美国国家公共电台 NPR Firearms And Dementia: How Do You Convince A Loved One To Give Up Their Guns?

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Families of people with dementia will often take away the car keys to keep them safe. Concerned relatives might also remove knobs from stove burners or lock up medicine. But what about the risk of guns in the home? That's a growing problem as the U.S. population gets older and the number of those with dementia soars. NPR's Melissa Block reports.

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE 1: He's 87 and knows the songs from a favorite musical by heart.

ED AND KATHY: (Singing) We know we belong to the land - pow pow - and the land we belong to is grand - pow pow.

BLOCK: That's Ed singing with his wife, Kathy, at their home in Aurora 2, Colo., outside Denver. Kathy asks that I use just their first names out of privacy concerns. Ed is a former fighter pilot proudly sporting a cap embroidered 3 with the words Korea Vietnam veteran.

KATHY: We've been married...

ED: Are we married?

KAHTY: We are. We are 38 years.

ED: Whoa.

KAHTY: And so - yeah. And it's been a good marriage.

ED: Thirty-eight years.

BLOCK: Ed has Alzheimer's disease, which has progressed rapidly in the last few years. When we're alone, Kathy tells me that Ed can get very confused and agitated 4, especially after dark. And so it was that one night about a year ago, they reached a turning point. For the first time, her husband didn't recognize her.

KAHTY: And then I realized that he was afraid of me.

BLOCK: So afraid that Ed walked into the bedroom, locked the door and said something ominous 5.

KAHTY: He says, I have a gun. And the truth was, there was a gun in that room.

BLOCK: And Kathy knew it was loaded. She spent an anxious night in the hallway, afraid things would escalate 6 if she called the police. By morning, Ed had calmed down and unlocked the door. To Kathy's relief, he hadn't found the gun. But the incident was so frightening, she immediately took the weapon to the basement, removed the ammunition 7 and locked it away. In hindsight, she wishes she had been more vigilant 8. Those who work with dementia patients say family members often don't want to think the worst.

JOLEEN SUSSMAN: Most caregivers tell us - yeah, I've been married to him for 50 years. He would never hurt anyone. And then it's talking to caregivers about - yes, he would not, but his disease might hurt someone. So we have to talk about this.

BLOCK: Joleen Sussman is a psychologist who specializes in dementia at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver. Of course, this concern doesn't apply just to veterans. The number of people with dementia in the U.S. is expected to double in the next 20 years, to about 14 million, the vast majority over the age of 65. Researchers also estimate that nearly half of people over 65 either own a gun or live in a household with someone who does. Joleen Sussman wants this safety issue to be top of mind.

SUSSMAN: I think if I had anything to say to health care professionals across the country, it would be, please, along with driving, please ask about firearms, too.

BLOCK: She suggests asking not just - do you have guns? - but also - how many? And where are they?

SUSSMAN: Once I ask about firearms, I'll say, so do you keep those at your bed stand within arm's reach while you're sleeping at night? Many veterans will say yes. Is it loaded? Yes. Does your wife sleep with you? Yes.

BLOCK: For many gun owners, their firearms are deeply entwined with their identity. So asking them to give up their guns can be really hard.

BETH KALLMYER: You know what they might say to you? I don't care. You're not taking my guns.

BLOCK: Beth Kallmyer is vice 9 president of care and support with the Alzheimer's Association.

KALLMYER: But they might say to you, you're right. I want you to step in when I can't make that decision for myself anymore, and then that helps the family later on.

BLOCK: Kallmyer advises families not to wait, to have these conversations early. And Dr. Emmy Betz, who studies guns and dementia at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, suggests that families draw up a firearms agreement, a kind of advance directive for guns.

EMMY BETZ: To say, all right, like, who do you want to be the one to say, I think it's time? Who do you want to give them to? Is it your family member? Is it Joe down at the gun club - so that you're still the one making the decision, even if when the time comes, you're not aware of what's happening.

LLOYD BATES: My name is Lloyd Merrill Bates. I'm 87.

BLOCK: When I visit Lloyd Bates and his wife, Carol, at their home in Denver, Carol tells me about another family member with dementia and how hard it was to get his gun collection out of the house.

CAROL BATES: Because those guns were like a part of his persona and he would throw temper tantrums. He would say, nobody's going to take my guns.

BLOCK: Then Lloyd was diagnosed with dementia. But the conversation about locking up his guns was a lot easier.

L. BATES: I understood very well the dangers of having a gun in the house and what it could lead to.

C. BATES: We can't trust his brain right now to drive, so why would we trust his brain with a gun?

BLOCK: And Lloyd says he's OK with that.

L. BATES: I haven't seen my guns for years.

C. BATES: That's because he wrote down the combination, and he lost the combination. And I don't know the combination.

L. BATES: To the safe (laughter).

C. BATES: So they're safe.

L. BATES: They're safe in the safe (laughter).

C. BATES: That's a real simple solution to a complicated problem.

BLOCK: Melissa Block, NPR News, Denver.

(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS ANIMALS SONG, "POOLS")