The huge target contained the outline of an human head and torso and hung on a retractable chain thirty feet away. My gun safety classmates, who included my oldest son, my son-in-law, and about ten other novice gun enthusiasts, were anxiously watching as I stepped on the line. I had fired a gun for your very first time that about thirty minutes earlier - a wimpy 22 pistol. But now I was gripping an effective weapon, the kind of thing that Dirty Harry might strap to his ankle. Since each of us was given only five shots using this type of cannon, we decided to watch each other. It was my turn.
I dutifully took the stance that I had just been taught, locked my arms, aligned the sights, and quickly fired off all five rounds. When the noise ended, the instructor immediately reeled within the target with a surprised look on his face. There was just one, large hole for the lower right side in the torso. Assuming that I had place all five bullets through this single hole, the instructor exclaimed "Great Job" and, around the spot, named me "One Hole." The nickname stuck. My classmates affectionately known me as "One Hole" for the balance of our own classes without ever mentioning what I suspected to get the real truth: that only 1 of my five shots actually hit the gigantic target.
Truth is, my primary curiosity about those classes was the ability to drink beer and eat ribs with a couple of my favorite people following each session. But I learned a lot. What most surprised me was the growing rise in popularity of personal weapons.
Although our economy may be depressed for a long period, a lot more Americans continually find serious dollars to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Firing Range Rules and Courtesy are high and growing higher. There are now greater than 258 million privately-owned firearms inside U.S., the highest from a country in the world, and firearm transactions have increased with an annual pace over 10 percent since 2006. There are various explanations because of this huge rise in popularity: a growing concern for private safety; the threat of terrorism; a suspicion that police officers is becoming weaker; a fear that future laws may complicate or prohibit gun ownership; more baby boomers with time to hunt; a want to release stress by unleashing a robust force with a pretend target; plus more.
My gun education continued a few months later when one of my bright law school students, Scott Kitch, published to me a draft of a paper that discussed the value of using a special purpose revocable trust to obtain a gun or perhaps a gun collection. This paper enlightened me. So, with Scott's permission, I have briefly summarized his points below, in hopes that they can may help the planning process for those who now own guns or are looking at joining the rapidly growing force of new gun owners.
A revocable trust can be established specifically to become the legal owner of guns possessed by a person or perhaps a couple. This is not a tax play. Since the trust is revocable, it's actually a tax nullity and does not trigger any income, estate or gift tax consequences. There are
Concealed Weapon Laws - So why You Should Get a Permit -tax reasons why you are using such a gun trust as the legal owner.
The first advantage is always that a trust greatly simplifies the registration and licensing requirements of a Title II weapon - a product gun, a short-barreled rifle or shotgun, a sound suppressor, or perhaps a destructive device. Unlike the next three advantages, this first advantage is unique to Title II weapons. Now you may reasonably ask, as I did, do people buy such weapons? It's amazing. Ownership of Title II weapons has risen a startling 460 percent since 2005. And using a Title II weapon, a trust is often a no-brainer.
An individual desiring this kind of weapon must provide fingerprints as well as a photograph and have the signature of a Chief Law Enforcement Officer - a chief of police, sheriff, state police head, district attorney or prosecutor. This signature requirement is usually a serious obstacle in most states. None of this is necessary having a trust. Trust ownership eliminates the requirement of fingerprints pictures and wipes the signature requirement. It's a giant loophole inside law that the majority of Title II buyers better of. One large gun retailer advised me that 98 percent of his Title II sales are supposed to trusts.
The second advantage is that trust ownership promotes privacy. Trusts usually are not public documents. And for the death of a individual that uses the trust's guns, there isn't any disclosure of gun ownership as the trust assets (the guns) pass beyond probate.
The third advantage is the fact that, in certain states, a trust devoted exclusively to gun ownership can help insulate other assets from certain potential liabilities and risks inherent with gun ownership.
Finally, as well as perhaps most significantly, a carefully drafted gun trust may facilitate the smart and safe transition of the gun inside event of the death or perhaps a serious incapacity. The trust can be utilized as a tool to exercise some control through the grave and to help insure that the dangerous weapon will not pass to a one who is inadequately trained. In addition to installation of specific requirements for managing the use, storage and legal requirements in the guns, the trust document might require successor trustees and users with the guns to finish gun safety courses and take other specific steps to protect against the kind of ignorance and carelessness which could lead to a gun disaster.
The bottom line is the fact that guns and trusts seem like strange bedfellows, but often they work effectively together within the planning process.