What Does The Weapon Mean

In the short story written in 1938 “ The Weapon” The author Fredric Brown used the word “idiot” to describe his character, Dr.James Graham mentally challenged son. The question up to debate is is the author’s use of the word “idiot” offensive in the text?

In the text the author says “He thought, only a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot”. I looked at the word,analyze the context and reread it. The etymology of the word shows that around the time Fredric wrote The Weapon the word was used as a medical term. The word was used to describe a mentally handicapped person or a stupid person according to Merriam-Webster dictionary and Wikipedia. The contemporary definition comes up the most of a stupid person. The word is also used to describe someone of a mental age of three so it was a bit of exaggeration to call the young boy an idiot when the word mentally challenged or moron would be more fitting for at least this time in history. I used the persuasive technique Logos to defend my stance that the author’s use of the word by bringing about research the original use of the word. Mentioning facts about how the word had a different meaning and how words
I noticed that others didn't go much further than the first five sources that come up when you search for the word idiot. I also observed that the same people would keep responding and that the people who didn't find the author use of the word to be impertinent had a tendency to attack the views of people who disagreed.People who found the word offensive seemed like they were more prepared and mostly used Logos to support their their