To send a message, family plans to destroy stockpile of inherited guns worth millions

[cali]

Family members set to inherit a stockpile of guns and ammunition, worth millions of dollars, plan to destroy the weapons "to send a message," their attorney Daniel Brookman told ABC News today.

"They want these instruments of death to be destroyed," Brookman said. "They don’t want these weapons out on the street."

Jeffrey A. Lash, of Pacific Palisades, California, died last summer of natural causes, but left behind a stockpile of more than 1,500 guns, 6.5 tons of ammunition and nearly $250,000 in cash, according to local ABC-owned station KABC-TV. All of the purchases were legally made, KABC reported.

The reason Lash amassed such a collection remains a complete mystery.

Lash did not leave behind a will, so his first cousins and closest relatives are set to inherit the stockpile, according to Brookman, although the inheritance is still in litigation.

The family members are taking a firm stand in deciding that they want nothing to do with the weapons, or the millions of dollars they could earn from selling them, Brookman explained.

"They don't want them to contribute to the carnage," he said. "Especially in light of San Bernardino and Orlando, as ordinary citizens they feel like a stand should be taken."

He added: "The relatives are wanting to send a message not just to the nation at large, but also to our elected leaders."

<snip>
read:http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-plans-destroy-million-worth-inherited-guns/story?id=40042251

[randr]

1. Should have wrapped his dead fingers around it all and buried it with him

[MariaThinks]

2. Nice

[FLPanhandle]

3. I have to wonder about the taxes though

If they inherited millions of dollars worth of assets, then wouldn't they owe taxes on that? What they do with the assets later is meaningless.

I'd hate for them to destroy all those guns and get a huge tax bill later.

[Brickbat]

5. Depends on how many millions.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

15. The first 5.4 million per person is exempt, nt

[FLPanhandle]

19. Wow. I didn't know it was so high.

I guess my kids don't have to worry about inheritance taxes!

[awoke_in_2003]

35. 97% of Americans don't need to worry

Yet the repukes keep scaring people with the evil "death tax"

[groundloop]

21. Yep.... GOPers get the public up-at-arms over "Death Taxes" which only affect extremey wealthy

And most of the time those with that much wealth manage to avoid the inheritance taxes anyway.

[MillennialDem]

33. Yep, plus there are ways around it, like trusts and giving away money/assets before death.

[SheilaT]

36. It's actually the estate that pays the taxes.

Then the assets are distributed. And I think the current amount that can be passed on before federal taxes kick in is around five and a half million dollars.

States vary wildly in their estate taxes.

[DashOneBravo]

4. That's where all the .22 ammo went

[beachbum bob]

6. they should sell all of it and give the money to the candidates that we need to win

[cali]

7. that sounds great, but it kind of defeats their point.

[mountain grammy]

8. The attorney says they're just ordinary citizens,

but something like this is extraordinary. I applaud this family for doing the right thing.

[joeybee12]

9. Very impressive...that's a lot of money to forego...knr

[3catwoman3]

10. 6.5 tons of ammunition.

6.5 TONS???

That's insane.

[IronLionZion]

11. Can they have it recycled?

there might be productive uses for the metal?

They could be made into sculptures as well: http://www.inspirationgreen.com/guns-and-ammunition.html

[eShirl]

12. I'd love to see an art project to repurpose some of the material

in the spirit of beating swords into plowshares

[packman]

13. Makes you wonder what goes through a person's head

that collects 1,500 guns , 6.5 tons of ammunition and God knows what else?

[eppur_se_muova]

14. "Collectors" like this lead one to tend to believe that ...

... the desire to acquire more and more guns is itself a fairly obvious form of mental illness. While the NRA tries to argue that the problem is not guns, but mental illness, gun worship would appear to constitute at the very least a symptom of mental illness, and should be medically recognized as such.

So, NRA, if you win the argument that mental illness is a problem -- but 2nd Amendment extremism and fanatical support of the NRA come to be viewed as warnings of possible mental illness -- what have you won ?

[AntiBank]

27. he said he was 'a human-alien hybrid secret agent sent to save the human race'

so yes, mental illness was a factor

[passiveporcupine]

28. Very good point

[ReRe]

16. K&R

Finally. Some good news. I'd like to hear how they plan to destroy that stockpile of ammo and guns. Haul it all out to the desert and blow it up, or bomb it?

