This is NOT a holdup!

Suppose a friend you know and love tells you she found an old handgun in her old apartment in the Bronx. She asks for advice on how to dispose of it. You know that it is illegal to have a handgun without the express consent and endorsement of the government here in New York City. What would you do?

I suppose I would call the local precinct, as someone who knows these things might suggest. I suppose that the officer who answers the phone might say something simple like, "wrap it in a bag and bring it to the precinct. We'll take it from there."

You might say something similar to, "wait--you want a civilian to walk into a police precinct with a handgun?" Yes, that's a good idea: take a concealed, deadly weapon to the workplace of people who help prosecute that crime and who are also extensively trained to remove handguns from civilians, using lethal force if necessary. Yeah, I'm (I would be) all over that.

You might follow up that suggestion with, "isn't there another way that reduces risk?" The officer might say, "we can send a car to pick it up. Where are you?"

"I'm at home," you might say. But the hypothetical item in question is in the Bronx.

"Well, call the Bronx precinct," the officer might say.

The hypothesis seems reasonable. I wonder if it would stand up when migrating to theory and then to practice.

But, of course, this is only a hypothesis. People hypothesize all the time. Sometimes they are correct and sometimes they are not. That's the nature of the beast.