NYT Social Q's: "Have Gun? Won’t Visit"

Pulled from a NYT Social Q's as it appears on the Fashion & Style Section...

I am the mother of three small children. When the oldest was 2, we arrived at a relative’s house for a planned visit, and found a shotgun propped against the dining room wall and an open box of ammunition nearby. Fortunately, I was one step behind my curious son. But the incident caused a big fight; our relatives were offended that we asked them to lock up the gun during our visit. Since then, I’ve been proactive about guns in houses my children visit. But asking, “Do you have a gun in the house?” seems intrusive and somehow accusatory. How should I approach this?

Amanda, Fayetteville, Ark.

Answer...

Talk about prying it from their “cold, dead hands”! You may already have met the only adults in America who think that leaving rifles and live ammo where toddlers play is a good idea. Still, you have every right to confirm your children’s safety. Why not just say: “We had a scary play date recently with folks who left a gun lying around. We weren’t comfortable with that. Are you?” And then you’ll know. (But given your recent luck, you may as well scope out the playroom for “Hunger Games” crossbows when you drop your darlings off.)

Do you see what this guy did there? Any comments?

NYT A version of this article appears in print on February 23, 2014, on page ST10 of the New York edition with the headline: No, Not So Smart.

Carla says she heard one of them screaming, “Crazy b**ch has a gun!!”

Cheviot Hills, California on the westside of Los Angeles is within a short drive of Fox Studios and Sony Pictures, and is one of the lowest density neighborhoods of LA. That doesn’t mean that the sleepy community is crime-free … or entirely asleep, either. Burglars who had started a spree of B&Es in the neighborhood brought it to an abrupt halt when they discovered Carla awake — and armed:

“I’m not a sitting duck,” says Carla. She prefers to keep her last name private. Carla is a Cheviot Hills homeowner who scared away burglars when she grabbed her shotgun and fired.

Carla told us her dog woke her up when he started barking. She looked outside and saw a man in her backyard, another waiting by a car.

Carla wasted no time. Wearing her nightgown, she went outside and fired once toward the ground. Carla says, it was just to scare them off. It worked. The two suspects ran back to a white sedan and drove off.

Via Hot Air, news video at the link

Remington 870

I found a long-unused Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun in my late father's belongings when we cleaned out his apartment and storage locker.  He must have bought it, I don't know, maybe 50 years ago when he would go grouse hunting with friends. 

I put it aside as a winter project, and it's now winter.  The gun needs disassembly and a good cleaning, a few metal parts need a bit of re-bluing, and the wooden stock and pump would benefit from re-finishing.  There was no factory instruction manual; I found one in Remington's website and printed it.  The case was old and disintegrating so I went to Cabela's and bought a new one, plus some gun cleaning supplies and a tool kit. 

Since I'm a visual learner I thought I'd see if there were YouTube videos for disassembly.  And I found this video of a man having a heckuva fun time shooting bottles, gongs, cans, zombies and other things with his Remington 870.  Zip past the one-minute mention of an eBay sale at about 2:00, and enjoy the rest of the video.  I'd like to be on his property!

 

The guy is a pretty good marksman - hitting a gong at about 100 yards with a shotgun slug is not an easy thing to do.

 

When I have finished reconditioning my father's shotgun, I'll keep it next to a 1917 Stevens 10 gauge that I inherited from my grandfather a few years back.  That gun was given to him by his father (my great-grandfather) when my grandfather was 12, because his job was to go into the woods and not come home without meat for supper.  While neither gun is especially valuable, they are filled with priceless memories.

 

Enjoy the video.