[cali]

17. gad. I hope not. Turn it over to the police or military or something.

[ReRe]

22. Don't agree...

... can't trust anyone anymore. I'd be afraid it would reappear, and in the wrong hands.

Wouldn't turn it over to anyone but a demolition expert I hired. Would want to inspect it just before it was to be destroyed, and to be present when they destroy it.

[passiveporcupine]

29. I would think it should be melted down and recycled.

Who does that though? And you are right...I'd want to stand there and watch it happen.

What I worry about is that a few of the distant family members may be in agreement, but maybe not everyone who is eligible for part of the estate. They could end up in court over this.

[cali]

31. That makes sense- as long as you get a reputable expert

Honestly, I have no clue what is or isn't the best way of getting rid of such a weapons and ammo collection. Wouldn't toxic fumes be an issue?

[ReRe]

34. In the middle of the desert..

... is the only place I can think of. Hey, the Military blows that crap up all the time.
Blow a little of it up at a time?

[haele]

37. I'm thinking of a big Minecraft style demolition event...

Bet they can recoup some of the lost million by selling tickets... People love the big bangs.

Or they can rent one of the old lava tubes that used to be used for nuclear testing out in Nevada.

Haele

[ReRe]

39. Your ideas...

... win the how-to-destroy-the-stockpile contest! Congratulations!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. If any are museum-worthy, they could sell to museums at half price & still get them off street. nt

[greiner3]

25. Or donate for a tax write off

[csziggy]

40. Yes - before they are destroyed I'd see if any of them are museum worthy

Though unless there is provenance they may not be of interest to many museums.

The idea of donating the ammunition to police departments is also good.

Otherwise, melt down the lot of them.

[tavernier]

20. Ok by me if every gun and bomb on this planet got raptured.

I'll do my part and give up venison.

[saidsimplesimon]

23. Good News on a gruesome

day of court decisions that bring no justice.

No Justice, No Peace

[AntiBank]

24. Mysterious LA loner with $5m gun arsenal convinced multiple women he was 'a human-alien hybrid

secret agent sent to save the human race'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3214325/Jeffrey-Lash-convinced-multiple-women-human-alien-hybrid-worked-CIA.html

This is the California man who left behind a $5million stash of weapons and managed to convince multiple women he was a part-human, part-alien creature sent to earth to save humanity.
More than a month after the remains of Jeffrey Alan Lash were discovered in a parked car in the Pacific Palisades, questions still abound about the 60-year-old and the women in his life.
Shortly after Lash's badly decomposing body was found two weeks after his July 4 death, police found more than 1,200 firearms, 6.5 tons of ammunition and $230,000 in cash stashed at the home of his fiancee Catherine Nebron.

It was soon revealed that Lash had convinced Nebron he was a human-alien hybrid who was working undercover for the CIA.
But Nebron wasn't the only one who believed him. Her employee, Dawn VadBunker, had also become entangled in Lash's tale.
VadBunker, 39, had worked as a property manager for Nebron the last four years, but only met Lash three months ago, her husband Jim Curry told KTLA.

It was Nebron, according to Curry, who told his wife that Lash was half alien.
Curry said part of VadBunker's job was to rent garages for Lash's many cars, and that she was told they were for fellow CIA agents 'that might need vehicles on the whim'.

[cali]

26. Whoa. Stranger than fiction.

[Historic NY]

30. They should crush them in front of the NRA Hqts in Va.

[cali]

32. +1.

[hunter]

45. Rent one of these:

[ManiacJoe]

38. They should at least donate the ammo to the local police

instead of just discarding it. Lord knows they could use the extra training and practice.

[lpbk2713]

41. How the hell could anyone justify 6 1/2 tons of ammunition?

That is bizarre.

[Taitertots]

42. Must be nice to be 1%ers.

It's a meaningless gesture because guns are mostly fungible, easy to manufacture, and widely available. Anyone who wants to buy a gun could still buy one and this isn't enough volume to push the price.

We want to send a message...
That message is that we don't understand fungibilty.

[cstanleytech]

43. I would hope though that if any of them are museum pieces that they would atleast donate them

to a museum.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

44. I have provided an unwanted inherited gun disposal service to many friends

I take the pistol apart and dump it in a milk carton full of plaster of paris and into the trash it goes.

I started doing it when I rounded up all my uncle's guns after he died and couldn't get any law enforcement agency to take them from me.