My day so far

[possom813]

Woke up early to take my daughter to school and the wife and youngest daughter are at the doc's office most of the day. I'm not feeling too well today, so I've been lying in bed taking it easy and dozing in and out of sleep.

My dad lives with us. I think he is borderline senile. But I guess I'm the only one because all the doctors say he's fine.

So I'm dozing in and out of reality, Tom and Jerry are on the tv. I hear a nice 'kabang'. It wasn't a boom, it was loud, but higher pitched than you would think.

I get jarred out of my state of doziness to investigate. :banghead:

Evidently he bought a single shot .410 a few days ago and since he broke his foot he hasn't been able to take it out and shoot it. So he opened a shell and dumped the powder and shot out and fired the primer.

He did this inside the house, into his closet.

I don't feel right about hollering and yelling at people, most especially my elders, but the timing was just wrong for him.

So I, the son, had to correct him, the dad, about firearms and I took his guns away and basically grounded him from them because this is the second time he's done something like this.

It wouldn't be so bad, and I wouldn't gripe so much, but we live in town, about 50 feet from our nearest neighbors house.


Anyways, sorry for the rant, hope you enjoyed it, I just needed to vent a little bit.

 

[cuervo]

If anything, let him know that his actions would still be considered discharging a firearm within city limits, which most cities prohibit.

Let him know that his actions could have had the police come in and remove the shotgun permanently, rather than just your taking it temporarily.

 

[Schofield3]

Oh man.... that has to be wierd having to put your dad in time out,

 

[RobNDenver]

Possum,

I lived with my mother's increasing dementia for seven years. If you are noticing that he is not of sound mind, trust your instincts. He may be fine when he is seeing the doctor, but the episodes that you describe are pretty diagnostic in my experience.

You need to have a heart to heart with his doctor and let him know what is going on outside his office. There are some, not many, medications that can be used to slow the progress of senility. If you have to take him into Dallas to get a gerontologist to weigh in, that may be the thing to do.


What if he had not taken the powder and shot out of the shell and fired the gun in the house?

God bless you and your father. . . It's a tough road to travel once you are on it.

 

[springmom]

+1 to what RobinDenver said. About the only thing that was good in my mom's dementia was that they didn't own guns. This is a real tough situation, and you're in my prayers.

Springmom

 

[Speedo66]

Ummm... how else are you going to see if the action works, but you have a broken foot and can't get to the range? Nobody else here has ever gotten a new gun and the rush to try it out?

I understand the situation, but what's the problem? It's not like he let a full round go. Cut the guy some slack, I'm sure other people here have done similar things but won't admit it. Wasn't someone recently asking about shooting .38s in his garage? And not just primers.

Maybe the closet was not the best place to do it, but at least he was concerned enough to try and keep the noise down. Senile? I think not, at least not for this escapade.

 

[Claude Clay]

dementia--read the book "the 36 hour day" than you will be able to test and observe him in a better informed manner. not doctor perfect but a good step to take before you start with the doctors. good luck.

others having done similar--probably, but i tell everyone in the house before i light off a primer. his not thinking to tell others tells me a lot.if it is that he has early stage dementia, this and other 'little things' he does that are not quite right: you will look back upon and understand better.

 

[Hardtarget]

I truly understand your situation. My wife's father was in dementia, (according to his Dr.) for ten yrs, but we think it was much worse. I had to remove his guns early on in this problem. It will not be easy...in fact it gets hard to live with.

On the light side, It never seemed to bother my father in law. So what I suggest for you is ...get your thinking cap on! Look for the safty issues. Yuo'll never completely accident proof your place, but it can be improved. My father in law went to the mail box. Instead of staying in the drive, he goes through the ditch. One foot deep, four feet wide...in a heartbeat, he sliped and broke his wrist!

I'm glad his shot did no damage. Just plain lucky.

I wish you the best.

Mark.

 

[Wes Janson]

*admits to having once set off an emptied 20ga shell, primer-only, on the back porch*

 

[ColinthePilot]

If you are noticing that he is not of sound mind, trust your instincts. He may be fine when he is seeing the doctor, but the episodes that you describe are pretty diagnostic in my experience.

Bingo. My grandmother is going through this now. She's sharp as a tack most of the time, but she's starting to lose it. She had trouble telling AM from PM a couple times and neighbors found her waiting for a family member to pick her up for an appointment 12 hours early. It was dark out, but she was waiting. Episodes like that forced her to give up living independently. Thank God she doesn't have access to guns. Who knows what could happen.

 

[Richbaker]

Did the same thing when I was 16, but I stuck the barrel out my bedroom window....DAMN that thing was loud! Louder than I thought it would be... But no one seemed to have heard it.

 

[JColdIron]

*admits to having once set off an emptied 20ga shell, primer-only, on the back porch*

Raises hand. Did a function test on some work to my 1911 firing pin with a primer only casing in my shop.

 

[scrat]

i have had primers go off when reloading oh ya they are loud. but i agree i wouldnt want to have the police come by when messing with a fire arm. Not a good. thing. Even though it feels messed up what your doing. Its for the best. Im thinking once you get better you need to do some father and son shooting. get the bug out of the system.

 

[jnyork]

This can be a very tough thing for a family to handle. He might not be losing it, it might indeed be just you, but when your gut tells you something, always trust your gut. Keep a sharp eye on things.