My Dad gave my brother several prized guns a few years back. These were heirloom pieces that we used to pull out on Independence Day every year to send a few rounds down range when I was a kid.
I went to visit my brother one year and when he showed them to me they were rusted and beaten to hell. I was
truly appalled.
In my opinion, the condition of those arms showed a total lack of repect for what my father had spent his life collecting, and gave to my brother trusting him to care for what was to him a favored, and to me a cherished, family tradition.
I collected them into a pile and told my brother that I was going to clean them up.
I removed the rust, reblued the metal on a couple, and refinished the stocks on every piece, and then I gave them back to my Dad.
I told him that he could do with them as he pleased, i.e., give them back to my brother, but that I was VERY unhappy about the way these firearms had been treated in his care.
That was 20 years ago, and to this day I don't know whats happened to all those lovely old guns.
My Dad has since given me many very nice guns, none from that bunch, but I've told him that every gun is still his until the day he passes on, but I will take care of them like they are my own, and I do.
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)