Dad thought it was a matter of duty and honor. Mom thought it was ridiculous and dangerous.

They were talking about an old shotgun that Dad had in case he needed to protect home and family. It was a cheap 12 gauge that he kept hidden away in the coat closet by the front door. He kept the shells in a different closet for obvious safety reasons.

But years had passed, and Dad had gotten weak and wobbly. Mom started feeling like the big gun presented more of a danger than a safeguard. She told Dad how she felt, but he stubbornly insisted they might need it.

Finally, it reached a point that Mom said, “What are you gonna do, shuffle down the hall on your walker, find a shell, and get that shotgun out of the closet while some intruder is breaking in the front door? By the time you’re able to point the gun, he would have grabbed the barrel and beaten you senseless with the butt end.”

A bit humbled, Dad said, “I could handle it.”

Mom said, “How? The kick alone would knock you down.” Then she added, “You’d have to somehow have that gun bolted to the walker.”

At that point, I can imagine Dad getting a faraway look in his eyes and nodding slowly.

“I was not serious! Don’t you even think about it!” Mom said.

But I bet Dad did think about. And he could have done it, too. He had built or restored several airplanes, and he had a fully equipped shop out back.

He never got around to it, though. But can you imagine how terrifying it would be to have an old man in a bathrobe and house shoes coming at you, sliding a walker with huge guns mounted on the handles like machine guns on a fighter plane’s wings? Heck, just a picture of that on a small yard sign would be a whole lot more effective than some alarm company logo.

After Dad passed away, Mom was more than relieved for me to finally get that thing out of the house.

Since I didn’t have any need for it, I asked my son, who had more knowledge of firearms than I did, “If I took Granddaddy’s old shotgun to a pawn shop, how much do you think I could get?”

He said, “I think that depends entirely on how you carry it in.”