Is your reason for owning guns evolving?

I may have had a reason to own guns in the past, but now I don't have a reason because I do not need a reason.

Thinking of gun ownership being justified through successfully passing an arbitrary litmus test is un-Constitutional.

The minute you mention the why of ownership, you give yourself an opening for antis to start prying and twisting.

Initially, I thought going to range could be a nice way of spending free time. Then when I got first gun and read up on guns and gun use a bit, it became more about CC and home defense as a primary reason. After all, it is a tool first, toy second.

I own firearms because:

1. It's my Constitutional right.
2. I like them.
3. They are fun to shoot at the range.
4. Home Defense / Self defense.
5. Most importantly......just cause.

stchman said:

I own firearms because:

1. It's my Constitutional right.
2. I like them.
3. They are fun to shoot at the range.
4. Home Defense / Self defense.
5. Most importantly......just cause.

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I like that list; a lot.

My reason has not changed which is because I can and I want to. My preference in what I own has changed greatly in the past couple of years.

Yes as is the types of guns I "collect" now. Illinois CCL and the possibility of going armed everywhere it is legal has changed the way I train, my mindset, and the guns I own.

I'm a Martial kind of guy and carrying weapons makes me feel normal and whole in a way I used to only feel when I was at the Dojo.

So, yeah, the reason I own guns is evolving.

VooDoo

It's my right to own them and my duty to protect my family by any means necessary.

Is your reason for owning guns evolving?

Click to expand...

No.
Is, and has always been, my defender, first and foremost.

I had not shot in 30 years

I bought my first gun for home defense. Since then I have added 4 more and 2 rifles. I love to target shoot but both my wife and I know where the HD guns are ...she too has come to see the necessity. We live in a very passive area which means...Nothing. How many stories of remote farm houses or rural areas where people thought they were prey? Not this house.

I started out hunting because where I am from that's about all little boys talk about in school. Heck, there wasn't even any school on the first day of deer season. When I hit adulthood, I realized I liked shooting more than hunting. Most of my collection is for range fun or some type of competition......Yeah, I carry a gun every day, but could narrow that part of my collection to just a gun or three if I had to.

Is your reason for owning guns evolving?

No, not really. I was 8 years old when given a Remington Model 510P 22 rifle during 1958. Thus began a love affair with the gun. I just loved target shooting and hunting. I had a fascination with guns as to how they worked. My gun love carried through my years in the Marine Corps and ending up a Vietnam veteran. My few guns grew into a collection over the years with the addition of more rifles and handguns.

All of this before a coarsening of the US culture began to grow and CCW and home defense weren't really thought about. Today my love of the gun is the same as it was some 50 odd years ago. My reasons for gun ownership really haven't evolved. However, it is nice that my guns now also serve as tools for home and self defense as well as the shooting sports I have always enjoyed. At my age with my convictions and beliefs I don't see any evolving in my future.

Ron

You know I actually prefer to target shoot to hunting. I do go hunting but I am not as into it. I love being outside with my rifle but I get more satisfaction from target shooting. The fact I can use them for SD is just a bonus.

I may have had a reason to own guns in the past, but now I don't have a reason because I do not need a reason.

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try telling that to my wife...............

stchman said:

I own firearms because:

1. It's my Constitutional right.
2. I like them.
3. They are fun to shoot at the range.
4. Home Defense / Self defense.
5. Most importantly......just cause.

Click to expand...

This is how I feel.

In the decades I've own guns, from my first gun to my most recent, all guns have fallen into these categories.

I don't hunt, but would add that to the list because it's something I may one day try and would be open to going on a hunt with friends.

I've been a hunter since 1972 so I've always had guns for that purpose, since 1982 I've dabbled with handguns(revolvers) as a woods/hunting gun. My state didn't get CCW till 2004 but I waited until 09 to get my license since then I've carried daily. As to gun preferences, I'm still a hunter, still carry a revolver for a woods/hunting gun but added a couple of CCW guns to my safe.

Self defense pretty much always has been the reason. I do have a few M1s. Mostly because they were economical semi-auto rifles. Greek Rack Grade $295 plus shipping. At that time even China Sport SKS were about the same price. AWB days.

It has absolutely evolved. Probably the key factor to the evolution is my ability to actually afford things.

I started out with a need for a firearm for personal defense. That single hand gun was the only thing I had with me during my college years and moving around for my first jobs. That covers many years.

Next was a shot gun. Again for defense.

Next was some hand guns to have ready for my children as they go out so that they can start off a little better than I did.

Next was a hunting rifle, the all around 30-06.

Next was the desire to prepare myself for the reasons I believe the founders wrote the 2nd Amendment, so if there is to be a well regulated militia (the citizen) then I had better have something to show up with, no one was going to provide me with something on the day that they are needed.


