Just as some elderly drivers need to give up their car keys, older gun owners may eventually face “firearm retirement.” And a preliminary study suggests they are open to the idea.
In focus-group interviews with older gun owners, researchers found that many had considered putting limits on their firearm access—though they usually hadn’t yet laid out plans for when and how.
It’s an important issue, given that 40% of older Americans live in a home with a gun, said lead researcher Laura Prater of Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The concern, she said, is that a significant number of those seniors have or will develop dementia or major…
