My Father Has a Gun

[Dixon Carter Lee]

My Dad, who rediscovered his Baptist roots recently after a lifetime of ignoring the church, has also recently rediscovered guns after leaving the Marines nearly 50 years ago. Guns and God. Is this what happens to you when you get old? You move to a house in the woods, get dunked in water by the Baptists, start searching the Internet for Bible passages to pass on to your family, and strap a loaded pistol to your belt for "snakes and such"?

Have your parents wigged out yet?

They will.

 

[morninggirl5]

My father has always had a gun. He doesn't carry it all the time.


Wigged out? Yep, for about two years now.


It's like you're trying to learn to interact with them all over. The rules have changed.

 

[Marxist]

Must be a White thing.....

 

[Fleshmachine]

Actually the got more normal as the got older. I think it was the seven kids that made them a little loopy.

 

[Cheyenne]

DCL: But is your dad happy?

Isn't that what matters most?

 

[Mensa]

Bad news, Dix

We all eventually become our parents.

There! Something to look forward to!

 

[InnesLane]

When my dad died, my mother passed his shotgun on to me. I was a bit shocked, me being an unregistered gun owner now with no idea what to do with such a thing. I have some ancient shells to go with it but I keep them in the basement while the 12 gauge is in my upstairs closet.

My own son is autistic. He seems an even more unlikely candidate to pass this odd family trophy to than I was.

What to do, what to do....

 

[Mike Hammer]

Oh yeah nothing says brotherly love like blue steel. To fuckin funny DCL.

 

[Problem Child]

My dad did the same thing. He was never interested in guns until he figured that it might be a good way to help foster our non-existent relationship. So he goes out and buys a .357 magnum...for snake protection.

Me: "Dad, why do you need to carry a loaded .357 for snakes all the sudden?"

Dad: "Oh it's treacherous up here in the hills. I never realized how many diamondbacks there are up here. It's a nightmare."

Me: "Yeah, but you were never worried about all the man-eating snakes, before. Like for the last fifteen years, I've never heard a peep out of you about how life-threatening the local vipers are."

Dad: "Uh...yeah, well, better late than never. Never can be too safe. Gotta protect the little lady, you know. Hey, wanna go out back and shoot some targets?"

Me: "Uh, not really."

Dad: "Why not? It'll be fun!"

Me: "No offense, but I'd feel safer around Stevie Wonder with a flamethrower. On vodka."

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

DCL: But is your dad happy? Isn't that what matters most?

No. My happiness comes first. And what would make me happy is if my father would just go back to being 49 years old and spend his weekends mowing the lawn and driving me to Carvel for a soft chocolate cone.

 

[morninggirl5]

It must be the turning 50. That was when my father lost it, too.

 

[Cheyenne]

No. My happiness comes first. And what would make me happy is if my father would just go back to being 49 years old and spend his weekends mowing the lawn and driving me to Carvel for a soft chocolate cone.

Doesn't your happiness come from seeing your parents happy?

I'd like to not see my parents getting older, either. But they are. I see them taking over the spot in the family that my grandparents held. We all move a generation up at a time, and it feels weird.

And please tell me your dad is older than 49. I will be crushed if I'm almost old enough to be your mom.

 

[Calamity Jane]

My parents are 51, 52 (Stepdad) and 53...

Mom is still crazy, 5 daughters will do that to you, I think.

My step-dad now suddenly carries a handgun while arrowhead hunting along the river. Turns out he's sudenly afraid of feral dogs.

My dad married a woman he'd known for 5 weeks... after being single for 23 years... he also rediscovered church, went from a seriously non-practicing Methodist to Pentacostal... he sold his '68 Firebird which I was pretty sure he was going to insist on being buried in... He didn't even offer to sell it to me first He also sold both his motorcycles and is considering getting a motorhome...

 

[p_p_man]

Must be a White thing.....

Over here it's a Yardies thing...

Maybe it's something to do with being a Baptist and re-discovering guns.

A sort of baptism under fire sort of thing.

One has to go with the other...

 

[sch00lteacher]

Must be a White thing.....

Old white guys,
************************************************.

Young black guys, ************************ to gain respect.


Should I post this? I am torn. I know he, Marxist, was joking. But I still took it the wrong way. Plus I am in a bad mood. Plus I am tired. So I thing I will compromise a bit. The **** represent what I would have posted, which may have caused ill feelings. I did not want to start a fight. Lets just let the thought remain and consider it for awhile.


edited for content, and size, and to explain a little better to clear up some confusion.

 

[Herbie Handcock]

So far the folks are stable. I've seen signs of some unrest though so it might not last much longer.

I intend to drive my kids up the wall......... hell I'm already working on it..... I tell them it's karma.

The boy bought a new car, first thing I did was slam the door hard enough to knock it off the hinges. He had to know it was coming............ Then I told him to wait until he gets a house. I feel sorry for their future spouses.................Oh no your folks are coming again!

