Home Alone

[gunthorp]

Got a call today from a nice lady who wanted to give her 26 yr old son a pass to my May 21 carry class, also his birthday. I told her he had already signed up (coincidence) and she could take care of the fee. I mentioned that there was another fee for the permit, and she said she would do that for him too. Wow.

After a few more words I learned she had had some enjoyable experiences with shooting, but after the onset of MS, she mostly stayed home alone in her wheelchair. Her right (strong) hand is still OK, though a little weak. The off hand isn't steady. She may be able to thumb back the hammer of a light 38 Spl and shoot it single action, but I'm not crazy about the idea. A DAO would be out. A DA/SA auto would be even harder to thumb back for SA mode. She seemed truly gratefull that I might look into some options for her self-defense.

Any thoughts about the gun? Where do you think a holster should be mounted and hidden? What kind of holster? How would you attach it? I know, Bruce, 1911. Hey, you guys and gals are the best. What do you do when you can't run or hide?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Lawrence Keeney]

Two handguns come to mind almost immediately.

There is a beretta 380 the model number of which escapes me. It has the tip up bbl an can fire condition one. You could teach her to flip the safety on and off, and someone else could load it for her.


A Ruger Single Six in 22 and 22 mag. She might be able to cock and fire it, and a 22 mag would be better than nothing. Again, someone else could load it for her.

[ELCruisr]

This is a subject all to close to me as my wife has severe MS. MS can attack different ways in different people so no two cases are quite the same. One of the things is that MS can sometimes cause cognitive problems. My wife has this bad, unfortunatley, and under stress she has a hard time "proccessing" information correctly. This precludes her carrying a firearm because she may not be able to use it or aim it properly under stress and could harm the wrong person or herself. Some people with MS don't have this problem and some do but refuse to admit it. Before I recommended a firearm I'd want to know if I'm creating a bad situation waiting to happen. What about things like OC or are tasers legal in your state. Would she be willing to show ability at an indoor range? I say indoor because people with MS are positively going to have to avoid heat, it can aggravate their symptoms so an AC'ed indoor range is best.

I have seen some holster rigs that are easy to modify for mounting on a wheelchair frame. Or even a pocket holster between seat pad and side depending on wheelchair construction. Be glad to help any I can on this subject.

Eric

[kansas_shooter]

I would say a .22 or .25 auto like a NAA or bryco/jennings or some taurus. Small, easy to use, easy to work the slide, and small hammers. I would agree with ELCruisr.

[QKShooter]

I like the idea of one of the Tip Up Barrel Beretta firearms.
They are reliable...not prone to malfunction and it's very easy to just tip the barrel up to load and unload the chamber or check the firearm status...and you never have to operate the slide.

[gddyup]

What about something like a S&W J-frame in .38? Checking S&W's website, I see something like the model 442 which only weighs 15oz. empty. Her son or I'm sure someone you know could build a very low recoiling SD load for her. You'd get the benefit of the larger caliber, the better capacity of 5 rounds, and the very easy to manage weight.

You would have to depend on the handload, but in that situation I could certainly see the value fo it.

[ebd10]

Beretta Tomcat in .32ACP stoked up with some Glasers and Hydra-Shoks. If her hand is too weak for the DA, the J-frame with light loads and lighter springs might be a better idea.

[4my son]

This may be too far off topic, but if she has too much difficulty with a gun, and dosen't want to go the OC, Taser route as mentined before.

Maybe an owner friendly, intruder unfriendly type of dog. That way if she is having a hard time with the motor skills at that moment, all she has to do is give a command.


FWIW, just another option, maybe a back-up to the small caliber gun.

Would you call that a B.U.D.
for Back up dog.

[ccdad]

I think the idea of a dog is very good. I would be concerned that a bg could grab her faster than she could react with a handgun. That would dangerous! The idea is 21'/360 degrees is your defense circle to watch at all times. A dog would be able to do that. Also, if she had a dog, she stands a very good chance of being passed up by the bg. Even if she could handle a handgun well, how can she watch her back? Think of what would be safest for her. The dog would be allowed into commercial property as well.