Since then there have been things that I find interesting.

So, if I were giving advice to some one just starting out I would say this:
Get a good 9mm pistol or 357 revolver.
Then get a good 12 gauge shot gun. Pump is inexpensive and works great.
Then get a hunting rifle and a scope for it. 30-06 is a nice cartridge, but there are lots that are nice.
Then get a rifle that can take a detachable magazine and get a few mags and have the ready.

I would interject that I would put priorities on some food supplies and the elimination of debt as well, get the pistol and shot gun, work on some food, pay off debt, then get hunting rifle, pay off house, ...

Interesting question.

I think like many, I owned weapons for hunting in the beginning. In that vein I owned an 870 12 gauge and a Winchester 30-30. The Winchester was the first gun my dad ever bought, which put me in a collector role relatively quickly. That is how much of my collection evolved; a combination of hunting and collecting. About 1 month after I got married, I bought a hand gun for self defense.

Since then I have bought most of my guns for work and the collection. Recently, say 3 years ago, I began reforming my collection to something that is more inter-operable/standardized, i.e. I have four(4) 9mm and I would prefer them all be glocks. My pop and I have been trying to get our collections to be standard caliber and design. I am sure in the future the motivation will continue to evolve.

When I first bought a gun, it was an AR15, because I thought I'd enjoy sport shooting. It was a heavy 24" barrel model that was great for long range shooting, but next to useless for anything else.

Then I moved to the country. Police help is slow to arrive here, as there is little LE presence, and like I said, I lived out of town. Not that living in town makes you any safer though. The cops still wouldn't show up on time to save your life in a break in situation. So then I bought a handgun to protect myself and my home. Turns out I really enjoy handgun shooting and ownership.

Since buying my first handgun several years ago, my reason for owning has not changed, only my proficiency has.

I was raised in a family where we had shotguns for pheasant hunting, rifles for deer hunting, and .22s for small game and varmints. Some family members had "military style" rifles such as garands, AKs, and SKSs, but I always thought of them as novelty guns. NOBODY had any type of handgun except maybe a pellet gun. People often had a small rifle in the pickup in case they saw a coyote. Never any inkling or discussion of using a firearm for defense. Never any discussion about how owing firearms related to the 2A. Keeping a firearm loaded in the home was considered "crazy." Some people would have called me a "Fudd."

I carried the mindset that "firearms are for hunting" in to my late twenties. I was in the military through most of the AWB era and didn't give it any thought since I still only owned a shotgun, a hunting rifle, and a 22, but then got a couple pistols and an AR "just for fun." Besides, we had to keep our personal firearms at the armory, and check them out when we left base. After the military I moved in to a city and lived in a rough part of town where I routinely saw acts of violence as well as a couple gang-related gunfights right outside my house. Of course, the cops always showed up LATER. I started keeping my 1911 ready.

It wasn't until the anti Second Amendment push of late 2012/early 2013 that I really started thinking about firearms from a more holistic perspective, and probably more in line with the true intent of the Second Amendment.

I now live in a much more peaceful place, but I CC as much as possible. I've given the RKBA a lot of thought over the past couple years and I've come to the conclusion that owning firearms and weapons in general is an inalienable, natural, human right that tyrants and misguided people have been trying to take away for hundreds of years. When they are successful, atrocities usually follow.

That's how my attitude toward guns has evolved.

I will freely admit that I bought my first gun as a result of ever increasing local situation. I had been noticing a decline in quality of adjoining neighborhood "locals." Started getting that "negative vibe" from some of the people crossing through my neighborhood - little did I know that there was a drug house established 2 blocks away.

Then because I shot a friends and enjoyed the experience, and the tipping point became in the same week as that I saw a nasty anti-gun bunch protesting to take away one of my freedoms.

Guess it was essentially a panic buy situation. I thought - I better do it now before someone decides I can't. After that though, it became a downward spiral of "ooh shiny... I need one of those..." at various gun shows, auctions, shops, internet browsing... etc.... Then came the reloading bug....

I started going hunting with my dad and grandfather when i was about 6 or 7 been doing it ever since but been carrying for the last 35 yrs but now i carry a bigger gun and more ammo due to the threats we are all facing now..

I have always been interested in the design and mechanical operation of guns. At the time all I could get were non-firing replica models and I loved taking them apart to see how they worked and then putting them back together (usually successfully). When I was old enough to buy my own guns it was mainly for hunting. Over the years my interests in guns has shifted more to handguns and primarily those best suited for concealed carry and home defense.

1) I can (my right)

2) They're fun.

3) I'm fascinated by their impact on history.

4) Shooting allows me to destress and put everything else out of mind for a few hours.

5) Gives me something to reload.

6) More time to bond with family and friends.

7) Because I can.