It's livelier and livelier....
Let me answer a couple of points that were brought up, just so that everyone knows all of the facts that may apply. This is a Tolstoy-length novel, so grab a pot of coffee and get ready!
Rifle #1 (an M-1 Carbine) was a gift from me to his mother while we were still married. About 8 years later, the marriage fell apart and she moved out, taking her guns with her. She, in short order, decided she wanted no part of any activity her and I formerly shared, and decided to give her rifle to our son - who was 15 at the time.
Rifle #2 (Ruger 10-22) was a gift from me to my son when he was about 10 years old. That gun stayed with me.
Eventually, when he turn 18 and moved out on his own, his guns were given to him, and he kept them at his own home. He married, had a home of his own, had a child, and for about 2 1/2 years seemed like a responsible young man. He had a good job on a survey crew for about a year and a half, and even improved his situation by taking a similar but better paying job with another company. After about 8 months of that, one day - without warning - he went all "Office Space" and decided, like the main character of the movie, that "I'm just not gonna go". "Oh, did you quit?" "No, I'm just not gonna go anymore". SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!
Within six months, his apartment complex evicted him and his wife. She and the child went to live with her mother - he rented a room in someone's basement. Not having a place to secure his guns, we put them in my safe. He also had another gun by that time that he had purchased for himself - a Mossberg 500. That was January of 2008. Not sure if this is pertinent or not, but I am the only person alive(that I know of) with the combination to this safe, as the manufacturer has long been out of business.
He then floated about, moving from place to place (some as far away as Hawaii) for about the next 8 months and when he finally ran out of places to go - I let him come to stay with me temporarily until he could get his life back on track. He would get a job, get a cheap car as soon as possible to GET to the job, and get back out on his own again as soon as he had enough cash. I figured 4 to 6 months, 8 months tops.
He then got a job, and 2 months later moved to a better paying job. All seemed well. He sold the Mossberg 500 for cash. Well after 2 weeks, the new job announced they were going out of business, so on to a 3rd job. Then another, then another. At the end of 13 months (!!!!!!), he was now on his 7th job! He at least bought a car for himself during this time, but was otherwise no closer to moving out on his own.
One day a letter arrived from the county courthouse with my name on it (it didn't specify "Jr."), so I opened it. I was amazed to find that I was supposed to report to the local Alcohol Abuse Remediation program the following week as result of court order pursuant to my recent D.U.I. conviction. WHAT!?
I got on the court's website (in Virginia you can look up case information) and sure enough - there it was, just 7 weeks prior he was arrested for DUI, and subsequently convicted a month later. The arrest occurred, coincidentally, on the second day of his CDL course! Pretty sure THAT'S not a great combination.
That's when I realized he wasn't making any forward progress, but rather going backwards. I'd given him enough time to get his life together but he was just going back to old ways or worse, so I made him move out. He found a new place to stay and returned to the house to get his stuff, but left the guns. I'm not complaining about that, mind you - as I'm not a big fan of mixing firearms and alcohol abuse. In the 2 months after leaving my residence, he was subsequently arrested again for DUI, Driving on a suspended license (3 times!!!!!!!), possession of marijuana, and the finale: one night while in a car drunk with 2 drunk girls, he kicks them out of the car in the middle of the countryside and takes their car. The police cuffed him, took him away, and charged him with car-jacking. (Felony...BIG felony!) This was November, 2009. They held him without bond and by May of 2010 he plea-bargained down to Felony Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle. All the other charges went to a Nolle Prosequi status, that is - the Prosecutor agrees not to pursue at this time, but may pursue at a later time if desired. He gets a 5 year jail sentence, with all but 6 months suspended, and license suspended until March 2013. They counted time served and he was out a week later. He went to live with his Mom in Pennsylvania and got in more trouble, another felony unauthorized use of a vehicle, well as a felony charge in Maryland. (Gosh, I'm so proud!
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This is a ridiculously long story and to spare you all any more details I'll truncate it: long story short - he has spent 2 years of the last 2 1/2 behind bars and since January 2008 has not laid eyes on these two rifles. I'd be surprised if even a fingerprint of his remains on them. Now that he's out of jail, all of a sudden he's pressing his mother to get me to give them to her and pressing his sister to get me to give his mother a handgun that used to belong to her, but was given to my daughter and now in my safe for storage until she can establish residency and a gun-permit for it in New York state, where she and her husband recently moved. Maybe I'm paranoid, but sumthin' don't smell right.
Anyhoo, sorry for the long-winded chronology of events. Welcome to a glimpse of my life. Sadly, this is just a sliver of it. Friends keep telling me I should write a book about it, and I them them I'd have to sell it in the Fiction section, 'cause nobody will ever believe this mess! Can you say "dis-funtional"?
One point of caution: be careful when you name your son "Jr." Most of time it works out fine, but occasionally one turns out like mine. I love my son, and I hope someday he grows up. Right now, I've done all I can for him. It's on him now. As far as the "Jr." goes, I live in a state that has Instant-check, and should be able to walk out the door with a gun purchase the same day. Not anymore - it's a minimum 3 day wait now. I called the Virginia State Police Firearms Transaction Center about the delays, and their reply:
"There's someone with your name who has a felony conviction". It then goes into a hold until they can get someone to investigate it further to determine I'm not the felon. Lucky me.
Thanks for bearing with me, and for the support. You guys are great.
