The question of "need" as pertains to firearms

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Is everything we do in this life "needed"?

There are several legitimate uses for firearms. Must we state a reason to a stranger or maybe even a friend each time?

Why do we buy multiple shirts? For some people, multiple cars? Or how about a two bedroom house for a married couple? Do they really *need* the other bedroom? I mean, how often are you going to have company, right?

The point is, that so long as it is not detrimental to the life or liberty of my fellow lawful citizens, there is no reason that you or anyone else should tell me what I can and cannot enjoy, including firearms.

Sorry if you don't like it. I don't like collecting stamps either, but I'm not going to go harass the little old lady down the street for no reason asking her what use she could possibly have for all these old, used stamps.
 
There are three fallacies in the question.

One, the question presumes I must justify my desire to own a particular artifact. I have no requirement to justify owning more than one automobile or more than one house or more than one toothbrush; why should owning more than one - or any given number - be something I have to justify?

Two, the question presumes anyone other than me gets to determine what I 'need'. This concept is alien to the very concept of the United States.

Three, the question presumes the questioner can decide what it is I need. How is it the questioner presumes that authority?

Yeah, I know; it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker. For that reason, the liberal asking the question probably will not understand the answer. I fear that's one of the major problem with the American nation and society these days.
 
So Guy1 makes a post about buying fifty AR15 magazines. Or a .50 BMG rifle. Or a S&W 500. or a $5000 1911. Or 10,000 rounds of ammo. Basically any gun-related purchase which some might consider unusual.

Guy2 comes along and asks him, "Why do you need that?"
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Zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.
 
Mr. Crowley...

Being the mild-mannered gentleman that I am, I must confess a rather satirical - if not sarcastic - turn of humor at times.

Once, when checking in a Remington 870 shotgun at an airline ticket counter (very long ago), the rather snippy and obsessively authoritarian asked me what I had in the long oblong gun case. I had already presented my badge and credentials and reported the sidearm with which I was flying.

"A riot gun" I calmly answered.

"Why are you carrying a riot gun?" she asked with somewhat wide eyes.

"Ya never know when you're going to be invited to a riot" I said with a smile.

That probably wasn't the most politic answer I could have given, but it felt good at the time.
 
I don't need much of what i have, but i wan't it, and thats good enough reason for me. So long as i can afford it i don't care. I don't need to justify to you or anyone else why i want it.
 
My brother's wife is not a native English speaker.

One day she took some prepackaged cookie dough from the refrigerator - the stuff that comes packed so it looks like a sausage. She was getting ready to open it when my brother told her she should knead it first.

She looked at him and said, "I *do* need it."

I always think of that when some earnest person asks why I "need" guns, or a 160mph motorcycle, or a multi-ton machine tool, or two pickup trucks. The gulf of incomprehension is similar. I don't "need" them. I don't "need" electricity, or shoes, or blood pressure medication, or any of the other conveniences of modern civilization. Heck, I don't even "need" fire; I could look for grubs under rotten logs and eat them raw, just like other primates do.
 
When someone asks you why you "need" something, why don't you just answer the question intelligently, honestly, and courteously.
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I don't need it. I'm exercising my "rights."
 
It's a Bill of RIGHTS, not a Bill of needs.
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The point is, that so long as it is not detrimental to the life or liberty of my fellow lawful citizens, there is no reason that you or anyone else should tell me what I can and cannot enjoy, including firearms.
Click to expand...

I don't need to justify to you or anyone else why i want it.
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I'd like to address these three responses because they illustrate what I mean. Are they technically correct? Yes. But they don't add value to the conversation. Let's say you really enjoy breakfast sausage. So you buy 500 pounds of sausage and convert your garage into a meat freezer to store it all. NO ONE has the power or the right to decide whether you are fit to own it or not. That is not the issue! But if I were to come over to your house and see the freezer, isn't it a reasonable question to ask why you need it? And doesn't a reasonable question deserve a reasonable answer?

Some of the other answers are interesting too. I like the humorous ones, but I'm not so sure about "flipping the script".
 
When asked these sorts of questions, I usually just give them my honest answer, it's easier than trying to be clever.

"I enjoy guns and it's a hobby that makes me happy."

I can't think of a better reason to own something, and it's an answer that can be argued with because... wait for it... it's a personal preference!
 
Need?

I don't have any needs that the Lord Jesus doesn't provide for me. He sustains me and takes care of me.

As such He has blessed me to live in a country that gives me the right to life and the pursuit of happiness. This country also provides me the right to keep and bear arms.

Though I may never use them against another person (and I pray that I never will), having the American public armed insures that we will never face tyranny from without or within the shores of our great country!
 
Need?

Need? I need all my guns because I don't have:

-an RPG
-a machinegun
-a tank
-missiles
-nuclear arsenal
-my own Marine Corps

...But that doesn't mean that I'm not working on it.
 
