shootistpd27
Member
I have an elderly neighbor who is very lucid but is suffering from crippling rheumatoid arthritis. Her hands are almost useless because they have drawn up so. I mow her grass and do chores for her that she cannot do because her children live three hours away. She lives alone and I have always been scared about her staying alone. I didnt know how to approach her and ask if she had a gun in the house but I just did it the other day. She told me that she did but didnt know what kind and that she couldnt shoot them with her hands like they were anyway. I went with her and we looked at her guns and she had a busted single shot 12 ga. and a remington 22lr. The 22lr was beautiful. I wish I would have gotten the model number off of it because I would like to find another one for myself. It was an older gun that belonged to her late husband. It was chrome and the tube magazine was loaded through the butt of the gun. I asked her if she could hold the gun up and she took it and said yes. She thought that if she could atleast point the gun at an intruder he might take the hint and leave. I made sure that the gun was unloaded and asked her if she could pull the trigger. With the gun in the upright position she could not because her index and other three fingers were so crippled from the arthritis. I noticed that her thumbs worked rather well and I turned the gun on its side and had her hold the gun. I asked her to see if while the gun was on its side that she could pull the trigger using her thumb. With the gun definately unloaded she pointed the gun down the hall as if at an intruder and with her thumb she made the most wonderful sound, "click". I then went home and got some 22 shells, cleaned and test fired the gun and it shot flawlessly. I loaded the gun for her and put it where she could get to it easily. Now the lady has a means of protecting herself. She has told me many times how appreciative she is now that she has the means to protect herself. I feel really great helping someone protect themselves who needs it the most.