My wife & I bought my 92 y/o Dad's house with the stipulation he could live with us as long as he wants, and that he was not to use his power tools in the house as my wife has problems breathing when saw dust in air. About 4 yrs ago, he lost balance & fell into the table saw and almost cut his fingers off. We came home 1 day after running errands & he was using the saw & planer, putting dust in air. Told him to stop, he refused. Wife said she would cut the cord. He threatened to kill her. He always carries a 357 revolver everywhere. Luckily, he had left it on the saw table when the confrontation began & I took it & hid it. I removed all guns from the house. For 2 weeks, he keeps asking for it back. He apologized & said he'd never hurt my wife, but I don't trust him.
Believe me, I am all for someone being able to have guns to protect themselves.
But I draw the line with someone who is even remotely unstable.
I've always planned on getting one (with practice first) for living alone and being able to protect myself. And even bought a cool "hidden drawer" shelf for it (still in the box). But my youngest (adult) daughter who continues to live with me is totally against it. And I respect that.
I didn't know this until years later. When she was young and in college, she had a boyfriend for awhile who apparently had become very depressed, and at one point she wrestled him to get his gun away from him. (He wound up getting through it and I met him and his grandmother a year or two later when I was with my daughter shopping and so was he.... he was getting married!)
I can't imagine her being faced with that ever, let alone when she was not even 20 yet. So, no, once he made any kind of threat, or showed difficulty making decisions or any other signs of mental decline, I would never, never return the gun.
'Should I give Dad back his gun?'--> No
I'm all for gun rights, but the moment such a statement is made, in any context, that person should not have a gun. He might see it as a punishment, but in reality, it's a favor.