NoirFan,

You bring up a good point, and if I feel that someone is asking it as an honest question, then I will answer. But oftentimes people ask it in bitterness or in a hostile way, not really desiring a real answer but just to spite the individual.

Sometimes though, it is easy to misinterpret intent. I'd say be civil all the time and at worst, you'll show yourself, the "gun nut," to be far classier and in control than the argumentative individual.
 
Alright, if you must 'justify' a need out of 'politeness' the answer is simple.

The product answers my desire of possessing a finely engineered, high tech piece of equipment. Or it reflects my admiration of fine engineering and manufacturing.

In the case of mil surplus arms: It's a method of showing my respect to the brave people that stood in their country's time of need.

In the case of older firearms: It's a link to our history.
 
It's natural to get a little irked when someone asks why you need something, because using need as a metric for whether or not someone owns a thing is ultimately an attempt to deny the validity of that choice. Anyone can argue whether or not another needs something; you all could make really good points that I don't need most of what I own, and it would be hard to argue with that. Even if you manage to hold your own in such a discussion, you've implicitly accepted the premise: If you can't define a need for something, you shouldn't have it. The reason it's never phrased in terms of what you want is because whoever wants something is the last word on whether or not that's true. Anyone arguing otherwise would just look silly.

To be fair to the hypothetical questioners, framing the question as an issue of need usually isn't intentional, but a projection of their own thought process onto another. Someone who doesn't particularly want a gun would only get one because he needs it, so the concept of enjoying guns is foreign to him. Looking at it that way, questions about needing guns aren't a snarky attack on your rights to own them, but an opportunity to introduce the concept of firearms as an enjoyable hobby.
 
I'd like to address these three responses because they illustrate what I mean. Are they technically correct? Yes. But they don't add value to the conversation. Let's say you really enjoy breakfast sausage. So you buy 500 pounds of sausage and convert your garage into a meat freezer to store it all. NO ONE has the power or the right to decide whether you are fit to own it or not. That is not the issue! But if I were to come over to your house and see the freezer, isn't it a reasonable question to ask why you need it? And doesn't a reasonable question deserve a reasonable answer?
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No, it is not a reasonable question. Why? Well, why do you NEED to know? This places someone in a position of approving others activities, and I need no-ones approval, (other than my loving wife), for many things.
If I saw my neighbor has a sausage setup like that, I wouldn't ask them why they needed that, I'd ask if I could have some sausage!
Now I'm hungry...
 
I need this gun because once my lovely wife and I leave the house, it's the only thing she'll let me whip out and use to shoot off a load or two in public. Hell, she even let's me do it with other women.
How can it get any better than that?
 
This question only ever comes up when it concerns firearms. I don't feel the need to explain myself to anyone so for me there is no good answer.

The guy that lives in an 1800 sq. ft. home wants to know why anyone "needs" a 20,000 sq.ft. home.

The guy that makes 35k a year wants to know why anyone "needs" 400 million $ a year to live comfortably.

This is supposed to be a free country, that's why I do not have to explain myself to anyone.....................
 
I only "need" one good defensive pistol, and one good battle rifle. I can do just about everything with those. Of course, those also "need" plenty of ammo. I wouldn't dump more than $1500-$2000 on all of it... 2 quality guns and 2 cases of ammo. Beyond that, its all about style and taste... not function.
 
I usually get asked "why I need/want an AK-47" on other forums.

I usually respond with well I like it's classic simple design, ease of maintenance, reliability and inexpensive ammo and they are fun to shoot.

That isn't what they're looking for of course. They must half way expecting/wanting me to say so I need one so I can fight off an ATF assault.
 
Bumper Sticker

I note that it's possible that some attention spans won't process anything longer than a bumper sticker.

With that in mind:

Your Fears Don't Define My Needs.

My Needs: My Business.

Moral Superiority: Helping Others Define Their Needs.
(I'm sure a "Despair.com" style poster could go with that.)

Needs-Based Ownership: Denying Liberty One Person At A Time.​


You get the idea.

 
But if I were to come over to your house and see the freezer, isn't it a reasonable question to ask why you need it? And doesn't a reasonable question deserve a reasonable answer?
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"Why do you need X" is not a reasonable question; "need" pertains to a very small subset of things that our life, health and wellbeing ride directly on. I need to get to work; I want a car with air conditioning and a CD player. I need to eat and sleep on a fairly regular basis; I want three meals a day and a mattress to sleep on. "Why do you want X" or "Why did you choose X" are much more reasonable questions, IMO.

And as it relates to guns, you might need a gun, but the choice of one gun over another boils down to which one you want. Asking why you "need" a Winchester instead of a Remington, or a Rock River AR instead of a Mini-14, is nonsensical.
 
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