The small Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Hold My Guns® describes itself as “for gun owners, by gun owners.” Its mission is to “connect responsible firearm owners with voluntary firearms storage through our national network of partnering FFLs, during times of mental health crisis or personal need.”
The process is simple. If a gun owner wants to securely store their weapons, they go to the website, find a participating Federal Firearm Licensee in their area, bring in their guns, fill out a contract and agree to pay a small fee for firearm storage, usually $5-$20 per month. When they pick up their guns, they fill out an ATF Form 4473, which makes the process compliant with ATF’s custodial storage regulations, and then take their guns home.
Sarah Joy Albrecht, founder and executive director of Hold My Guns®, says gun owners have used their safe storage during military deployments, while on vacation, during a difficult divorce, after a water main break, while they cared for an at-risk foster child and if someone is struggling with mental health.
“If people have a way to store firearms with family and friends who they trust, it’s not always ideal to take their firearms to an FFL. However, not everyone is blessed with friends or family who can help. That’s how we can meet their needs as a community who cares,” Albrecht said. “And it’s not always the gun owner who is the person at risk, but it’s the gun owner being responsible for their household.”
Second Amendment attorney Joshua Prince of the Firearms Industry Consulting Group®, serves as the nonprofit’s legal counsel. Prince developed the contracts used by the FFLs, which have sections for state and local laws pertaining to firearm transfers and guided the group through ATF’s regulatory pitfalls.
Albrecht described Hold My Guns® as a “liberty-based” nonprofit. She pointed out that when she refers to gun safety, she actually means gun safety, not gun control. Throughout the process, the gun owner’s privacy is tantamount, especially given today’s “red flag climate.”
Albrecht didn’t hesitate when asked about her nonprofit’s biggest success: “Someone went with a friend to drop off their guns at a storage partner, who could tell there was something going on. It’s hard to bring in your firearms, but they were grateful for the help. A month or two later when they picked them up, the gun owner was smiling. It was clear that whatever the situation was, it was not much of a problem anymore. There was a sense of happiness and relief. The gun owner was proud of themselves for being able to manage the situation and grateful for the service,” she said.
Secure Funding Needed
During 2022, the nonprofit’s FFLs stored five firearms. During 2023, 144 firearms were stored. As of this week, Hold My Guns® had nine volunteer FFLs in its network. Albrecht is the nonprofit’s only paid employee, and she doesn’t take home much.
At a board meeting Monday night, Albrecht announced the nonprofit had only three months of funding left.
“We need a secure funding source that will allow us to continue,” she told the Second Amendment Foundation Tuesday. “We have turned down funding that had gun control attached. I have to be able to sleep at night, and I need to make sure there are no strings attached to any gun control. It’s important that those investing in our mission are staunch Second Amendment supporters.”
“We need more FFLs, and we need a funding source that doesn’t include any form of gun control,” Albrecht continued. “It’s the only way we can keep going. We are doing this for our own community, to be able to equip them with this service if it’s ever needed. We want to be able to meet our community’s needs.”
Article courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. This project wouldn’t be possible without the support of gun owners. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
NO!
Another busy body fixated on the “gun.” What about that far more potentially dangerous weapon parked in her driveway? Why someone could steal her vehicle and mow down people like bowling pins. Or those knives in her kitchen that some sneaky insane person could stab someone with? Or that gasoline for her lawnmower some insane person could use to set a house on fire, etc? Or that McDonald’s Happy Meal some pedophile could use to lure away some dumbazz kid?
With what are “tools” comes responsibility and liability…If she wants to educate haphazard morons then use the funds to purchase billboards.
I like the idea of a secure storage place say if you find yourself homeless for a period or are traveling for an extended period of time or living the hippy van life. U-Store-It type places are always so sketchy and failing friends or family I’d prefer to use an FFL over a self storage place.
As far as a tool for suicide/homicide prevention goes I’m not sold on the concept. If those acts are a spontaneous decision storage won’t help and if they’re planned storage won’t help so what else is there? A planned or expected period of turmoil? Maybe.
“As far as a tool for suicide/homicide prevention goes I’m not sold on the concept.”
Don’t be sold on the concept itself because it is, as you point out, weak. Yet these same flaws exist in safe storage laws as well.
Rather, be sold on the optics of the concept, which are exceptionally strong.
Shes never held an AR before?
Not a gun person based on the photo.
Silly way to hold that rifle.
A nice service in some regards but I’m not terribly surprised that they don’t get much funding as it’s pretty damn niche and certainly not well known or geographically distributed across PA.
Odd that the story contains no link to donate to the organization in need, but rather one to donate to SAF instead.
“To take thought, not where your benefit will be best bestowed, but where it may be most profitably placed at interest, from whence you will most easily get it back, is not bestowal of benefits, but usury.”
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca
So, we fill out ANOTHER Form 4473, and then what,,,,, wait yet AGAIN for a NICs check to be performed? As a REMINDER to the ATF that we still have these firearms?
Thanx, but no thanks.
If you’d rather not fill out a 4473, but you want someone to hold on to your guns for you, just drop by any inner-city street corner and ask “Hey, is there anyone who’d be willing to hold on to my guns for a few months for me?” I’m sure you will find some volunteers who’d be happy to hold your guns for you and promise to give the guns back whenever you want them. All without any of that bothersome paperwork. They might not even charge a nominal fee for the storage.
4473 form is gunm control.
We usually hear the idea of a service like this in the context of a person experiencing a personal mental health crisis, but this article points of that there are other situations where a gun owner might need safe secure temporary storage for one or more guns.
One very real situation where this could occur is a service member (active or national guard) about to be deployed. Lots of service members own firearms. Depending on where you are going, the military will usually ship your firearms as part of your household goods when you are being transferred somewhere, but the military absolutely refuses to ship your firearms anywhere for a deployment and generally will not provide storage. It’s up to you to find someone you trust to keep your gun(s) for you while you are gone. If a service member is single or has a wife who doesn’t like guns it can be quite a challenge to find someone who is available, and who is sure to still be available months later when you get back.
Similarly, many young adults can find themselves in a situation where they won’t have a safe place to keep their gun(s). Surprise, surprise, surprise — not every young gun owner has a family that supports gun ownership or reliable friends who are willing and able to provide storage for a few weeks or months.
This certainly isn’t a service that most people will ever need, but there absolutely are people who may find themselves needing safe secure temporary storage of their firearms.
What if your FFL maybe doesn’t even use a safe and/or let’s you checkout other customers’ choices. Just postulating here. What level of background do they do?
Can I take my rifle scope in stock? And this is my scope. https://www.cvlife.com/products/cvlife-1-6×24-lpvo-scope-with-cantilever-mount
This could be a big benefit for military and DoD civilians who deploy or get stationed overseas.
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