My Brother's Collection

[Lancel]

When my father died some dozen years ago, I let my brother have almost all his small gun collection instead of taking half as our mother offered.

I selected one S&W and let my brother have the rest since he was gun poor. The collection included my grandfather's Springfield trapdoor .45-70 and a vintage .36 caliber muzzleloader, besides my father's S&W's, a classic Winchester 12 gauge semi-auto and various others.

So over the years, my sister-in-law had a relative commit suicide with a gun. Her dislike of guns grew.

When I visited my brother and sil for a while, he bought a Colt Govt .380 (with wife's permission) and I gave him a gift certificate for an NRA pistol course in his area and a hard shell pistol case.

Some months later, another relative of my sil commited suicide with a handgun. Her dislike and fear of guns grew even more.

Well my brother had been a quiet alcoholic who finally got some help. While he was in alcohol rehab, his wife hid his pistol. Even though he was sober when he got out she wouldn't give it back to him. My brother was very upset. You see, he had hidden $2,500 dollars from her in that pistol case. She didn't (and doesn't) know that.

But since he was so upset, she decided to get rid of all the guns. She sold, gave away, or somehow made every one disappear.

Yep, they're still married. My brother figured he needed her more than the guns or money. That's what I call a high maintenance woman.

Larry

 

[Zen21Tao]

It is sad that they didn't give you the oppertunity to take possession of your father's guns when it was decided they would get rid of them. I would be very upset at the sentimental value they stole from you.

 

[Dacoda]

yeah that is pretty messed up. They weren't her guns, they were the Family's guns. Sorry dude.

 

[dfaugh]

Personally, I'd be VERY upset with her, no matter what the reasoning. (although she doesn't sound real stable, and the # of suicide backs that up---it called "genetic loading") Those guns belonged to YOUR family and were passed to you and your brother. If she wanted to get rid of them, she should have given them to you. PERIOD.

One of my best friends is going through something similar...Her father passed and her brother made a BIG stink that he should get the guns, so he could pass them to his children (She has no children, but would will them to his when the time comes). She only wants them do that they can saty in the family and her brother is a complete jerk who will probably sell them at the first opportunity (and 1 is VERY valuable, which he doesn't know, but we do).

 

[Leif]

They weren't her guns, they were the Family's guns.

While emotionally I agree with that sentiment, I believe that her legal claim to the ability to dispose of the guns probably is stronger than the family's generally. However, I'm not a lawyer, so maybe someone can clarify this for me.

Regardless, I'd have been upset as well. It shows a lack of regard for her extended family's potential feelings on the subject at the least.

 

[V4Vendetta]

Get a lawyer. Selling someone else's guns sounds like a felony.


While smaking her upside the head sounds nice , it would probably just re-inforce her anti-people with guns view.

 

[cordex]

Selling someone else's guns sounds like a felony.

Not in this case. Shared property of a marriage. He could pawn off her diamond necklace, too.

I think.

 

[bruss01]

Any woman who would steal my posessions, especially family heirlooms, would never spend another night under my roof. I could never trust her again, and I won't go to sleep in the presence of people I don't trust.

My woman knows this... and her feelings are the same as mine on this subject. No trust = no marriage. End of discussion.

 

[Third_Rail]

bruss01, your wife sounds almost exactly like mine. If she were to do this to me, she'd know that she had to find another place to live.

 

[hso]

Keep in mind she did this while the brother was in rehab and none of us know how bad things were in the household during that time.

If she sold of the handgun then it wouldn't hurt to let her know that the "rainy day money" was in the case.

If she just hid the thing then your brother might want to tell her that he wants to give it to you to make up for the family guns being lost forever.

 

[Lancel]

I see things as most of you do.

Since I had let my brother have the guns, I accepted having no legal claim on them. But I note the difference between what's legal and what's right.

Although her husband went to rehab, she said he never abused her or anything. He's never been arrested for alcohol either, just became a drunk couch potato. He's been sober for 8-9 months now.

There's layers of deception there but I see it as a sad comment on someone becoming an irrational anti, trampling on another's rights when they are at their weakest.

Thankfully my wife is just the opposite. Her comment when she heard the story was, "That's cause for divorce" !

Larry