Geezer guns: older folks need guns more, and sometimes their choice needs tailoring

Guns Magazine, March, 2005 by Massad Ayoob

A recent front-page story in the Jacksonville, Florida Times-Union newspaper (10/7/04) was titled "New Senior Security: Guns." It mentioned that more than 130,000 of Florida's 338,000 plus concealed carry permits have gone to men and women over 50.

Heck, I can relate to that. One of those permits reporter Tia Mitchell was talking about is mine.

Gary Kleck, the famed criminologist at Florida State University, Tallahassee, was quoted for research that indicates armed American citizens use their guns to prevent injury or death some 2.5 million times per year. "It just doesn't require any physical strength," said Kleck, explaining why the gun is a logical resort for the elderly and infirm if attacked by criminals.

A few of the subjects told the reporter what they carried. Harry Rogers, 63, owns a 10mm Smith & Wesson but carries a .380 auto. Vicki Keefer, 64, packs a 9mm Kel-Tec P-11 in her purse.

Tailoring Sights

Back in Volume XV, Number 5, 1995 of his running commentary Gunsite Gossip, Col. Jeff Cooper noted that he didn't think oldsters needed special guns, though special sights might sometimes help. Said Jeff, " ... I am pretty elderly myself and I do not feel a need for a firearm especially attuned to my aging condition." He did note that older eyes are less amenable to conventional iron sights, and that a shooter in that condition might want to give a look at the ghost ring rear pistol sight, a concept that was getting a lot of attention a decade ago.

Another option is the express-type sight, as refined for the pistol several years ago by Ashley Emerson and now available from XS. A giant ball, available in glowing tritium, sits above the muzzle. As the gun comes to the eye, it settles atop a shallow "V," and one has a sight picture that will be lightning fast at close range. It isn't what you'd want to take to Camp Perry for the national bull's-eye championships, but I've seen people do respectable work with it at 25 yards. Cooper later deemed it a better choice than the ghost ring.

Another option is the laser sight. Integral to the gun with Crimson Trace LaserGrips or a LaserMax unit replacing the recoil spring guide rod on a carry gun, or taking the removable form of an InSights M6 combined with white light for home defense, laser sighting has a lot of potential for those with fading eyesight.

Tailoring Guns

Among the maladies of old age are arthritis and other ailments that can adversely impact finger strength. Some people get to an age where their hands find it difficult to work an auto pistol's slide.

Something as simple as cocking an outside hammer to relieve mainspring pressure that's holding the slide forward may be enough to cure this problem. Another option is to go to an autoloader with a particularly easy-running slide, such as the Glock. A third possibility is the Beretta line of semiautomatics in .22 rimfire, .25, .32 and .380 ACP which are blowback in design and whose barrels tip up to allow loading the chamber without jacking the slide. The best of these, I think, is Beretta's Model 86, a single-stack .380 that fits the hand well, works reliably, and delivers a high order of accuracy for a gun of its type.

If recoil is a problem for sore old hands and .380 is just too little power for the individual to feel safe with, the 9mm comes into its own. Springfield Armory is just one manufacturer of 1911 pistols in this caliber, which kick barely more than .22s and have very light recoil springs which make their slides very easy to operate. Another 9mm that works very well in debilitated hands is Heckler and Koch's P7, which combines a soft gas-operated mechanism and low bore axis to truly minimize "kick."

The revolver is preferred by many senior citizens. For some, it's a legacy of the days when auto pistols just weren't reliable enough to trust. For others, it's because the swing-out cylinder is much easier to operate than an auto pistol's slide for administrative handling. As hands get weaker or more sensitive, an action job that eases up the double action trigger pull is more appreciated than ever, and so are aftermarket grips like the Pachmayr Decelerator expressly designed to cushion the hand against recoil.

More than 130,000 graying Floridians have discovered the peace of mind and genuine safety afforded by the responsible possession of a concealable self-defense handgun. Maybe that's because the older we get, the more we seem to listen to the voices of reason, and the more we appreciate good old common sense.