Buying new guns: Addiction? Wise? Fantasy?

[Huntolive]

Once a gun collection is reasonably developed, do you ever get the idea that buying more guns is really a way of wishing we had more time to spend with the guns we already owned?

I think in America we have this fantasy of an easy way out of the time traps we are in that we can get out by buying more things.
I think this may be an illusion and buying new guns maybe a way of self-medicating out of the aspects of American life that are not free. Work, wives, yard work social media or the lack thereof.

I mean once you've got 50 good guns that run the gamut from revolvers to decent semi auto pistols, numerous various shotguns, hunting rifles in 5 calibers, and semi-automatic war machines in 3 calibers or more, that you don't really have time to shoot to the degree desired, then is buying more guns really just a cry for help for the world to give you more time ?
but since you can't get more time you just buy stuff?

 

[Pat Riot]

Very interesting concept. I never looked at it that way. It may explain my completely out of the blue selling of a few of my guns only to replace them with something else a few years ago and then turning around and rebuying the same models as the ones I sold off. I was kind of depressed during that period in my life.

Now, I think I question my actions more when I get an idea that I want something new. I ask myself:
- Do I really need that?
- Why do I need that?
- What baggage comes along with buying that?
(Magazines, new reloading practices, etc…
- Do I already have something that meets the need of that new gun?

Thanks for posting this @Huntolive


Man, auto communista only does it’s job when it wants to frustrate you…Sheesh!

 

[chicharrones]

America is a consumer nation, including but not limited to firearms. All the forums, reddits, social media, for all kinds of topics prove that.

Once we have what we need, we tend to buy what we want. I'm guilty of that.

 

[Steve S.]

Humans cling to the physical because that is all we know until we are dead - we are just visitors here.

 

[I6turbo]

It's not any kind of "cry for help" or anything negative for me. It's a hobby that I enjoy thinking about and engaging in. I get enjoyment out of many different aspects of the hobby, whether it's the search for a new gun I'd like to own, refinishing, modifying, or otherwise improving a gun that I have (perhaps one that I bought specifically for those purposes). I'm often just daydreaming about the time when I will be able to go shooting, or about the next gun or scope or accessory I'd like to snag, and there are many times when it serves as a major stress reliever when I need a pleasant break from the stresses of work and daily problem solving requirements. I'm also a bargain hunter and like to buy my guns so that I could sell them for a profit if I wanted, so that is a part of the whole thing as well. Bottom line, it's a hobby for me, not an addiction or cry for help or self-medication or anything that should be ejected from my life.

 

[Legionnaire]

@I6turbo says it well. There are many facets to the hobby, almost all enjoyable to me (I don't like cleaning guns very much). I have more guns than I need, am a sucker for a good deal, and enjoy horse trading. Every year I sell a few and buy something else. At this stage, I'm trying to downsize overall and my purchases tend to be higher-priced (even used) than when I started out. I could give a bunch away without financial hardship. My new acquisitions reflect changing interests more than self-medication or therapy although I am sure the latter are real phenomena.

 

[Huntolive]

I agree with everything you said 16 turbo but I also wonder since there can be so many guns and so little time about the other aspects that I raised in my original post.

But yes I am definitely enjoy it and yes I guess you're even admitting it's an escape from our daily Drudge.
So we're kind of agreeing in a way

I also love the bargain hunting aspect of it and I'm one of those who will sometimes revolve parts of my collection when the price Is Right or when I want something extravagant

But I do feel there is a good reason why the smiling devil is one of the most popular emojis used on this site

 

[earlthegoat2]

I sell before I buy so my system is pretty sustainable. I like trying new things out.

 

[FL-NC]

I used to be much worse, but I'm getting much better.

 

[Huntolive]

Yes when seen as a hobby I guess it's less of an affliction I agree with some above that other than cleaning guns I love almost every other aspect including the horse trading.
I've talked to some people who say they never sell any guns they buy.
I think they just have less guns than me

And yes it seems many of the guns I buy more recently are more expensive and the buy ones cry once philosophy has become more part of my practice

And yet still so many guns, so many gun safes, so little time

 

[Bazoo]

What you describe is an actual psychological occurance. Folks that like to fish but don't get to go often, will buy lures they don't need. It gives them a link to their hobby and to a lifestyle. I don't recall where I read about it a medical magazine in a drs office I think.

I find pleasure in spending time with my guns. Sometimes I'll take a gun outside and just set on a stump in the sunshine and hold it and look it over. Maybe wipe it down. Just commune with it even if I don't have time to shoot.

 

[crestoncowboy]

I question why I buy more. I passed up the point of needing them long ago. I'm 40 and have many I know ill never shoot again. No need. Like the m1 carbines, old hammer fired pump shotguns....old doubles. They are quite literally wall hangers. Decoration around my billiard table. I just tell myself "at least they won't depreciate". If I fall on hard times I can sell them.... etc etc. I have no issues with impulse buying anything else. No "wants" for bigger TVs or better sound or nicer cars. My wife and kids all do that. I still have my first car and every car after except for one that I traded. No desire for nicer clothes.. At this very second I'm wearing a pair of shorts that I wore in high school. They are thread bare though. I actually super glued a hole shut earlier so this is likely their last hoorah

And if I see another one just like any of those guns I mentioned then ill say "I needs that" like a child and ill have that if the price is right. Lol. I have duplicates of several. Hell I have duplicates of some that I didn't even like the first one.