 

[KillerMuffin]

Oooh, ancient shells? Bad idea. Um, if you ever do decide to go shoot skeet, don't use those ancient shells. Buy new.

And you might want to check into skeet and trap shooting in your local area. Believe it or not, once you've gotten knocked on your ass a few times, bruised all to hell, and almost broken your collarbone with the 12 guage, it can be fun. You get addicted the first time you actually shoot one of those damned clays.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't actually have to shoot live things with a gun in order to use it regularly.

Gawd, if that's what I'm looking forward to, I hope, for the sake of everyone in Oklahoma City, that my mother's arthritis gets too bad before she turns baptist and buys a gun. My mother and a gun scares the hell out of me. Hell, my mother and her car or kitchen implements scares the hell out of me.

Someone one theorized that intelligence is passed down from the mother. I sincerely hope not...

 

[estevie]

Old white guys,
*******************************************************************************************.

Young black guys, ************************************************************************* to gain respect.


Should I post this? I am torn. I know he was joking. But I still took it the wrong way. Plus I am in a bad mood. Plus I am tired. So I thing I will compromise a bit.

Have you forgotten how to post? Are the * necessary?

 

[kotori]

My father brought back

a Japanese rifle from WWII. Had it for years--never fired. He gave it to a cousin who was into hunting and stuff. I watch the Antiques Road Show now and wonder "what if?"

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

The posts to this thread reminiscent of

teenagers who just discovered their parents have sex!

Really people, those of us who are parents and near 50 or older are not suffering from senility ( well not most of us anyway); for various reasons we are trying new things, or retrying old things we used to like. Call it mid-life crisis, etc. - but we have some freedom, time and money now, and we want to do something with it.

I have always had firearms, but I swore off motorcycles and some of my other passions for a while until about 7 years ago when I hit 40 and my daughter was old enough to be on her own. Then I started living life more for myself.

I am sure my family had many of the same thoughts about me, especially after I had a series of bike crashes and once wound up in the hospital.

Be glad your parents have new interests; it is what keeps them alive. I have the opposite worry; my father had cancer this summer, and it really scared him (and everybody else) because it was thought to be terminal. So even though it is now in full remission, he is selling his airplane and motorhome.

Last time he had a scare like this he did the opposite; he went out and bought a twin engined airplane because he had never had a twin before - so this selling of his airplane (a lifelong passion for him) has me a little worried.

 

[Starfish]

My mom and dad are going to a spa and gym now. I think it's great. Good for them.


The gun thing is just nutty. My mom would shoot herself. She can barely walk down stairs while talking or she'll fall, cause she is a ditz.

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Exceptions abound. Stereotypical behavior is prolific.

But Guns and God are not inclusive.

I left the Marines 25 years ago - yet have not since owned a gun and have never been involved with any sort of pagan ritual for mentally handicapped persona of any kind.

Yet recently I became a gun owner for the first time. I love the little sucker. Shot it on Christmas day at the top of a mountain in Pennsylvania.

Hey??????

Mayber God and Guns do go together?????

And America too of course.

Semper Fi dude.

 

[fgarvb1]

LMAO!

You people are a hoot!

Myself, as well as my brothers and sister were born to my parents late in life. Mom was into her middle thirties when she started having kids. My mom and dad were always crazy. Trust me!

We always had guns around our house. i learned to shoot rifles when i was eight. Kinda late in life for country folk down here in east texas in those days.

My mother is eighty-six now i think. You mess with her she will blast your ass with .38 smith&wesson. She received it when she traded pistols with her mother some twenty-six years ago.

Acting a little crazy or doing things you never have before is not something at least in our family that is considered odd unless it is so extreme as to be life threatening.

 

[Bob Peale]

My father has a gun too.

But at his age, most days he forgets to flush the toilet or put the milk back in the fridge, so I'm not to worried.

Now if I was his cat, I'd be worried. The poor thing is a brain fart away from being vacuumed...

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: LMAO!

My mother is eighty-six now i think. You mess with her she will blast your ass with .38 smith&wesson. She received it when she traded pistols with her mother some twenty-six years ago.

Acting a little crazy or doing things you never have before is not something at least in our family that is considered odd unless it is so extreme as to be life threatening.

This reminds me of a story an LEO friend recently told me; he went out to see this little old lady in her 80s or 90s, and had been warned that she was a little strange. When he went up to the door with another guy who knew her and knocked on her door, they both heard the sound of a pump shotgun action being racked. To make a long story short they convinced her to let them in only to discover she did indeed have a shotgun, but only the action and no barrel!

When my friend pointed this out to her (he wasn't sure she was cognizant of the fact) she said "yeah I know, but it scared you didn't it?" He admitted as much and she just smiled.