Time To Help Out One Of Our Own

If you follow gun rights litigation the name Gray Peterson might ring a bell.

Gray is the plaintiff in Peterson v. Garcia (formerly known as Peterson v. LaCabe and Peterson v. Martinez) which challenges the state of Colorado's concealed handgun law as specifically applied to the City and County of Denver. A Washington State resident, Gray sought a Colorado CHL as that state did not recognize either his Washington permit or his non-resident permit.

In February, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Gray's appeal. They have also denied his request for an en banc rehearing of the case.

Gray put it on the line to challenge Colorado's refusal to recognize non-resident CCW permits. Now he needs our help and that help has nothing to do with guns or gun rights.

Gray's father Dave Wilson is suffering a loss of cognitive function due to an unknown and undiagnosed illness. Gray is his next of kin and needs to raise $10,000 to pay for a cash-only diagnosis.

David Wilson, age 55, is the father of one (me). About 2 years ago (and without my knowledge) , he started losing cognitive function due to an unknown condition which is currently un-diagnosed due to his refusal to get treatment on prompting of his mother, and only somewhat with his ex-wife (my mother).

As David's only son, I am his next of kin under Florida law and when he is potentially incapacitated, it falls on me to get him treatment, placing him under guardianship through the court system if necessary. Unfortunately, as he's been jobless due to his loss of cognitive functions which have been increasing as time goes on (no unemployment, no social security as he's too young)...

Why 10K? Going to cash-only diagnostic route will be quite expensive, plus travel expenses, transport expenses, my personal income loss in dealing with this. 10K seems like the minimum the safe-bet/assumption, and I don't want to run out before we start dealing with more obscure issues. I also am OK with getting more than that to deal with further unexpected expense (attempting to be conservative here).

I love my father very much, which is why I'm putting this out there, to help save him from cognitive deficiency (if acute or due to mental health) or if it cannot be saved from (if chronic due to physical health), making sure he is set up to live with me, or somewhere geared to his condition nearby me.

This kind of hits home for me. My mother spent the last 4 1/2 years of her life in a nursing home with organic brain syndrome or dementia. While she had excellent health insurance as a retired school teacher, that didn't cover long-term care expenses. I was fortunate that she had a good pension and had been a saver so I didn't run out of money for her care. The other reason this hits home is that I'm a year older than Gray's dad. Hearing about something like this hitting someone younger than you makes you look in the mirror and say there but for the grace of God go I.

I have sent Gray a donation and would encourage you to make one if you can. He has set up a page to handle the donations and it can be found here. So far, donations total $650 so there is a long way to go. Please be as generous as you can afford to be.