Reasons for buying guns— do you have any unique reasons?

[easy rider]

Anyone else here like breathing? I don't remember when I got into breathing but for some reason I just enjoy doing it. I especially like that oxygen flavor.

When did ya'll start breathing and why? Any particular reasons why you like breathing so much?

Oh hell no! All that carbon dioxide exhaled? Climate change denier!

 

[Iowashooter]

Anyone else here like breathing? I don't remember when I got into breathing but for some reason I just enjoy doing it. I especially like that oxygen flavor.

When did ya'll start breathing and why? Any particular reasons why you like breathing so much?

Harsh… just harsh

 

[Iowashooter]

I read the thread title..then OPs post and realized that his question was purely rhetorical.

Not completely so… while I do know the usual reasons (many listed above… because we can, because we want to, to enjoy, to shoot, to learn, to hunt, to defend from commies and our own gubmint etc)…

I also know some folks have occasionally purchased firearms to help out people who are in need of money (from friends, family or co-workers)

I know another guy who likes to refurbish old non-working guns and bring them back to life

I was just curious if there are other unique reasons besides “the usual”

 

[sparkyv]

I did get into big bore handguns because of curiosity. Turns out, I really enjoy the recoil of handcanons! But I haven't shot a .50 cal...yet.

 

[Grumps21]

Fear. I was never into guns. I didn’t hunt, and growing up the family wasn’t into guns, my friends weren't into guns or hunting. But, I was fearful that if I didn’t get a gun while I can today, then someday I might not be able to get one at all. This was during Barry’s term, and it was a .38 special. Like a kid, being told ”NO” makes me want to do it. Though I have no interest and definitely no use case for them, I’ve been thinking on an AR pistol and a bump stock as a poke in the eye but I’ve got a Motorcycle addiction that I need to feed too, so I’m not sure that will happen. BTW I still do not hunt, I live in the city, so popping squirrels from the porch isn’t an option for me, and all my equipment are just range toys excepting my carry and HD devices.

 

[Byrd666]

Yes, I have unique reasons.

 

[cckirk]

The last 4 rimfires that I bought were due to vision changes. I need a scope or dot on anything that I shoot. My HR pistol and Marlin papoose served me well when I could see better, but I didn't want to put a scope on the papoose or drill holes in the Sportsman.

 

[Rafe]

This doesn't really qualify as a response to the question. Well, a response but it doesn't answer the question about unique reasons.

I grew up around guns. I can't remember the first time I saw or touched one. My father and my mother's brother kept a deer lease up near Llano and I'd go with them most trips once I turned maybe 6 or 7 and could properly stay out of the way. By 8 I was, occasionally, accompanying my father if the morning called for hunting from a blind or tree stand. At 9 I was given my first rifle, a .243, and at 10 I was carrying it afield with my dad and taking my first deer.

I didn't do much hunting in my teens; had moved away from Texas. in the early '80s I helped start-up one of the first financial services companies (FinTech in the lingo) and also started doing some NRA bullseye competitions.

I've pretty much stayed in and around technology stuff the remainder of my career. But something odd happened. I'm sure some might consider it a type of devolution, certainly others in IT might. Got me energized, though.

Thing is, a firearm is a simple device. It's a simple chemical reaction facilitated by a tool that doesn't require a battery, doesn't need recharging, and can't be rebooted.

At its core a gun is purely mechanical. Refreshingly so, to me, in an age where I wouldn't even attempt to work on my own car any longer. How long has it been since mass-produced vehicles didn't have a computer in them?

All a gun requires is basic maintenance and lubrication and it can last generations. Keep the rust away, replace any worn parts, clean it when needed, maintain a shiny bore, and you're good to go.

The two guns I'd bought for bullseye competition started multiplying. There was something immensely appealing about this low-tech stuff, and gun cleaning began to turn into something like meditation time for me. It kept my attention focused, banished other thoughts (clutter which seems always to be there, even when I tried to do real meditation), and required attention to detail but not much frontal-lobe cogitation.

So that was it for me. I was hooked. A firearm is a tool with multiple uses, and as similar as they all are they are also distinctively different. They are very simple to use, but very difficult to learn to use well to the point of unconscious competence. You can use them without ever learning the ins and outs of gunsmithing, or you can dabble in that from the very simple (lapping a scope) to the creative and complex (go design your own "race gun" customizations). You can even get into handloading your own ammo. Guns can be a hobby, a sport, a means of defending yourself and others, a type of training for the sake of the training itself, an implement to put food on the table.

There are never code updates, no databases to crash, no programming languages to learn. Your firearm will function without a power grid or gasoline and will run almost anywhere...just stay away from Antarctic temperatures that will freeze gun grease.

 

[joking]

Cuz it is my constitutional rights.

 

[Texasjack]

I worked with a woman whose husband wasn't wired right. One night, while she was pregnant, he stuck a cheap 9 mm under his chin and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, it didn't kill him. (I understand an eyeball blew across the room, so the damage was extensive.) He wasn't a great provider before this, but they quickly struggled to keep the electric turned on. One day she asked me if I could find someone to buy a revolver he owned, as he figured it was worth about what she needed to pay critical bills. I bought it, sight unseen. The price was ok, but I probably could find the same pistol in better condition for less. (He had jacked with the sights and it had a crappy, worn set of rubber grips. I put factory grips and sights on it, so I ended up with more into it than I'll ever get back.)

