Back in the day, my family summered on the Rhode Island coastline. When my father died, his ashes scattered in the bay in front of the house, my octogenarian mother lived there alone. One night, as I was pulling out of the pebbled drive, a thought occurred: what if someone broke in? She would be defenseless. While I had a spare revolver in the car, my mum is as anti-gun as they come. Even so, I felt obliged to make the offer . . .

It went down about as well as I expected. She was offended. Still, my conscience was clear.

There are states where that kind of “transfer” is illegal. As the above story proves, it’s a good thing that Ohio’s not one of those places. Oh, and don’t forget: Mother’s Day is on May 10th this year.

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31 COMMENTS

  1. Wish they would give the recovering victims some privacy. Flashing that house number around, if the attacker was part of a gang or whatever they could just roll right up.

    • I have often had the same thought … seems like it enables retribution.

      I wonder how many journalists are willing to give up this part of free-speech … it is for public safety after all.

      • I’m not sure journalists really care about public safety.
        They still get paid to cover the conflagrations that result from their own actions.

  2. You do what you can RF. You can’t make someone protect themselves. And you sound like a caring son…

  3. I’d be ever so happy to give a quality defensive handgun to my folks. They are both mildly to moderately anti gun, so I am sure they would not accept. Strangely enough, they were both big fans of “Top Shot”. Recently my dad asked me (in my wife’s presence) how many guns I have. He then said “or should I not ask”. I replied “you shouldn’t ask”.

    • They may not be ideal, but they are awesome. I love my .22’s. Although I have other things I’d grab first for self-defense, they’d do fine in a pinch. And if you only have one firearm, a .22 is a great one to have. I’d say that’s a good start.

      I’m in a similar position on the opposite end of things — trying to upgrade my dad to a more reliable .22 for the homestead than the old one he’s had since he came back from Vietnam.

    • Most DGU are probably. 22lr. I often suggest cheap $200 single action .22 mag revolvers as home defense. Just cock, point, shoot. (Assuming I already encouraged a pump shotty and they turned that idea down)

      • I like the .22 Magnum idea … how much more expensive are double-action revolvers?

        It seems like a .22 Magnum revolver with a 9 shot cylinder would be pretty easy to own and operate — and fairly effective to boot. If such a revolver is too expensive, then a rifle in .22 LR rifle seems like a good alternate.

        • The problem with double action .22 mag revolvers is that in order to insure a heavy enough hammer strike to crush the rim reliably for ignition in rimfire ammo you need a heavier mainspring than you do on a centerfire revolver.

          This translates into a heavier trigger pull than on , say, a .38. Sometimes much heavier. .22 mag is my wifes favorite handgun round.

      • Had a discussion around 10 years ago with a farmer type (retired LEO) who was beside himself he loved his new .17 HMR revolver so much. He carried it on the farm constantly, and dispatched varmints near daily at distances up to 50 yards. I think he said it was 6″, had near zero recoil and was shockingly accurate. I suspect it would make a find HD weapon as well. Conversely, I had a Ruger single six in college (45 years ago) and liked it with .22 LR, never could hit a damn thing with .22 Mag. And before you think me a weenie, I did a whole lot better with my .357 Mag than I did with that .22 Mag.

        • I love my. 17 HMR Ruger American. Zero recoil, extremely flat shooting, at least moa accuracy out to 100 or so. Is the ammunition a little more expensive? Sure, but the cost is still negligible.

          My only beef: wind is its worst enemy. (oh and no semi autos, except a certain ar upper)

          I seriously recommend it for fun, accurate shooting.

    • .22s are a blast and a 10-20 round barrage out of a Ruger 10-22 will change any bad guy’s attitude. Even if it won’t drop a bad guy, a 22 is certainly capable of stopping an assault.

