Why Do You Own Guns?

Ed Ames...It's the hammer bite that really makes it a challenge!

To stay up with the Jones'.

Also the Wilsons, Browns, Baers, Springfields, Barretts, Smiths and the Wessons.

I have several reasons for owning guns...
1. My hubby is an oil field worker and works either late nights or is gone for a week at a time. I have to protect my family, as the neighborhood is more drug infested than a couple of years ago. He tells me I can sit in the middle of the bed with a 9 in each hand and shoot for a day and a half with the boys reloading mags behind me.
2. We take the boys out shooting every weekend. We stay connected with them by doing something we all enjoy. They also aren't at running with god know who doing drugs or drinking or causing mayham. It's important to connect with your kids.
3. I love shooting. It is a stress relieve as so many before me have said. And it's fun to do something that you're good at.
4. I truly enjoy others that have weapons. Most are a pretty good bunch of people.
5. I love cleaning and taking care of them. Yea, that's weird I'm sure. Some woman watch tv and knit. I watch tv and clean guns.
6. It's my right, if you do not exercise your rights you will lose them.
Of course I probably don't need to own as many as we do for all of that, but can you really have to many?

As mentioned, guns are more interesting than the sum of their parts, as they represent a "perfect storm" of interest-creation for the red-blooded male (and female) surrounding:

1. Self-Defense Need/ Use, tied closely to being independent & self-sufficient
2. Militia Membership / Use in Defense of Country & SHTF / Patriotism
3. Mechanical / Engineering marvels
4. Aesthetic beauty, in the case of fine woods, engravings, etc.
5. Hunting Use, which is a primitive primordial urge in all of us, to an extent
6. The "Geek" Factor (similar to #3), due to the intracies of internal ballistics, external ballistics, and terminal ballistics, & reloading
7. Historical Interest & Value / Use in Wars, etc.
8. Challenge as a skill/ hobby in making hits on target
9. Related to #8, Competitions involving shooting are spurred on by the competitive spirit
10. Guys just like crap that is LOUD and DESTRUCTIVE for some reason, and we get this from a very young age.

Overriding all is simply the retention and/or creation of POWER - power over your surroundings; power over your government.

Probably others....

In order, what draws ME the most are #1, then #6 & #3 combined, then #2, then #5.

1. 'cause blowin' up stuff is fun.
2. Some people need to be shot, so I need to be ready.

For protection, stress release and fun. Oh, and there is that whole "addiction" thing.

Guns? What guns?

1) To stop people trying to end my life.

2) CDI factor

3) Fun

4) Cause I can!

Because I can...so far at least.

Well it started when I was knee high to a grasshopper.........basically for protection, hunting, and as a hobby.

I'm a bit of a "natural" when it comes to accuracy. Doesn't matter if its throwing a ball or shooting a gun or bow. So I took to weapons right away as a kid. In college I took a bow class. My roommate was a big bow hunter....had all these fangled gadgets on his bow....sights, counter weights etc... I just shot natural, no sights, no nothing....beat him every week and it drove him CRAZY.

Today I shoot handguns mostly for sport. I enjoy competition.

It's good stress relief

Because if I got rid of all of them, I would be depressed!

I like the colors

(Always bet on black)

Because I live next door to the people from "Deliverance"

I own guns mostly because i inherited the first few from my grandfather(s)
I don't hunt
Home security is barely a consideration. VERY safe neighborhood in a small farm town
I absolutely LOVE the history of my guns and am fascinated by their past. Who they belonged to, how they were used. I do not exactly consider them "tools", to me they are more like a photo album.... a photo album that lets feel what strangers before you have felt. a photo album that holds investment value.... a photo album that makes a really loud bang!

A better anwer than my first one

Why do you own guns?

Off the top of my head I originally answered, "I am an American", thinking nothing else needed to be said.

But now that I've thought about it a little more, I have a better answer:

I REJECT THE PREMISE OF THE QUESTION!

The very question itself implies that gun ownership needs to be justified. No American needs to explain any of the following to anyone:

Why do you want the right of free speech or worship?
Why do you want to keep and bear arms?
Why do you want the right to be secure in your home and not have government troops quartered there by force?
Why do you want to be protected from arbitrary search and seizure?
Why do you want the right to due process and freedom from forced self-incrimination?
Why do you want the right to a trial by jury?
Why do you want the right to make bail and be free from cruel and unusual punishment?
Why do you want to limit the powers of the national government to those officially granted it, thereby retaining your own rights?

These things are ours by right. No explanation is needed. The most important of all of them is retaining the means to protect (or regain) each and every one of them by force if that’s the way it has to be.

What requires justification for an American is choosing NOT to own any guns. Good reasons for not owning any guns might include:

Not having the money to buy them.
Not having a safe place to keep them.
Not being allowed to possess them due to previous ‘mistakes’.
The realization that you are too feeble of mind, body, or character to be trusted with them.

If there are other justifiable reasons for an American not owning guns, I don't know what they are.

To quote SuperMagnum's first comment: "Cause blowing up stuff is fun"!
Dr. Winslow (#7, #10) and others listed too many reasons to give proper credit.
Deano: Very thought-provoking.

And also, having lived mostly in cities and suburbs for far too many years (no real exposure to guns), now have access to a fun place to shoot, and only realized it soon after leaving the city to live on the very edge of it. Seldom used the only gun (.22) when younger: a very late-bloomer, who deeply regrets not 'seeing the light' much earlier.
Frankly, I was ignorant and somewhat skeptical about some NRA policies (based on media distortion), but now understand and believe in them.

