Selling a Gun and People's Regrets: Why?

earlthegoat2 said:

Why do so many folks have regrets over selling a gun because you NEEDED the money during a hard time?

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I have not needed to sell a firearm due to hard times yet, but I think it’s reasonable to have some grief over losing something you didn’t want to lose even if it’s the best choice. It isn’t necessarily the gun, but finding yourself in a situation where you need to make those choices. I also think that many of the folks who say you should never sell a gun would say the same about fire extinguishers and other things that just sit around never getting used and so seem like reasonable things to sell in hard times.

I hope the folks who have regretted a past sale are now just in a better financial situation to be able to more comfortably make the statement “Never sell a gun” and they are not suffering from something else.

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I think you are probably reading it too literally.

“Never cut your foot off,” is a reasonable rule to live by. A person who takes that as a guiding principle of life will probably have a more complete existence than someone who is eager to cut their foot off at any opportunity. But if you find yourself in a situation where it’s your foot or your life, lose the foot. You’ll regret it, but being able to regret it is better than the alternative.

I wonder what the correlation between the “i never sell a gun crowd” and the impulse buy crowd is.

I will say Ive sent every gun ive impulse bought down the line.

Maybe I am reading too far into the word “regret”.

I was always advised to not have regrets. Move on or do something to rectify said regret. Don’t dwell. Seek a solution if you can. Move on if you can’t. I don’t regret it when something is a means to an end.

That is the price of progress. We have precious little time or opportunity to do the things we like or want to do and we have overwhelming duty, obligation, and responsibility to do the things we need to do.

There is such declining amounts of responsibility, duty, and obligation these days that I cannot help but think that “never selling a gun” is part of that selfishness.

I never missed the guns I sold in 1982 to build my house, but my 1976 Sportster I still lament over.

Yeah that’s definitely true. Responsibility, etc. is like money....kids are paid the same amount as their parents were at the same age, but they do so much less with it. The mature look back with the advantage of perspective and know what’s possible but the kids today just can’t get it done somehow. That’s been true for 80,000 years, and it’ll be true for another 80,000. Imagine how your ancient ancestors would have viewed you. La-di-da indeed.

And yes, you are reading too much into the word “regret”. Not everyone was raised to believe that denial of personal feelings is a virtue, and many people see it as normal to say things like, “I regret selling Amazon stock before the prices really climbed”, or whatever. It’s not a sign of weakness and isn’t perceived as such by most people.

460Shooter said:

I have heard over and over on this forum the mantra of "Never sell a gun." and "Never sell a good shooter." I've also heard over and over people expressing regret about selling this gun or that gun. I do not understand this at all.

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Excepting those cases where one is financially forced to part with some possessions, I think the advice to never sell is applied to looking in your safe and seeing something you haven't shot in a few years and deciding you might as well sell it. There was a reason you bought the gun and that reason may rear its ugly head (or in this case it's pretty head) and you realize that maybe, because you didn't need the $$$ the gun brought and now you miss having it and you can't replace it for the money you got for it in the sale. Also, if not needed then, the money the gun can bring might be needed later and it's an asset.

I don't know how many customers I've tried to explain that to over the years. Don't sell that bit of scrap gold, or whatever, as it's an asset, if you need money now get a loan and come back and retrieve it. It'll be an asset in the future if needed. I only remember selling one gun and that was because it failed to fire randomly. Every third magazine or so there'd be one click click bang.

I have owned perhaps 25-30 guns in my shooting years, and I am now down to 20. As I look back, I do not regret parting with any of the guns that I let go. Either I realized I didn't like them, I wanted something else more, or I just lost interest in that particular gun. In any case I saw no reason to continue owning them.

I realize we are all a little different but one factor that comes into it for me is that I have no heirs to pass things on to. So my material goods are for me to use and enjoy as I see fit. So I am not particularly sentimental about most of my guns nor do I worry about passing them along. It's not a goal of mine.

I also have a bunch of really good shooters, so to me, finding a gun that really shoots well is a non-issue. I have all I need.

So I'm just trying to understand this mentality that selling or getting rid of a gun is a bad idea. Please explain your thoughts if this is your mentality and why you feel the way you do. Also, before answering, please think carefully about each gun you've regretted parting with and then really look in the mirror. Ask yourself what lead you to do it and ultimately did you just react too quickly? Is there another factor that came into play? I mean people do fall on hard times and need to sell personally owned goods to make ends meet.

Please share. I want to understand. Let's avoid judgement and just let people share their reasons. Also, lets not criticize the folks who genuinely believe they need loads of guns in the event of a SHTF or intense prepper mentality. Some folks believe bad things are coming. This is not a venue for dissuading those notions, and up and back on that would be off topic and lead us to a lock.

