Without getting into details, let’s just say that there was a death in the family recently.
My adult children and I were tasked with the clean-out of belongings. Found among personal papers was an expired pistol carry license that no one knew existed. But that also meant that there was likely a pistol stashed somewhere amongst personal belongings and apartment contents.
I cautioned the kids to be on the lookout as I was concerned that there was an unsecured handgun floating about which, given its owner, could be anywhere and in any condition. Fortunately, I’ve made sure over the years that my kids have a basic understanding of firearms safety.
Ultimately after a few days my adult daughter found the pistol case in a random cardboard box of stuff in the apartment garage. She called to inform me and because of her prior training was able to unload and clear the weapon before transporting it.
This experience illustrated clearly for me how important it is that if you own firearms, that they be stored safely in case you aren’t around anymore. Moreover it is extremely important that everyone in your household knows how to render any firearm safe that they might come across, should you leave this earth in an unplanned fashion. If your family does not want that responsibility then they should be instructed to NOT TOUCH anything, and to notify someone of your designation to come secure the firearms.
It’s also not a bad idea to make sure that some close gun buddy or family member knows where your safes and other storage places are and/or what the combinations are. I’m currently mulling that one over myself.
This is one reason that I’m not a huge fan of firearm “staging” inside specialized furniture and shelving units and clocks and such. As “covert” as these systems are, if no one else knows about them and you die unexpectedly, what if that furniture goes to the Goodwill or something? Maybe I’m being too much of a nervous nanny with this stuff, but it does make my eye twitch.
How many widows or grandchildren every year are left to deal with firearms that they know nothing about? Take some time to make life easier for them and come up with a plan for your firearms in the event you are incapacitated or suddenly deceased.
It’s not been a fun couple of weeks in my neck of the woods and this was one thing which really tripped my switch. Thus, you all get to hear about it. Thanks for listening. 2020 can seriously eff right off.
