AZBear,

You are technicallyrequired to pay taxes on any from of income or(profit)that you make except in certain circumstances.

Your house being one ofthose special circumstances(provided you have lived in that house for two or more years and have not sold another house under this same exception in the last 5 years. Maximum profit for MFJ is actually 500,000.00). Cars don't count as theydepreciate in value (except in rare circumstances).

Regular guns usually are never reported (and usually don'tappreciate that much anyway, plus you could always make a case for the possible expenses (ie gunsmithing, cleaning etc, on that).An exception would be if you bought Abraham Lincolns "squirrel rifle" for 5000.00 and sold it later for 15,000.You'd owe tax on the 10,000.

Most all other appreciable items (stocks, land, any profitable investment), you would owe tax (perhaps capital gains (which is usually lower) or regular income tax(depending on the circumstance)).

Although I mentioned"capital gains" in my original post, this item would definately fall under regular income tax (most capital gain investments have to be held for at least a year). Whether or not this would be looked at by the IRS as "investment income" (filed under schedule D--short term in this case) or just miscellaneous income (like bingo winnings or a lottery ticket) is kind ofirrelevant as it will be taxed at the same rate. But, If this guy bought a elk lottery ticket for $50.00 (or whatever) and sold it for5000.00 (or whatever) the IRS would expect him to pay regular tax on the difference---just like if you won a Harley in a raffle--technically you would owe tax on the retail price of the bike (or what you immediately sold it for, if that was the case) minus what you spent on the ticket.

If the guy is going to make a substantial profit from something like this, he deserves to pay tax, imo. Whatever part he gives to charity he may be able to deduct, depending on his particular circumstance.

Hope this helps
hb