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I have friends who are like you and even more so in that they feel no emotional attachment to their possessions. Their houses are spare, albeit in very nice neighborhoods and far from hovels, they just don't have much on their walls or displayed on shelves. Walking in their homes is like walking into a model home, very little around in the way of personal things.

It seems to me from what you are saying is that one working thing is as good as another in your eyes. This isn't a bad thing, it's just different from what others think. We have the freedom in this country to be different. I think if we were all the same it'd be screamingly boring.

I look at my various mementos around my house, including my firearms, and those things bring back good memories. The Python I bought to replace the stolen first one. The T/C Seneca I bought when I got into black powder back in the 70's and the camaraderie of the small group of smokestick shooters at the old gun club, etc.

Ed Ames said:

I have not needed to sell a firearm due to hard times yet, but I think it’s reasonable to have some grief over losing something you didn’t want to lose even if it’s the best choice. It isn’t necessarily the gun, but finding yourself in a situation where you need to make those choices. I also think that many of the folks who say you should never sell a gun would say the same about fire extinguishers and other things that just sit around never getting used and so seem like reasonable things to sell in hard times.

I think you are probably reading it too literally.

“Never cut your foot off,” is a reasonable rule to live by. A person who takes that as a guiding principle of life will probably have a more complete existence than someone who is eager to cut their foot off at any opportunity. But if you find yourself in a situation where it’s your foot or your life, lose the foot. You’ll regret it, but being able to regret it is better than the alternative.

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As sentimental as I am about many things I own, they don't own me, if I had to sell something, finding myself between a financial rock and a hard place, I could certainly part with them and any missing those sold things would be ameliorated by the knowledge that I had to part with them, it wasn't a whimsical thing.

As for the "cut your foot off" situation I am aware of a situation where that really happened to someone, the grisly details of which aren't suitable for a public forum, but strange things have happened.

As I look back, I have to conclude that horse trading is as much a part of my hobby as shooting and reloading. As long as I have a "complete set" (i.e., for plinking, hunting, targets, carry, etc.) I'm happy. For example, I don't regret selling my long-term go-to hunting rifle: a Remington Model 7 in .308. I loved that gun. But I decided to get out of .30 calibers, and replaced the .308 with basically the same rifle in 7mm-08. I have fond memories of hunting with the .308, yet no regrets that it isn't still in the safe.

460Shooter said:

Many of them are sentimental, and I keep them around for exactly the reason you mention.

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My wife has, upon occasion, pointed out that sentimental is kinda close to seventy mental.

At one time I collected Smith & Wesson revolvers. It was an outgrowth of my preference for S&W revolvers for personal defense. I do not collect them anymore as they have outgrown my budget, and I find WWI rifles more interesting. So I'm gently divesting myself of those revolvers - except a few - but I have little or no use for more than one (pinned and recessed) M19. And I have a number of reasonably current 'hunting' rifles. At my age and preference set, I probably can cull that herd down, specifically and not panic driven.
I have a few 'cowboy' guns left, but I do not shoot 'cowboy' anymore. They're mostly full caliber revolvers and lever rifle, which are quite passé these days. I don't know if anyone wants them at all.
I do regret selling a few specific pieces, but I seem to be living anyway.

I dont regret selling/trading/giving away any of mine. Hopefully the new owners enjoy them as much as i did, and im sure gonna enjoy what ever traded into, or bought with the cash from what i sold.

460Shooter said:

I will admit to this. I enjoy the search and research that comes with tracking down a particular gun that I am looking to acquire. The excitement when you land the fish is as much fun as eating the fish after.

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Ha,ha,ha,ha! If you knew how much I hate the taste of fish, you'd know how I feel after I've landed a fish that swallowed the hook. My first thought always is, "Now what in the heck am I going to do with this?"
You're right though - I have researched, hunted down, and bought a few guns that I figured out I had absolutely no use for shortly after I got them home. So I soon sold, or traded those guns off, sometimes (usually) at a loss.
I think selling a gun is probably easier than selling a dead trout though. It's hard to even give one of those things away!

460Shooter said:

However, I wonder if people like me get an enhanced sense of disappointment when a gun they have been trying to find doesn't live up to the pedestal I've put it on in my mind. The more challenging the deal, the more you want the gun to be perfect. If it isn't, it almost can feel like a failure. So an natural reaction is to cast it aside

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Yeah. It seems like the perfect acquisition, then the shine wears off.

Reminds me of the 70’s movie “Ten” with Bo Derek. Dreamed of spending the night with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. When it did happen, the result was far short of the expectation

.308 Norma said:

I think selling a gun is probably easier than selling a dead trout though. It's hard to even give one of those things away!

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Trouts like 6-7 bucks a pound in costco here.......

LoonWulf said:

Trouts like 6-7 bucks a pound in costco here.......

