When do we give up our guns?

Never!

“Cold dead hands” and all that.

Right?

Well, maybe not so much.

Joe recounts a personal story, which tells of a good time to give them up.

Aside from the personal drama, the lesson I want to impart is that there IS a time when we need to give up the guns.

The problem is that we won’t know when that time has passed. I know my uncle [who suffers from Alzheimer’s] wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he doesn’t understand the “sudden” mistrust. All he knows is that he does not want to hand over a prized possession, nor be disarmed.

But the doctor reports near 90% loss of short-term memory. He may take an “unloaded” pistol and find it loaded after all.

I empathize, but I know the guns have to go. My only option that night was to forcibly take it, but I was not prepared to devastate a huge, strong man for whom I care very much. Afterwards, he went in the kitchen and looked so absolutely hopeless and depressed… to say it was hard to watch is a gross understatement.

Give the whole piece a read. It’s moving.