I learned from some veterans that they did not want to handle a gun, because they were afraid a memory might come back and they might use it on someone they love. I had an Uncle that felt the same way. He died when I was 3, but Dad told me he never touched a gun again and they had hunted...
When they came back from the war, they tried to not remember what happened, and they try to keep it from us younger people. They were the Greatest Generation.