Delta9, I can feel your pain. My nephews got 2 .22s that were my father in law's after he died. Their stepdad is a hunter but isn't really into guns, per se. The nephews don't take care of anything. My FIL kept his guns immaculately clean. Never a speck of rust. The last I saw the .22s, they were covered with surface rust, sitting in a damp basement. My wife doesn't wasnt to start a fight with her sister to try and get them back and I really don't see it as my place to start one for her. I just console myself in the knowledge that the J.C. Higgins 12 ga pump and pre 64 Model 94 that I got, and the 4-digit s/n Single Six that here other sister got have found good loving homes.
And I hate to tell you that this attitude toward guns is more prevalent than you might think. If your aunt's family knows the four rules, they're way ahead of the majority of gun owners. Where I live, almost everyone hunts. In my town there are probably more homes with guns than without. Most of them are bolt action rifles. This is their life:
- Sit in a closet for 11 months out of the year.
- Get taken out 2 weeks before deer season.
- Go to the range, maybe have 10 shots fired at a target.
- Go out to hunt on opening day and maybe the next 2 Saturdays.
- Have a sectioned aluminum cleaning rod run thru them after hunting seaon is over.
- If they're lucky, be wiped down with a WD-40 covered rag and put back into the closet until next year.
That's no kind of life for a gun! I consider my home a gun rescue shelter. I always do my best to rescue neglected, unloved guns and give them a good home with all the love and exercise they need.
And I hate to tell you that this attitude toward guns is more prevalent than you might think. If your aunt's family knows the four rules, they're way ahead of the majority of gun owners. Where I live, almost everyone hunts. In my town there are probably more homes with guns than without. Most of them are bolt action rifles. This is their life:
- Sit in a closet for 11 months out of the year.
- Get taken out 2 weeks before deer season.
- Go to the range, maybe have 10 shots fired at a target.
- Go out to hunt on opening day and maybe the next 2 Saturdays.
- Have a sectioned aluminum cleaning rod run thru them after hunting seaon is over.
- If they're lucky, be wiped down with a WD-40 covered rag and put back into the closet until next year.
That's no kind of life for a gun! I consider my home a gun rescue shelter. I always do my best to rescue neglected, unloved guns and give them a good home with all the love and exercise they need.