Have you considered establishing a gun trust?

For several years now Gun Trusts have gained in popularity, largely with firearms enthusiasts. With an ever increasing number of federal and state gun laws, many of which are unique and sometimes conflicting, and and an estimated 300 million firearms in the United States, it is certain that a firearm will be inherited or administered during incapacity of an owner. Gun Trusts are an answer to providing written guidance specific to possession and transfer of firearms to avoid potential criminal liability for getting these wrong.

Benefits of a Gun Trust. A gun trust can avoid some of the federal transfer requirements and accomplish other goals as well:

• Allow more than one person to possess and use the weapons held in trust. If you name more than one person as trustee, each trustee will have the right to possess or use the trust firearms. 
• Keep the gun in the trust even after the current owner’s death, avoiding the usual transfer requirements. If you create a trust and transfer firearms to it, you can arrange for the trust to stay in existence even after your death. The trustees and beneficiaries of the trust would have whatever rights you grant them in the terms of the trust. Because the firearm stays in the trust at your death, the transfer procedure is avoided. That means your inheritors don’t have to pay $200 transfer tax, file an ATF transfer form, receive permission from the local chief law enforcement officer (CLEO), and get fingerprinted and photographed.
• Help the executor. The executor of your estate—the person who is responsible for gathering your assets, paying your debts, and distributing what’s left—may not be familiar with the rules about ownership and possession of NFA and other weapons. An executor could violate criminal laws by transferring a weapon without going through the proper procedure, taking or sending it to a state where it is prohibited, or giving it to a person who is legally prohibited from owning it. (The Gun Control Act makes it unlawful for certain persons to possess firearms. The law prohibits anyone who was ever convicted of a felony or of misdemeanor domestic violence, is prohibited by a restraining order from harassing an intimate partner, uses a controlled substance unlawfully, or is an illegal alien, to name just some of the restrictions.) When firearms are in a trust, the executor is not involved; the trustee is in charge. You can name a trustee who is well-versed in state and federal gun laws.
• Avoid probate. Because the firearms are held by a trust, they do not need to go through probate at your death.
• Avoid possible future restrictions on gun transfers. Although no such legislation has been proposed, some gun advocates fear that someday it will be illegal to leave certain firearms to inheritors or transfer them during life. They hope that holding the guns in trust will let them get around any limitations if they are enacted.

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Making a Gun Trust. A gun trust is quite different from the common revocable living trust, which is used, like a will, to leave your assets at death. A simple living trust allows survivors to transfer trust assets without going through probate court, which saves time and money after your death. It generally terminates shortly after your death, when the trust assets have been distributed to the people who inherit them. A gun trust may have multiple trustees, be intended to last for more than one generation, and must take into account state and federal weapons laws. If you want to leave guns in trust, consult with a lawyer who has knowledge of the state and federal laws that govern who can legally use and possess weapons and how they must be transferred.