JT
REGRETTING SELLING GUNS
Friday, February 01, 2019, 15:50

I often see posts where someone talks of regretting selling one of their guns. I have been there and it is not a good place to be. In 1963 I was working full time at night and going to college full-time during the day and was in my junior year. We had three little babies which insisted upon eating regularly. I was faced with the choice of either paying tuition or buying food so that was no choice at all. If I dropped out of school I felt it would be awfully hard to get back. So I sold three very special guns: a 1950 Target .44 Special, A first-year production Second Generation 7-1/2" Colt Single Action Army .45, and a pre-64 Winchester .30-30. As we left the gun shop Diamond Dot looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said you'll never have to do that again. She proved to be a prophet and we have never had to do that again. Oh I have sold some guns for good reasons such as raising money for my dear friend Jim Taylor and his mission work, however that is a positive not a negative.

I got a call from Shapel's Gun Shop several years ago and told me I should come up as a young fellow there was selling grandpas guns. He had three Colt Single Actions from before World War I as well as three Winchesters from the same timeframe. I bought a pair of his Colts, both .44-40 and 4-3/4" barrels. One was from 1897 and the other from 1903. (I should have bitten the bullet and bought them all) I felt really bad that a young kid would sell grandpas guns. I figured he was gonna buy a motorcycle or a boat or something like this, however I felt much better later when I learned he was selling guns to pay medical bills for his own kids. God Bless Him!