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Gotta watch out for that brown trout tho.

Part of the "never sell" mindset is likely nostalgia. Gun shows were different, especially pre-internet. Deals on military firearms, pre-64 Winchesters, Colts, model 10's and the like seemed available if you were patient and looked. But they've dried up today. The allure of the "if only I still had..." mindset is strong, but they'd sell today in a heartbeat just like they did then.

earlthegoat2 said:

Why do so many folks have regrets over selling a gun because you NEEDED the money during a hard time?

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The only gun I've sold was to pay college bills and I regret selling the gun because I liked it and had put a lot of work into it and I wish I still had it. That said, if I was in the same situation again, I'd do the same thing again and sell the gun to pay for my education. I've had a good career and I make good money now, all because of the degree I got in college. All that is obviously worth more to me than the one gun, but that does not mean I don't wish I had not NEEDED to sell it.

It's a good question, and I thought about it for awhile and wanted to chime in...

Back when I got my first gun, I had to scrape together enough cash to make the purchase. I carefully considered and researched it and tried to make a good purchase that would serve me for a lifetime.

During this time there was no CC permit in my state, and getting a regular pistol permit was a real hassle.

I think this has a lot to do with my "don't sell" mentality. Another factor is how you can't take it for granted that something you acquire is going to work properly - so when it does for me, I tend to keep it.


I'm at a different point now, and although it is currently easier to replace things I still have that mentality. As someone said earlier, it is psychological and however you feel about it (sell or keep) is perfectly fine.

mdauben

The only gun I've sold was to pay college bills and I regret selling the gun because I liked it and had put a lot of work into it and I wish I still had it. That said, if I was in the same situation again, I'd do the same thing again and sell the gun to pay for my education.

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I also was faced with the same situation a number of years ago. It wasn't easy picking the guns that were going down the road but in some cases I either wasn't using that particular gun very much or else I had three or more of the same type gun and I was going to hang onto the one that I liked the best. Sold the rest on consignment and never looked back.

Got my degree and and really got started with my life, eventually getting a career position and making more money than I ever did before. This in turn allowed me to afford lots of other things (guns included), so I would say that selling those guns back then was definitely money put to good use.

I never sold out of need, save for the down payment on my house but more desire to get something else..and its a mixed bag. I sold some terrific stuff I really liked and it turned out the replacement wasn't as good or didn't do it for me the way the original item did. I had an awesomely accurate and smooth gp100 I sold, I made a modest profit on it. I Can't even remember what I replaced it with but what ever it was it wasn't memorable.

I put up a very accurate Desert Eagle 44 as a bail bond to get my cousin out of jail...never saw it again. Guess it helped him but I kind of felt used since he didn't bother to make sure I received it back.

Traded a Romanian PSL for an HK USP +cash....which was stolen. Huge regret with that one.

Sold a Colt gold cup, FNAR, and colt anaconda to buy my Camaro I regret the FNAR and Anaconda.

Sold a S&W 500 magnum 8 3/8" to fund a different S&W 500, the newer one is awesome but I miss the other one.

Also sold a BFR 500 magnum which I regret, but I am finally replacing that one with an identical one which has been caught up somewhere in a priority mail pile for the last week.

Never should have sold my other M1 Garand. Pure stupidity. At least I still have the nicer of the two.

Had a 44 mag Ruger Vaquero which shot like a laser, went in a trade for a custom souped up 1911. The 1911 is wonderful and I would still take it over the Vaquero, but I still miss the Vaquero.

There's two reasons I regret any of those, most were wonderfully accurate and fun to shoot, and in a few instances they have increased in value significantly since. All the sales except for the one with my cousin and the one that was stolen I made a profit on, but there are several I wish I could replace. I will never be able to do so without shelling out much more than for what I sold them.

Plenty of others have been sent down the road but none of them are regrettable. I don't say never sell a gun, but don't sell a gun you like a lot if it can be avoided.

I’ve bought and sold more guns than I can remember.
If I see a good deal on a gun that I’ve never owned or that just appeals to me, I’ll buy it.
If I’m sitting on the fence about buying it, I ask myself “Am I going to lose any money if I decide to sell it?”
If the answer is no, I’ll buy it.
A lot of times, I’ll play with it for a month or two and sell it.
I’ve got a core group of guns that I don’t sell.
Of those, there are about a dozen that I’ll never sell that will go to my grandson. The others will probably be sold when I get a few more years on me.
It’s been a fun hobby for the last 45 years.

The only ones I really regret are the ones that can't be re-obtained for anything like the price I paid 14 or 15 years ago. That pristine Singapore police Webley for $145 or that Brazilian contract 1917 (refinished but tight as a drum) for $300 aren't likely to make the scene again. So now it's the surplus sweethearts that I won't part with. The polystrikers can be replaced anytime.