    • Not ideal, but not bad either (and a ton of fun). A 10/22 or Marlin 795/60 loaded with Velocitors is nothing to sneeze at. Rapid fire, no recoil, no muzzle blast, easy to get on target, anybody can use one. I think something like that is pretty reasonable for a non-gun person. AR’s are great, because but cost quite a bit more than 22s. Shotguns are great and inexpensive but are a bit much for some elderly, some small women, and youths. I also think a .22lr H&R/NEF 9 shot double action revolver or a Ruger SR22/Mark III/ 22/45 would be good these types of people. Of course K-frame revolvers and double stack 9mm are great also.

  5. Gave my son a Saiga .223 a few days after that whole Sandy Hook bit. We installed the feed ramp for Galil mags a few months later. Then the Bumpski… Mom? She hijacked my Glock in .357 Sig. The only Ballistic Tupperware I ever owned.

  6. Everybody I care enough about to worry about them being disarmed are armed. So no worries. Even my 80 something old man has a shotgun at his place.

    You can offer folks a gun. But they have to accept it and the responsibility that go with it.

  7. I was at a convenience store i frequent at 5:am while a lone man was walking around inside looking suspicious. I hung out till he left, after looking at knives, beer, then leaving empty handed.

    The owner, an elderly asian woman, looked at me, I said “that was weird”, she said “I’m worried”. I wanted to offer her loan of my gun, but the recently passed i594 here in the evergreen state has made that an illegal transfer.

  8. Wait … what about all the gun-grabbers who tell us that we need umpteen hours of training and practice before we have even the slightest chance of being proficient with a firearm?

      • “Aim the gun at the bad guy, and only the bad guy. Pull the trigger as needed.” It leaves room for FNG’s to make the error of not knowing what is behind their target, and as armed citizens we are responsible for anything that bullet hits after exiting the bad guy.

        It should be aim the gun at the bad guy and pull the trigger as needed, when you know EXACTLY what is BEHIND the bad guy to ensure only the bad guy is dropped and not an innocent.

        Most people don’t take tactical interior design to heart and it could cost them a loved if they don’t have a plan of action. This just means to have ballistic knowledge of what the chosen gun in each room has a purpose for and where the bullet will go in case of a miss or a hot round passing through the bad guy. A shotgun with magnum turkey loads to stop penetration if they invader had made it by the kids room or if I were to meet an armored invader there is something more deliberate that a hill on the outside of house will act as the backstop.

  9. Just got home from visiting the parents.
    Dads Glock was right where it always is. Readily accessible to both of them.

  10. Guns and knives are pretty standard gifts in my family.

    But, good job trying to look out for mama, though she wasn’t intetested.

    • Xmas saw me giving my son a Cold Steel Kukri, which he has wanted for 20 years, since I found it at $190 off retail. I thought he was going to have a fit! What he might ever do with the darn thing, I have no idea, but it sure made him happy! And he is sturdy enough and has taken enough martial arts that I sure wouldn’t wish to invade his home while he has THAT blade!

  11. She was offended.

    Typical response of leftists when that are presented with facts that runs counter to their ideology.

  12. RF,

    You may want to consider gifting a Taser. A Taser C2 isn’t a terrible choice, particularly with the LED / laser combo, and sometimes the threat of a Taser is enough to scare folks off. I’ve both threatened to use a Taser and fired them into suspects. All of which was on-duty, so I can only speculate on non-LEO use. Anyways, with decent aim and consideration to their range (15 feet for the C2, up to 35′ for X2 and X3) and penetration capabilities (max 2″ spark gap penetration between probes), they are pretty decent less-lethal weapons.

    I still think pepper spray is mediocre. I used it again this last Tuesday on a suspect who was trespassing and resisting arrest. I wound up having to physically overpower him because three separate 1-2 second bursts to the face at 5-7 feet had little effect.

    Obviously you know your mother better than me so don’t take offense if I’m off base.

    • Taser > spray.

      In the military you have to get sprayed for several seconds then run a pseudo obstacle course before you can qualify to carry spray on duty.

      You’re not crisp after getting sprayed, but you can function, unlike the taser.

  14. I don’t know how many sons she has, but if she has more than one, then I know who her favorite is now!

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