What guns mean to you

KY, I am glad they make you happy. My motto, stolen from Ben Franklin and changed just a little is, "Moderation in most things".

Think about it this way, when you get old or become incapacitated (I hope that never happens to you or anyone), what will it be that gives you joy and brings satisfaction to your life? Guns on the wall? - maybe.

I REALLY like firearms and shooting. That is why I am here. I guess I would best answer your question about "what guns mean to me" with another old adage - "God, family, guns" in that order.

As someone who has a great passion for guns I am curious to know which is your favorite - not to hijack the thread but I am curious.

Firearms are certainly important for me and have been for the last 70 years. Best childhood memories are hunting and shooting with my dad from age five or so, and later doing those things with my son. However, guns are objects. Family and friends rank far ahead. I have other interests and passions: riding bicycles, fly fishing, backpacking, tinkering with bikes.

Guns are necessary to me because they're the easiest way to empty brass so I can reload it.

I like guns and the activities that they involve and Harleys. I have 4 Harleys. If I had to pick 1, it would be the guns.

Smiles....

I can not have a single gun and still be fiercely Patriotic and an absolute defender of the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution as a whole.

I own guns because they make me smile.

I have smiles attached to them because of the activities I did with friends and family.

I enjoy shooting, probably my favorite pass time, but I have other interests.

I've enjoyed guns for 60+ years, along with other hobbies such as climbing, camping, motorcycles on and off road, fishing etc. Guns were also a work tool for 40 years.

None of those hobbies or uses come before family. Actually, nothing does.

Some of my guns are family heirlooms with strong sentimental attachment, many family moments involving firearms. Also I truly the enjoy "the hunt", that search for something cool and different and the wheeling and dealing that goes with it.

Guns and shooting are my number one hobby, and greatly affect my politcal decisons.

That being said, family is number one. As much as I enjoy owning, shooting and tinkering with them, guns are inanimate objects and are in a distant second place. For example, if a family member needed expensive life saving medical treatment I would sell them all to pay for it without blinking if I had to. People before things.

guns are a measure of capacity. an armed man is far more independent in nature or in civilization than an unarmed man. only free people can carry guns.

Hokkmike said:

I REALLY like firearms and shooting. That is why I am here. I guess I would best answer your question about "what guns mean to me" with another old adage - "God, family, guns" in that order.

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Totally agree with this. Shooting my guns, and reloading my own ammo is VERY high on the list of things I love to do, but I feel even more enjoyment when I know I’ve focused / taken care of all “the other things” I’m responsible for in my life.

Weird. I was also thinking about how guns have played a big part in my life and my memories. Mostly really good memories but a couple not so good at all. Focusing on the good:

I have been fascinated by guns my whole life. Not just the guns themselves but everything about them including the culture of them. The family get togethers, going shooting together with friends. Spending time on my own reloading, target practicing, hunting, gunsmithing, reading about and talking about guns.
Guns play a very big part in my life. They satisfy primal instincts as well as satisfy my quest for technical learning. I love the mechanics and science of guns and shooting. I love the traditional as well as the modern in regards to guns. I built a few ARs but I am now looking at building a Kentucky Rifle. I love revolvers and pistols. I will not allow myself to get stuck in a rut in my gun life. Life’s too short.

My basic personality is such that:

• I'm pretty interested in how complex mechanical things work. My degree is in Mechanical Engineering, but ironically I'm not very mechanically inclined.
• I love physics.
• I love practicing something and seeing my skill improve over time as a result of my efforts.
• I love understanding things to a pretty detailed level and applying that knowledge.

Guns and reloading allow me to tickle all of these itches. While my love of guns and shooting now is reminiscent of my youth to a certain degree, the type of shooting I'm doing now is very different from what my dad and I used to do.

Guns/Shooting/Reloading is probably "tied for first place" in my list of hobbies - cycling being the other one. I can't imagine giving up either one. But I recognize (try to) something is likely to happen at some point in my life where I will need to give up at least one - and probably both.

What do guns mean to you?

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Owning guns means that I am a free man. Nothing more, really.
Yes, there are the memories of hunts from years gone by, and with the Lord's blessing, many more to come. I am on the downhill side of 65, so only the Lord knows when my time will be up, but it could be any day.
I enjoy the hobby and the memories very much. However, if it were not for the fact that I am a free man to pursue my interests, I would not have my guns. Therefore, my guns are a symbol and affirmation that I am indeed a free man.

taliv said:

they're just tools.

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True, but the owning of some is the exercising of a Right.
(And one of the few "exercises" that I do... )

Putting guns before anything and everything else is a sure way to wind up sad and alone not to mention unemployed and a host of other problems.

Ive known guys who put cars and guns before their family. Wound up so poor they couldn't even enjoy said cars and guns because they got sold in the divorce sale. Funny thing is they blamed their wife and not themselves or their cars and guns.

I understand the OPs sentiment but I sure hope it is hyperbole. Even still, I place guns pretty high and their importance is flexible based on the situation.

For me though it is really about hunting. That is a bit more important to me than guns even. That is my true passion and that is what would end me up personal troubles if I let it.

I don't have any family, my closest friends are shooters, so I can be as attached to my guns as I like, they understand.
As far as other activities go, I have said "I have one expensive hobby, I don't need another."

Guns are a means to an end, not the end in themselves. This is true even for a gun collection. The end is the idea of the collection, not the tangible objects making it up. And even the idea of a collection is meaningless without reference to the people that you are trying to impress.

When you center your life around a fetish, you have a problem. It's called "monomania."

Guns are tools. Cool tools, beautiful tools, interesting tools, but tools still. My family, my friends, my property (home and land) and the traditions that sustains us mean way more to me than guns. But guns are a tool to protect and retain the things I really value, from both individuals and the collective (i.e. government). Possessing guns as the end game? Not me.

I like shooting and collecting and everything that comes with the sport, but they'll never be more important than family and friendships. At least not the good side of the family.

No matter how much I like a good handgun (rifles are ok), to me, they are nothing more than a tool to be used in case of emergency; but require practice to perfect their use.

Family first. Everything else I have and do is to support and protect my family.