Why are Guns so Addicting?

Karen, your story really made me smile !

12 handguns..in a year.. wow...

Well, I oughta share my story, now that the "12 handguns in a year" story is brought up. I'm broke, in college, and I got into guns just less than a year ago. Its been 9 months since my first firearm purchase and my total's up to 6.

Hello, I'm lead, and I have a problem! I equate EVERYTHING not in terms of money but how many guns/ammo I could buy. Filled up the truck today with 3 boxes of .40 caliber worth of gas... Just built a fence that cost an AR15 in materials... Bought a new couch last week that cost a new Glock... Yes, it's sad. Nobody but you guys understand! I'd get counseling but that would cost a case of ammo!

In a twisted way the anti-gun crowd and legislation almost causes me to buy MORE guns, ammo, and accessories like magazines, mainly because I worry that one day the spigot will turn off on something I wanted before I could buy it (such as 10+ round mags, a .50 BMG, etc.). I also buy nearly anything that is a private sale without NICS hassle and paper trail. Conversely, I rarely buy something that I have to submit to NICS partly due to principal and partly due to not wanting to be on lists (despite that fact that I'm probably on every list anyway at this point). But since I have a C&R and have done NICS many times, it really doesn't matter anymore. I wish I could go back in time and nevery buy or submit to NICS and live 'off the gun grid'. I spend HOURS looking through the wants ads, craigslist, internet ads, etc. for the next great bargain...

When I heard "1 gun a month" I thought that was a challenge! I do my best to beat it!

I get such a joy everytime I buy a gun because I know, deep inside, that somewhere a liberal anti-gun nut weeps a little!

I have to admit I sorta-kinda inherited most of the 12: a family member died, and the guns the heirs didn't want were passed to me. Another one was a birthday gift, and one I got because a friend, after learning I liked guns, said "do me a favor and get rid of this gun that's been in my dresser drawer for years." (um, sure! glad to help!) I've only actually purchased four.

I need the answer as well; my first job didn't pay anywhere near what I have blown on guns this year. I have a perfecly good, very low rnd count 1300 defender next to my bed. Speedfeed, ledlensor tac light, side saddle. Works perfectly.

For some reason I have a bid in on a 870 police, with a WOOD stock, blued. I need another defensive 12 like a hole in the head, but it looks really cool & I have to have it.

Anyone want a really cool 1300??

Not to be the odd one out here but what gun did you put your money on this round or since it was so long ago, what gun did you get? I only have 6 but don't know what to get next!

I blame/thank two people for my addiction. One was a guy named Pete who was like an extra Grandpa and used to help his wife watch me after school/ teach me about guns, Harley Davidson motorcycles, guitars and WWII. Pete passed away from Emphysema 10 years ago but I'll never forget him as long as I still see Lugers and Garands.

I remember the first time he showed me a table he had with a secret drawer. When he opened that door there must have been 50 pocket pistols in it Colt's, Brownings, S&W's. I was maybe 10 and I'd never seen that many guns before. At this point I knew that one day I'd amass a collection like Pete's. He later showed me "the Garand" and Luger and multiple other toys he'd collected. Well I probably have more guns now than Pete did but I put "the Garand" in quotes because I have never been able to buy a Garand because I hold them up to that Garand--I haven't seen that rifle in more than 15 years but every time I pick one up at a gun show I compare it to it. In my mind it is the perfect gun that all others are judged by...so now after all the guns I've amassed I still don't have one because I am so damn picky when it comes to the ole M1.

The other one responsible for the addiction is my buddy from Junior High and Highschool's dad who used to let myself and buddy wander his property with .22's to 12 GA and boxes of shells plinking away with only one real rule "don't shoot the walnut trees." How my buddy and I lived through some of our stunts I'll never know.

Sorry for the ramble.

Raleigh

I'd opine that the addiction comes from curiosity as much as anything. With so many action styles and cartridges, the combinations are endless. We, as gun owners, don't like to borrow things, we don't like to use other peoples stuff because we want to tow our own line.

Because we don't like to borrow things, we satisfy our curiosity by buying our own items. Guns are tools, right, do you feel comfortable borrowing your neighbor's tools? Probably not, you want your own tool box.

Shotgunjoel said:

I know I'll get flak for this but one way to treat it is to not go to the gun shop when you need ammo or common gun supplies, go to Walmart. Walmart doesn't have guns, but has the other stuff you need, so the guns aren't there to tempt you.

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Our Wal-Mart doesn't even have any ammo! We went just yesterday and, of all centerfire pistol ammo, they had ONE box of .25.

