The small Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Maintain My Weapons® describes itself as “for gun house owners, by gun house owners.” Its mission is to “join accountable firearm house owners with voluntary firearms storage by means of our nationwide community of partnering FFLs, throughout instances of psychological well being disaster or private want.”
The method is easy. If a gun proprietor needs to securely retailer their weapons, they go to the web site, discover a collaborating Federal Firearm Licensee of their space, convey of their weapons, fill out a contract and comply with pay a small price for firearm storage, often $5-$20 per 30 days. After they decide up their weapons, they fill out an ATF Kind 4473, which makes the method compliant with ATF’s custodial storage rules, after which take their weapons dwelling.
Sarah Pleasure Albrecht, founder and govt director of Maintain My Weapons®, says gun house owners have used their secure storage throughout navy deployments, whereas on trip, throughout a troublesome divorce, after a water primary break, whereas they cared for an at-risk foster little one and if somebody is fighting psychological well being.
“If folks have a strategy to retailer firearms with household and mates who they belief, it’s not all the time best to take their firearms to an FFL. Nonetheless, not everyone seems to be blessed with mates or household who can assist. That’s how we will meet their wants as a neighborhood who cares,” Albrecht stated. “And it’s not all the time the gun proprietor who’s the individual in danger, however it’s the gun proprietor being chargeable for their family.”
Second Modification legal professional Joshua Prince of the Firearms Trade Consulting Group®, serves because the nonprofit’s authorized counsel. Prince developed the contracts utilized by the FFLs, which have sections for state and native legal guidelines pertaining to firearm transfers and guided the group by means of ATF’s regulatory pitfalls.
Albrecht described Maintain My Weapons® as a “liberty-based” nonprofit. She identified that when she refers to gun security, she really means gun security, not gun management. All through the method, the gun proprietor’s privateness is tantamount, particularly given at present’s “purple flag local weather.”
Albrecht didn’t hesitate when requested about her nonprofit’s greatest success: “Somebody went with a pal to drop off their weapons at a storage accomplice, who may inform there was one thing occurring. It’s exhausting to herald your firearms, however they had been grateful for the assistance. A month or two later after they picked them up, the gun proprietor was smiling. It was clear that regardless of the state of affairs was, it was not a lot of an issue anymore. There was a way of happiness and reduction. The gun proprietor was happy with themselves for having the ability to handle the state of affairs and grateful for the service,” she stated.
Safe Funding Wanted
Throughout 2022, the nonprofit’s FFLs saved 5 firearms. Throughout 2023, 144 firearms had been saved. As of this week, Maintain My Weapons® had 9 volunteer FFLs in its community. Albrecht is the nonprofit’s solely paid worker, and she or he doesn’t take dwelling a lot.
At a board assembly Monday evening, Albrecht introduced the nonprofit had solely three months of funding left.
“We’d like a safe funding supply that can permit us to proceed,” she informed the Second Modification Basis Tuesday. “We have now turned down funding that had gun management connected. I’ve to have the ability to sleep at evening, and I want to verify there are not any strings connected to any gun management. It’s vital that these investing in our mission are staunch Second Modification supporters.”
“We’d like extra FFLs, and we want a funding supply that doesn’t embrace any type of gun management,” Albrecht continued. “It’s the one method we will hold going. We’re doing this for our personal neighborhood, to have the ability to equip them with this service if it’s ever wanted. We wish to have the ability to meet our neighborhood’s wants.”
Article courtesy of the Second Modification Basis’s Investigative Journalism Challenge. This venture wouldn’t be attainable with out the help of gun house owners. Click on right here to make a tax-deductible donation to help pro-gun tales like this.