Not surprisingly, the husband in the story went deeper into crazy and drugs and all the unhappy things that go with that. She divorced him and set out to move far enough away to keep his problems out of her and the child's lives. My neighbor was wanting a gun safe, and his wife had even asked me if I could help her pick out one for him as a Christmas gift. The lady in the story called me while I was having coffee with the neighbor and asked if I knew anyone who would be interested in buying her ex-husband's gun safe. I asked the price, quickly discussed it with the neighbor, and we drove up to pick it up. I am still amazed that we managed to get that thing out of her house, loaded in my truck, and set up in his house without destroying anything or breaking something on our persons. She had a couple of junk guns left that she couldn't sell and I bought those from her as well.

A mutual friend that she keeps in contact with has told me that she and her son are doing well, as some years have passed. I have no idea what happened to her husband. The neighbor is happy with his safe, and I don't regret spending what I did for the reasons that I had.

I did have one other weird interaction that I left out. About a year after the shooting incident, the sheriff's office called her and told her to come pick up that 9 mm. She asked me to go with her, since the whole thing was still pretty fresh and upsetting to her. That is one spooky place to go! They buzz you in a door and you go down a long, dark corridor with solid steel doors on the sides. Eventually you round a corner and there's a window. We had to wait a bit because some officer checked out the firearm and took it to a shooting range to check it out, presumably to see if he wanted to buy it (steal it, if you know what I mean) from her. I found her a buyer and made that gun disappear without further issue.

 

[mm54943]

guns are also a fair investment. I don't use them as such, but, the very few times I have sold one....I have not lost money.

I agree, not that I would sell unless I really fell on hard times but they do retain their value fairly well if they are well maintained.

 

[apachecanon]

Like many of us… I have purchased guns with at least one, of many specific purposes, in mind:

Shooting sports
- I used to shoot in bullseye competitions (now called precision pistol) so I purchased a guns along the way for that purpose
- I used to enjoy trap shooting and bought a few shotguns for that purpose

Hunting

Self-Defense, Home Defense, or SHTF preparedness

Collecting

Simple Target Shooting / Recreation


What I find interesting, in looking back at my purchases over the last decade, is that I’ve made dozens of purchases due to simple curiosity!

- I wanted to find out how many firearms operated, examine the manual of operations, test fire them, learn how to disassemble and reassemble, understand how the actions work, etc. Including all kinds of shotguns, rifles, delayed action (roller delayed, gas delayed) action pistols, single and double action revolvers with unique features or designs, old milsurps, and newer firearms.

- I have to say… that (discovering how older or unique firearms have been designed, how they operate or disassemble) has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my firearm hobby! A couple of examples include: 1) a pistols made with absolutely no screws (old German-made Ortgies) and 2) a modern gas-delayed blowback pistol with a gas port in the chamber (Walther CCP M2 .380).

For sport, for defense, for looks, for investment. I want to have one firearm that uses our possible invaders rounds. If I can t obtain my caliber, I can use the enemies ammo to defend our homeland. Also the Cool Factor

 

[leVieux]

For sport, for defense, for looks, for investment. I want to have one firearm that uses our possible invaders rounds. If I can t obtain my caliber, I can use the enemies ammo to defend our homeland. Also the Cool Factor

<>

Being older, we recently standardized out home & travel defensive arms to those accepting GLOCK 9mm double-stack magazines.

I figure that, if someone is too far for a 9mm+P from a carbine bbl, they are unlikely to be an immediate threat.

<>

 

[ZX9RCAM]

For sport, for defense, for looks, for investment. I want to have one firearm that uses our possible invaders rounds. If I can t obtain my caliber, I can use the enemies ammo to defend our homeland. Also the Cool Factor

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Davmor19]

I buy them because I like shooting them. I do not compete or hunt…I just shoot them. I try to buy only guns that I think will be: A. Fun to shoot B. Good quality C. Shoot relatively inexpensive ammo. I am a shooter first, and a collector in the sense that I mostly keep the guns I buy. I will sell or trade guns that I do not enjoy shooting. Given I shoot at least once a week, the inexpensive ammo qualification is a must. I tend to keep away from the really cheap guns or the super expensive stuff sticking mostly in the 800-2000 dollar range. I would like to pass the guns down to my kids one day hence my not getting the really cheap stuff.

I also love the history of guns. This even applies to the guns I buy….why I bought the gun, where I bought it…etc. I love watching videos on guns used in wars, different time periods, movies, or by famous people. Very interesting to me.

Before the tragic boating accident yesterday, I had a collection of 30-40 guns of varying calibers and types.

It is a very enjoyable hobby….not a cheap one though!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Txdweeb]

Cause I want to what other reason do I need, beyond that for personal defense and I like plinking.

 

[jimbo]

For sport, for defense, for looks, for investment. I want to have one firearm that uses our possible invaders rounds. If I can t obtain my caliber, I can use the enemies ammo to defend our homeland. Also the Cool Factor

Hello and welcome.

 

[DustyDuds]

Because “God created man. Colonel Colt made them equal.”

 

[TXAZ]

I’m a physics guy. To me it’s incredible that a human can use a device that depends on more than a dozen variables and constantly place projectiles in a consistent location.
Proving that is even more fun.
Self defense is another reason.

 

[Tnhawk]

Unique reason for buying guns- an American with the choice to own a gun. In most countries it is difficult or impossible to own guns.