[gunthorp]

Welcome ccdad! Thanks all, so far. Some good thoughts. I'm going to meet with her soon to see her situation and ability. I'm hopefull someone has gone through this so I don't reinvent the wheel or bark up the wrong tree. You gotta love the BUD idea...we have four mastiffs. Any $'s leftover from buying Purina get to go toward primers and powder.

[artz]

My mom has a bad case of rheumatoid arthritis (crippling disease) and I have worked with her on all of my guns. The only thing that she can operate and shoot is NAA's 5 shot revolver. its a .22 magnum...
my mom has the dog also...a mean lil' booger of a weiner dog. Yep...you read it right.
This dog was mistreated, kicked, teased, and God knows what else. It hates people and protects my mom with a passion.
I'll give ya' a $20 bill if you come to the house and grab that dog. You'll go to the doctor afterwards. It goes feral and you can see it in its eyes. I say its half crazy from the mis-treating it got some years back.
The dog took abut 6 months before my mom could pet it. Just amazing !

[aggie]

Howdy!

FWIW, I was born with deformed forearms, wrists and hands/fingers. I MAY be able to make a couple of useful suggestions. The previous suggestions you've received all strike me as excellent ideas.

The only exception I take was the suggestion to use a Beretta Tomcat with the tip-up barrell. While I have one in my pocket as I type, I find the trigger pull weight for both DA & SA to be excessive. I'm on my 2nd one.

OTOH the Beretta Model 86 (the 380 ACP with tip-up barrell) may offer a better alternative if she can handle the size and weight. I had one several years ago that I regret getting rid of. I got it because I could not figger out how to grasp the slide strongly enough on my previous semi-autos. The 86 was the one I figgered it out on & then sold it. DURN! The relatively slim grip (single stack mag) may help her out if her hands are small. The DA & SA trigger pulls were "normal" in my experience.

Another possibility is a .38 Spcl DA/SA revolver as mentioned before. Loaded lightly with wad-cutters, it might be an option. I concur with the 22 WMR DA/SA revo or even a 22 LR revo (or semi-auto if a reliable one can be obtained).

I wonder if a Glock 26 (sub-compact, 9mm, double stack) would suit her. Preloaded by a friend, it can carry up to 17 rnds or more when stoked with a Glock 17 mag and a mag adapter. The adapter stabilizes the too-long G17 mag in the G26 mag well. They used to be made by Pearce along with their mag extenders. I had one for our G26 several years ago.

The issue of a guard dog sounds interesting. Our untrainable 50 lb pure bred mutt serves that role for us quite well.

Based on my limited experience, you might consider focusing on obtaining an extra smooth (not necessarily light) trigger pull on whatever weapon she chooses.

From the files of "just speculating" comes the idea of a semi-auto 410 or 20 ga shotgun in a youth size. Such a weapon "might" be usable by this individual. I kinda doubt it, but that thought may lead to a better idea for her.

HOLSTER: In addition to previous good suggestions, she might try attaching a belt holster to the inside of her chair if possible. What I'm envisioning is the two ends of a belt and buckle. Each end would be glued, sewn, riveted, etc. to the chair such that a garden variety belt holster may be attached. The holster could easily be removed, leaving only the "innoncent looking" buckled ends of the belt, if CCW should become inadvisable. If she is mobile, she may not want to carry a holster, even if empty, into a post office or federal facility. Just a thought.

Please let us know your, and her, progress on this issue. I am personally interested in learning about "what works" from those that have to do this kind of project.

Thank you and God bless ya'll!

[P95Carry]

aggie - thx for your very useful input to the thread - and of course, welcome to CC

[sevesteen]

Any thoughts about the gun? Where do you think a holster should be mounted and hidden? What kind of holster? How would you attach it? I know, Bruce, 1911. Hey, you guys and gals are the best. What do you do when you can't run or hide?

Don't know if this is practical, but how about some method of using the chair as the other hand--Either mount the gun so she can pull the slide back one-handed, or a fitting that holds the slide while she pushes the frame forward?

[kd5nrh]

For home use, what about a lever action carbine with light loads?