Tenants Items Left Behind

[Eric Buss]

So I'm in a tricky situation here.

A tenant left some stuff after moving out, including a gun safe. Former tenant wants the stuff, but is basically trying to store it for free indefinitely. In Hawaii, landlords are legally required to hold any possessions left behind for 30 days and notify the tenant of that. After 30 days, landlords can dispose of, keep, sell, or give away those items.

With the gun safe though, I'm not sure what to do, since I do not know if there are firearms inside. If I throw it away, I'm guessing that I could be liable if someone accesses potential firearms inside. I called the police department to see if I can turn it over to them, and they said they cannot store a safe. Not sure what I can do in this situation. Any suggestions?