As I told my wife to her face after buying these plus a 'bit' of ammo (90% of it) in '08:
"Women can't sell their purses/shoes for much at all, but we can sell these for close to their costs. And look at the money wasted by guys in casinos and titty bars with no return. They are 1: fun, 2: often historical and 3: in a post-disaster ("Road Warrior") scenario, self-defense".
Yep-Verbatim quote. Just tell it like it is.

Ancient Savage .22, Mini 30, SKS, two MN 44s and the (recent) tiny, lightweight but deadly LE "Jungle Carbine" (!) .
Let's thank God that most of us don't live in Europe. Wish I lived near all of you guys and could learn more about them, plink together.

I read a great piece once in a gun mag. The best answer to the question why do you carry a gun was "The voices in my head tell me the killer clowns are coming."

To kill zombies.
To support the 2nd amendment.
Did I say kill zombies?

Because the ACLU says that I can't

Deano; you've got my eyes welling up as I hear the national anthem in the distant background. I think I can hear John Wayne saying the "Pledge of Allegiance" as I write.

I reject the premise of your rejecting the premise of the question being asked.

You have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Does that mean you get p'd off if you run into someone at a class reunion and they ask WHY do you live in the town you do? Are you going to answer that it's your right as an American to live any place you want and you don't have to justify yourself? Sounds a little paranoid.

Believe it or not, the majority of Americans DON'T OWN GUNS!!! Some are new to owning guns. Some own guns for protection; some for sport; some for hunting; some for collecting; some for military or other historical purposes; etc.... If you own a gun, or more than one; for MORE than one purpose, then you are basically considered an "Enthusiast". That is a good thing. You should be enthusiastic and passionate about things that you like. But considering that 75% of Americans DON'T own guns; I think the last thing I want to do when trying to get them to understand my (Our) position; (NOT APPROVE OF IT, BUT UNDERSTAND) is to pee them off by waiving the flag in their face and telling them that I'm an American and I have my rights!!! That will go over about as good as having a religious conversation with a Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, and atheist; and every other word out of your mouth is: "But The Bible Says This and ......." Yea, they'll definitely be supportive of you then.

I like it when people ask me why I own a gun. I tell them about the military history that I'm interested in. I tell them about how it's also there to protect me and my family. I also explain to them how the founding fathers didn't want the new citizenry to be controlled by the government ever again like it had been under England. I also explain that I like to hunt; and because of proper hunting management, there's actually MORE deer, elk, antelope, and moose TODAY than there was 100 years ago. And most importantly, I try to convey to them that I'm not some paranoid nut job who thinks the government is out to get us; and wearing camouflage clothing and living in the mountains in a commune waiting for another Ruby Ridge or Waco to happen.

And then I try and see what we have in COMMON. There will always be differences between 2 people. There aren't 2 people on the planet who see exactly the same way on 100% of everything. But if you can find things you have in common such as nature, the outdoors, maybe it's antiques, artifacts, etc.... then the guns can become part of your SHARED interest.

Anyway, there's a lot of decent reasons that a person on a forum would want to know why we have/collect guns. If you're so paranoid that your answer is simply; "I'm an American and I don't have to justify it"; then stay paranoid, cynical, or suspicious of the world. And you're definitely free to not give an answer. We're here for too short of time. I prefer to get to know those around me instead of hiding from them.

(Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer). Sun-tzu: Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)

Re: christcorp's response

>>> But considering that 75% of Americans DON'T own guns; I think the last thing I want to do when trying to get them to understand my (Our) position; (NOT APPROVE OF IT, BUT UNDERSTAND) is to pee them off by waiving the flag in their face and telling them that I'm an American and I have my rights!!!

If they don't understand the Bill of rights and don't approve of it, then just what are you planning to get from them by tippy-toeing around the fact that you are an American and have rights that you refuse to give up?

If I took exception to the question too strongly it's because I took it as a call to justify the very idea of owning guns. If the question meant otherwise, in the immortal words of Emily Litella, "Never mind."

Jeez -

Having just read over this cacaphony,

I would like to present a new and important thread,

To wit,

"Why do I own a Skilsaw?"

Now, there are many subthreads to this thread, i.e.

How may blades do you own of what point and pitch,

Lubricants,

Spare parts,

Tips for making the Skilsaw cut where you want it to.

Practising with the Skilsaw.

Skilsaws you love,

"What's your "carry " Skilsaw.

How did you customize your Skilsaw?

POS Skilsaws.

My Dad's Skilsaw, handed down...........

Myself, I carry a 1982 Skil '77 customized by

Larry's Saw Shop (Estacada, Ore) in 1984.

Alright, not to beat the point to death,

But there is a point when you need to recognize

The tools you use, for their purpose,

And neither demonize them

Nor glorify them

Nor apotheosize them.

Just use 'em.

isher

Because it never occurred to me not to.

Well I own them because my dad is in law enforcement and taught me to shoot his old BB gun at age 6. Then the boy scouts taught me with a single shot .22 and then trap shooting. My dad and I shot together quite a bit growing up. We went hunting together. I with a single shot Rossi 12 gauge, he with his Ithaca M37. Then I enlisted in the Army at 17 and got hooked on ARs (finally putting together my first one now over a half decade later).

I live in the sticks and hunt ducks, geese, turkey, deer, and coyote.

I grew up shooting paper and steel. Most of my best memories are of shooting trap or hunting.

It is my right as a law abiding citizen to own arms and I use it.