Yes, the cost per happyness/gun is going up like a rocket! Custom 1911's,leftie bolt gun's, and now have you seen what you can do with a Springfield Super National Match?! Oh the lust factor is high.

At least I get a discount on optics. How much is too much for a .22 scope?
(don't answer please)

I can't tell you how many times I have tried to convince myself that I've kicked the habit and broke my addiction by actually BELIEVING that I had all I'd ever need or want. Then, those dirty, rotten "dealers" showed me their newest "fix" and BAM, they you go, hooked again. Drooling for a "jones" to get me by.

Resistance is futile. This is one "habit" that truly only needs one "round" to get you pulled into a lifelong addiction. Welcome to the club. If it helps, you are not alone. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, but unfortunately, you can't shake this. Give in to the dark side, feel it in your hands, sooo smooth, sooo warm to the touch. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

This will likely be embarrassing for me here but, if any of you want to read a soul-bearing long-term account of this struggle, here is a link to a thread I had going on another board for more than two years on my effort to stop buying, consolidate, and thin the herd:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=2&t=212046

It's a long read but, for anyone who bothers with it, please go easy on me...

Walmart doesn't have guns, but has the other stuff you need

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It all depends upon the individual Walmart. Some most certainly do still sell guns, and will order them for you as well. I've bought four rifles at one local Walmart in the past couple of years (aside the many rifles and hand guns purchased at local gun shops & auctions).
In fact, I got a big giggle last Friday while at that Walmart (it is only a couple miles from my home). Their gun cabinet was chock full of rifles and shotguns.....below that were 3-shelves 15 feet long for ammo....those shelves were virtually bare. So I could buy one of several firearms at Walmart, they just didn't have any ammo for them. Okay, they had 4 boxes of .22 Mini-Mags and 1 box of 7.62x39. But hey, if you needed a 12ga shotgun and some #4 or some slugs, you were in luck!

For me it's the appreciation of beauty in engineering. I love to take stuff apart and study how it works.

I suppose if prices weren't going up so rapidly and if gun rights weren't threatened I might not be quite so addicted to guns. Right now they are somewhat available if not expensive but later they might not be so available I don't know.

Look for good deals on good guns that will appreciate in value and get 'em while you can in quantity. Reasonable quantities.

What is a reasonable quantity? Well I met a skanky looking fellow in the gun store last week. I don't mean to judge by appearance but when he talked to me he just didn't seem altogether right in the head. He also stunk, his clothes were torn and nasty and he just had all around poor hygiene.

Anyway he just blurted out off the wall that he had 50 rifles and 30+ handguns. It didn't make me feel comfortable.

Anyway for me the attraction is mechanical engineering.

Boy! I'm glad I have my addiction under control. The only guns left that I need right now are an NAA .22 and an SP-101 in .357. And maybe a .308 rifle. And an AR might be nice.

Of course, since I made that short list, I've acquired an XD-45, S&W 442, and a Marlin 39...and would have picked up a .22 revolver if it had been in better condition.

Plus, in the event of a collapse of civilization, the trinity of ATF will be the highest value items (along with food and water). But I don't care for alcohol so have no need to keep it around, and I don't smoke, so tobacco's out, leaving me with firearms and ammunition as my post-apocalyptic bartering goods.

Question about this addiction: is one sign of the addiction buying accessories for a gun you don't own yet, but want to get in the future?

My wife and I made an "arrangement" that keeps me really honest about my gun "addiction".

Here's the way it goes:

She agrees that I can buy any gun(s) I want, as many as I want, etc. and she won't fuss or gripe about it at all. But, here's the catch - she always gets "matching funds".

If I buy a new $1000 Bushmaster, she gets $1000 to spend (or not spend) on anything she darn well wants.

This is actually a very clever arrangement she came up with. I have to really think through my purchases and really get the gun I want (at the time) in order to always pay double price for it.

This has helped my gun addiction a lot.

As to why I have a gun addiction? I have now idea, but I really like it!

My wife bought me a sigma 40 in 2007. Extenuating circumstances prevented me from firing it until July 4th this year. Since July 4th I have bought two more handguns and I'm buying a rifle on Monday. I didn't care much about it, other than self defense until I fired the first shot. Now...I'm gun crazy, I'm cutting myself off after the rifle. At least until next year...

Freedom

They rank right up there with tattoos. I don't know anyone with just one. Don't have any ink myself. Got enough scars, lumps, bumps, birthmarks and "starting out" age spots to drive the old doc up a wall.