to me. Buying old war era guns don't bother me at all becouse war is war and if one of my guns has saw some action then the person carrying it was defending his life just like I would have. There is a big difference between defending your life with a gun and taking your life with a gun.
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    I would agree with my friend from NC.The guy may think he`s doing the right thing by tellin`.Also,people tell things they should not,often because they just need to get it out,like therapy.
    Will the last reb to leave flarda,please bring the flag?
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  • jltrentjltrent Member Posts: 9,330 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Would you go to a junk yard an buy parts off of a recked auto that someone had died in? I have and I would again. This may not seem the same, but both have taken a life. I would buy it and if later on didn't feel good about it I would sell it.
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  • stanmanstanman Member Posts: 3,052
    edited November -1
    I have to agree with shane!War and suicide are worlds apart, in fact morbid as it may seem, I hope my war relics were used to their lethal potential!Suicide though..... I couldn't have bought it either.Too bad, sounds like a nice piece!
    My wife?.........Sure!My dog?..........Maybe!MY GUNS??........NEVER!!!
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  • .250Savage.250Savage Member Posts: 812 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Damn tough call...proud when my guns are "blooded" by hunting, but again, that's a whole different ball game, like war. Glad he told you. Suppose I might have bought it, have to see how I felt in the situation.
    I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.--Voltare
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  • kimberkidkimberkid Member Posts: 8,858 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Are you guy's nutz? I have to agree with jltrent, I would buy it in a heartbeat. Your implying that the gun had something to do with it ... the guy committed suicide, it was his decision, his action ... not the gun! If it hadn't been that gun it would have been some other, or another method like pills, drive in to an embankment, leave the car running in the garage with the door closed ... The gun is an inanimate object, it did nothing wrong!
    GUN CONTROL: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!kimberkid@gunbroker.zzn.com
    If you really desire something, you'll find a way ?
    ? otherwise, you'll find an excuse.
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  • gunpaqgunpaq Member Posts: 4,607 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    To me it is just the thought of it. Knowing the direct nature this gun's history would make me think twice. About ten years ago a lady wanted sell me her late husband's parachute system that he bought-the-farm with. Although the price was tempting I did not buy it nor was she able sell it as far as I know. It's a personal decision with no right or wrong.
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  • concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would have bought it without hesitation. Seriously, who cares? Not trying to be cold, but I agree with Kimberkid.
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  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I come down solidly on the fence. I feel the discomfort from here. OTOH, I don't mind turning a quick $400+. Next buyer didn't need to know the provenance and as other posters have noted, it's not like the pistol was 'evil' in itself.
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  • njretcopnjretcop Member Posts: 7,975
    edited November -1
    I own a S&W .38 that was used in a suicide. I shoot it from time to time, but always with the thought that I knew the person who used it to end his life and it's a little eerie. Still, the gun was only the instrumentand not the cause of the death. It's a tough choice, but I would buy it if I were you.
    Guns don't kill people, it's the bullets, stupidI am the NRA, the KABA, NJ Area Rep for the 2ampd, and the AARP :(njretcop@copmail.com
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  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    I would buy it, no qualms. I collect all sorts of military guns, and often wonder if any have been used to kill someone- same with my bayonets. I have a WW1 Luger which a freinds uncle picked up in WW2 in Normandy. I have a PPK acquired in similar circumstances. I wonder, did any German officer pop himself as his position was overrun? Odds are, with over 25 military guns, many of then NOT "like new", having obviously seen service, I am holding some life enders. It is gruesome, but it isn't the gun's fault. Yessiree, I'd snatch it up.
    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899.
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  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would have forked over the cash as fast as I could. What any gun has been used for is a big "who cares". Mudge
    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
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  • SP TigerSP Tiger Member Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would buy it in a second. What about used guns in a pawn shop? There is really no way of knowing the background of every used gun you buy. What about a car that someone commited suicide in by attatching a hose to the tailpipe? I bet there are a few out there that someone is driving. My M1 Garand may have taken a life, or it might have fallen with the soldier that carried it. You never know.
    Better to have and not need, than need and not have.
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  • steve45steve45 Member Posts: 2,940 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would have bought it. Ive been saying all along that guns are just a tool. They hold no evil powers or anything. That guns life needs to be cheered up by shooting a bulleye or two.
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Where do I send the $600?
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  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The person that wouldn't buy a nice piece of unthinking well made equiptment and could make $400.00 on it hasn't thrown enough hay bales or worked enough 12 to 8 shifts! GET REAL I like my guns but I dont think they can make my decisions for me or for anyone else.
    standard.jpg
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  • legn4legn4 Member Posts: 481 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I read this post when it came up last nite & throught itwould be tough to honestly answer.But after seeing wundudnee response I agree a 100%.
    Work'n like a dog all nite
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  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,078 ******
    edited November -1
    I would have bought it. I will buy it if you will tell me where it is.Adolf Hitler allegedly shot himself in the head with a pistol. What would you pay for that one?I might not want to keep it if a relative of mine used it for suicide, but in this case, yes, I would buy it.Heck, I bought a house one time a fellow committed suicide in. There were no ghosts in it, either.
    Certified SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Egotistical Rogue, Evil, Dangerous Racist Moderator of the General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Email davidnunn@texoma.net Jesus is Lord!
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  • HerbyJrHerbyJr Member Posts: 41 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'd buy it. You still got his number?H.
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  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000 ✭
    edited November -1
    Remeber the phrase "guns don't kill, people do". I've got nothing against the gun, and it has nothing against me. I'd buy it and never look back!
    Save, research, then buy the best.Join the NRA, NOW!Teach them young, teach them safe, teach them forever, but most of all, teach them to VOTE!
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  • TED GARTED GAR Member Posts: 389 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    give me the guys email address, those old war guns, prob killed 20 to 30 men, one more doesnt matter. The fact of the matter, MOST OF THE 1911A1 PISTOLS,THAT ARE GOVERNMENT MARKED, WERE PICKED UP BY THE SOLDIERS, AS THEY ONLY HAD TO RETURN THE WEAPON ISSUED TO THEM. They kept the guns they picked, up, and sold them or handed them down. I'll buy it.
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  • Shootist3006Shootist3006 Member Posts: 4,171
    edited November -1
    A different perspective - Since it was a good friend, I am assuming that you also knew his father. Something unsettling about a device (gun, knife, rope etc...) that someone you knew used to end their life. I would have walked away also. On the other hand, had it not been a friend's father, I'd a bought it in a heartbeat so to speak.
    Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis
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  • will270winwill270win Member Posts: 4,845
    edited November -1
    Buy the thing and not only are you getting a fine piece, you are getting it out of the grieving mans hands. He really shouln't keep something like that around. For the gun to be in someone elses possesion would be very good for the seller right now.
    If you run, you'll just die tired!
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  • mindaminda Member Posts: 26 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'll pay him $700 and show him my pictures of * in a thong.
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    X-Ring, Shootist!! Beach
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