We have been telling people for years that a properly drafted gun trust can help protect your firearms in the event that you become a prohibited person in the future. Today the Supreme Court came to a Unanimous Decisions supporting our view that a trust can be used to hold firearms for a liquidating event or for the future beneficiaries of the trust without being lost.
The court held that “while a convicted felon is prohibited from “possessing” firearms pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 922(g), nothing strips the individual of his/her property interest in the firearms and the individual retains “the right merely to sell or otherwise dispose of their firearms,” provided the felon lacks all control over the firearms. Our Gun Trusts already provide for this ability to just this type of purpose.
The Court also held that “§ 922(g) does not bar such a transfer unless it would allow the felon to later control the guns, so that he could either use them or direct their use.” This even permits an individual to create a gun trust after they lose their rights, assign the property to a trust as long as they do not have the ability to have direct or indirect use nor direct their use. A properly drafted gun trust would remove all abilities of a felon or prohibited person from using or directing the use of all firearms and ammo within the trust.
Section 922(g) proscribes possession alone, but covers possession in every form. By its terms, §922 (g) does not prohibit a felon from owning firearms. Rather, it interferes with a single incident of ownership—one of the proverbial sticks in the bundle of property rights—by preventing the felon from knowingly possessing his (or another person’s) guns. But that stick is a thick one, encompassing what the criminal law recognizes as “actual” and “constructive” possession alike. (Emphasis in original)
The Court declared that nothing prohibits the individual’s “right merely to sell or otherwise dispose of that item.” In supporting the concept of a gun trust the Court stated “A court may also grant a felon’s request to transfer his guns to a person who expects to maintain custody of them, so long as the recipient will not allow the felon to exert any influence over their use.”
If you have lost or are expecting to lose your gun rights, it is not too late to create a gun trust, contact us to create a secure gun trust as permitted by the Supreme Court to protect the value of your firearms or the firearms for your children and future generations.