When a group invites me to speak, I ask what topics they would like to discuss. Before a recent meeting, a particular question on the list I had been given caught my attention. It asked about a subject I had never given much thought in relationship to caregiving – weapons in the home.

I support the Supreme Court’s landmark 2008 decision that the Second Amendment protects anindividual’s right to possess and carry firearms. That being said, I do not like guns. Except for Christmas when I was ten years old, a gun has never been on my wish list. That year when the family met at Grandma Wright’s, my cousin Jimmy was target shooting with his new BB gun, while I played with my Betsy Wetsy. When Jimmy allowed me to pull the trigger and shoot some of those diminutive balls into the side of Grandma’s outhouse (unoccupied, of course), I discovered an activity considerably more captivating than changing the wet diaper on my pretend baby.

Today, it is estimated there are almost as many guns in America as people. According to the American Journal of Public Health, more than 17 million people aged 65 and older keep a firearm in their home. This age group also has the highest rate of suicide by a firearm. Should caregivers be concerned?

If your loved one has dementia, a number of changes take place that may affect safety. Depending on the stage of the disease, these include judgment and reasoning; accurate sense of time and place; behavior such as becoming confused or fearful; physical ability; and changes in experiencing the senses such as decreased vision or hearing, or depth perception.

In North Carolina, “It is unlawful to store or leave a firearm that can be discharged in a manner that a reasonable person should know is accessible to a minor.” Isn’t it prudent to apply this regulation to someone with dementia? After researching what experts have to say on this topic, I suggest the following guidelines to assure family safety.

• Better safe than sorry; no person with dementia should have access to a firearm.
• If guns are kept in the home, they should be secured and stored separately from locked ammunition.
• Do not consider an unloaded or disabled gun safe in the hands of a person with dementia. An elderly person standing on his front porch, pointing his disabled gun at passing traffic presents a great risk to his own safety. Law enforcement must act with the belief that the gun is operational.
• If you need to dispose of a gun, in most areas you may turn it in to the local police or sheriff’s department. However, leave the gun in the trunk of your car and inform someone inside of your intentions. Do not walk into the building carrying a gun! You may want to call ahead as some law enforcement agencies may come to your house and retrieve the gun. You may want to present a signed statement of diagnosis from your loved one’s primary care physician.

Along with driving, use of electrical appliances, wandering and other concerns, be vigilant regarding your loved one and the possession of firearms.