Just sharing a recent experience. A friend of mine was feeling fine at Thanksgiving time and started to feel badly within the next few days. In early December he was told he has an aggressive cancer and only 2-3 months to live. Second opinions have yielded the same poor prognosis. Last week, he asked me if I could come talk to him about what to do with his few guns. We took all of his stuff....guns (3), ammo ( a dozen boxes), cleaning rods, etc.....out of the closet and discussed numerous options for disposing of it. He stressed that he was not asking me to buy it. At some point I said, "OK, Bob, what would you like me to do?" He responded, "Just load all of this up in your car and do what you want. Maybe give it away to someone who needs it or sell it; I don't really care and I don't want money." He has always been a generous guy. Of course, I plan to follow his wishes and give the guns and other equipment away. Hopefully, I can do so in time for the recipient to send him a note thanking him for his generosity. The guns will only go to people who can adequately appreciate the circumstance and tell the story to others. It will be a small part of Bob's legacy. Thanks for reading my story.
Paying it forward, with guns
- Thread starter Sniper66
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badkarmamib
Member
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your friend. Very sorry to hear of this, I lost my mother almost 3 years ago to pancreatic cancer, I know how hard it is to see someone dear to you go through it. I agree, keeping his legacy going is the best way to honor him.
ridgerunner1965
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when my gpa was in his 90's he was well aware of his mortality. he started giving away all his his stuff. he had a lot of old guns that were in good shape. he always took good care of all his things.
he gave to majority of them to me and my brother. his only male grandchildren. some to his friends as well. and some to his daughter, my mom.
later after he died at 99 my brother and i split up his tools.there was no arguments or anything that would disrespect him.
my whole family held this old man in such reverence that to argue or squabble about anything would disrespect his memory.
i hope to do much the same as he did. but i only have one son and one daughter. my girl is not interested in guns so i will prob sell most of them and just keep the family guns and the ones my son is interested in. my son has a lot of guns now and id hate to burden him with stuff he doesnt need.
more people should take care of thier legacy
he gave to majority of them to me and my brother. his only male grandchildren. some to his friends as well. and some to his daughter, my mom.
later after he died at 99 my brother and i split up his tools.there was no arguments or anything that would disrespect him.
my whole family held this old man in such reverence that to argue or squabble about anything would disrespect his memory.
i hope to do much the same as he did. but i only have one son and one daughter. my girl is not interested in guns so i will prob sell most of them and just keep the family guns and the ones my son is interested in. my son has a lot of guns now and id hate to burden him with stuff he doesnt need.
more people should take care of thier legacy
Stevenvalleyky
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Sorry to hear about your friends health struggles. Im glad to see you are helping him with this. In this case, I think giving them away means more than selling them. Unless, these are VERY rare and Valuable guns. In that case, an auction or sell of some kind then give the money to a charity or start a charitable foundation in his honor . But with just a few guns thats not very likely. Either way, I appreciate what you are doing for your friend. We should all strive to be that good of a friend.
BearBrimstone
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Sorry to hear about your friend. I have never done anything as generous as that, but when I decide to sell a gun I usually offer it to friends or family members at low prices. I do this partially to help friends and family out, but also partially so that I know the gun is going to someone that will not use it for something illegal.
I'm in my mid 50's, not ancient but old enough, and with a few health issues. Nothing terrible, but It's enough to keep the thought in the back of my mind as I have no kids and much of my family is either not interested or unfortunately anti-gun. The same goes for my mechanic tools, not much family even remotely interested. These are some of my most treasured possessions and will likely go to friends or be disposed of instead. The fact of not having much in the way of heirs does help keep impulsive and "wants" purchasing in line. Mostly lately I've been upgrading some arms and financing it by selling off those not seeing much use. I made a decision some time ago to limit my collection to what fits in my safe and have mostly stuck to that. Though I occasionally wish I had gotten a safe that was a little larger....
captain awesome
Member
The thought has crossed my mind several time about what to do with mine though i am still fairly young. I suspect i will do similarly although there are a lot more than 3 to be dispersed.
I am very sorry to hear about your friend. Bob seems like a good man from the little you have said. I hope his passing is painless.
Thanks for sharing.
I am very sorry to hear about your friend. Bob seems like a good man from the little you have said. I hope his passing is painless.
Thanks for sharing.
Panzerschwein
member
You are an extremely great man.
I would have sold it all for a profit, but then again, I am not extremely great.
I would have sold it all for a profit, but then again, I am not extremely great.
redneck2
Member
I just turned 66 last week. I've already given away or sold over 1/2 of what I had. As long as I am reasonably able, I'll keep what I have left. After I'm gone, some will get sold, most given away.
Bbear
Member
I'm 58 and don't have any kids to pass things on to. My only sister and her kids aren't really into firearms so, I 'adopted' 3 grandkids. The boy is 6, nearly 7 and his 2 sisters are 4 and 2. I taught the boy how to shoot and he's turned into quite the hunter. His little sister got a 'real shooting' gun for Christmas (Cricket rifle) and wants me to start teaching her. Time spent with these kids is precious to me. I've told their mother and Dad that when I go, the kids will get my guns.
Just a thought to the OP, if the guns are in good shape, a local 4-H shooting sports group might have a use for them. Either directly or used to raise funds for them to keep teaching kids to shoot and shoot safely. Prayers for you and your friend.
Just a thought to the OP, if the guns are in good shape, a local 4-H shooting sports group might have a use for them. Either directly or used to raise funds for them to keep teaching kids to shoot and shoot safely. Prayers for you and your friend.
Shanghai McCoy
Member
Leavenworth County 4H has a pretty good shooting sports program as I recall. Check with the county office and they should be able to put you in touch with the right person.
Decoy80
Member
If you do as he asked you to regrets about doing it will not bother you going on with life. Guys or Gals who knew the both of you would probably be the most apprecitative and give them good homes. I understand from personal experience the difficulty in watching a person you care about dwindle away. He did a good thing as he knew he no longer needed them. If you do as you have been entrusted to you will have done good too. Sorry you are about to lose a friend. Peace
Bbear
Member
Sniper66, you might give a call to the NRA Field Rep in Ks. Christine Sharp is her name: [email protected]
She might have a contact to help you out
She might have a contact to help you out
Arkansas Paul
Member
I'm still on the comfortable side of 40 (not that that really means much. Had a friend die of cancer at 24) but when I'm older I suspect I will do something similar.
I have a couple of nephews that are into shooting and hunting, so I imagine they will get a few.
I have a teenage daughter, so maybe I'll have a grandson eventually to pass something down to as well.
But I doubt I'll keep everything to pass down.
I do not agree with the philosophy that whoever dies with the most toys wins. I plan on handing some down while I'm still in good enough shape to see my loved ones enjoy them.
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