Its certainly not chasing "the new thing" for me. I have maybe 2-3 guns that were designed after I was born. I only drive one vehicle that was made after I was born. Lol. (The wife keeps a nicer one)

I don't buy them to feel safer or depend on. To be honest some, like the old shotguns, aren't really even all that safe to shoot. And no matter what I buy or have bought, I carry a Glock. Depend on my Glock. No matter what shotguns I buy, I almost always still use my first one. The others go in a safe somewhere. Rifles I have actually retired and bought new ones to hunt with. But the other classes, not so much. I may use a new one a bit but always go back.

I dont even shoot all that much anymore. I can sit on my porch and shoot a few hundred yards in any direction. Rarely do. So its not wishing I had more time to shoot. I work 12 hours a day. I have 50% of my days off. Yet rarely shoot

So I really don't know why I buy them. I have resisted better in the past 5-10 years. I said "one a year" for a while. Idk if I ever stuck to that though but I did say it and bought less. Lol. Right up until the cheap police trade ins. Then I blew that out of the water.

I did grow up fairly poor. Worked in the tobacco/ hay/pine trees/beans etc etc year round. We had plenty but we sure earned it. I think I buy a lot of things because "thats a good price" honestly.

But it is a good question. I really don't know why I buy more.

 

[edwardware]

Once a gun collection is reasonably developed, do you ever get the idea that buying more guns is really a way of wishing we had more time to spend with the guns we already owned?

Yes, definitely, and I'm there at much fewer than 50.

Adding anything at this point would be buying for the fun of buying it, not the fun of using of it.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Adding anything at this point would be buying for the fun of buying it, not the fun of using of it.

Yeah. Thats where I've been for a while.

 

[.308 Norma]

And yet still so many guns, so many gun safes, so little time

So many guns, so many gun safes, so little ROOM!
As I've said before, my wife is as into guns, shooting and hunting as I am, and she has just as many guns as I do - maybe more. We're out of room for more guns/safes and hunting equipment in this house, and we don't want to sell out and buy a bigger house. Given our ages and income, it would be foolish to go into debt just so that we could buy more "stuff" - including guns.
So, when either my wife or I buys a new/different gun, we usually sell one. And that practice has nothing to do with not having the time to shoot both the "new" gun(s) and the "old" gun(s). We're long time retired, and we can go shooting anytime we want - as long as the weather is decent because our "range" is a county gravel pit about 2 miles south of our "little" house.

 

[Hasaf]

Then there is the endless pursuit of perfection.

 

[Scrod314]

I think the gun hobby is so much better than quite a few other things you can spend money on.

 

[Hartkopf]

I just like to have one of everything and two of the really important ones.

 

[CapnMac]

We humans are complicated creatures. We resist being fit to rigid categories, and actively resist being restrained or constrained by "boundaries" real or imagined. Some of that is benign, some not so.

Some of that informs the itch to "collect." This .270 in "mountain rifle" guise is fun, what about the longer and heavier variants? National Mauser variants are especially dangerous for this. Chilean Mausers have either two or three 18" carbine variants, and a couple of "long" versions of those, too. And poking around for the Chileans is like to uncover Argies and the like. Start with a single Argentine Engineer Carbine and a person could have a couple of safes of South American bolt actions, and still "need" a few more.

Is it bad or good? The standard is typically a relatively simple one--does it cause harm to the collector or those close/near to same? If you or your family are going hungry, you probably have a problem. If your spouse leaves you, ditto. If you eat one less steak a week? Probably not an issue.

 

[bassjam]

Everyone is going to have different reasons.

1) Fear. Every few years politicians talk about bans. So we buy more guns and don't get rid of the ones in the back of the safe with the hope that they will be grandfathered in any legislation. Or at least we'll have a couple left over after that inevitable boating accident.

2) Disposable income. Most of us are better off than previous generations regardless of what the media tries to tell us. Both my grandpa's were products of the Depression, and had a shotgun and a .22lr and that was it. They fed their families in their youth with those guns, and never had the money to upgrade something that worked fine as adults. Dad had the same and added a revolver for defense and splurged on a second .22 because it matched his first. Me, my basic firearm needs were covered looooong ago, but I enjoy them which leads me to....

3) Hobbies. Some of us might compete and are always looking for the latest and greatest. Some hunt, and are looking for the same. Or maybe we just enjoy punching paper on our own time but still want the newest options. And if you don't need the money from the sale of your "old" gun to cover the cost of the new gun, why not keep it as a backup?

4) Collections. Some collections are to maybe make a profit. Some are purely just for our own enjoyment. But it's hard to collect if you keep selling your old stock!

5) Heirlooms. I have firearms from my uncles and grandparents that I'll never get rid of, even if I don't shoot all of them. And I have firearms I've purchased that are starting to have meaning to myself, like the one's I teach my kids with and want to pass on to them someday.

 

[I6turbo]

I sell before I buy so my system is pretty sustainable. I like trying new things out.

I made that same commitment - one-in, one-out - to myself about 6 or 8 years ago. Since then I've only had to buy about two new safes to store the imbalance.

 

[.38 Special]

I just wanted to know everything about guns, so bought and sold a huge number of them. A few decades of that and my curiosity had been satisfied. I've whittled down to just a couple of dozen treasures, and could do without quite a few of those. I really am at the point that ten good guns would see me through the rest of my days.

 

[Zack856]

I'm happy with my 1911's and revolvers that I need to get out and shoot more but wouldn't mind a plastic gun with a rail now that they make blue lasers. Also want a threaded rifle in .357/9mm. Also need something to run AR or AK mags. Kinda unAmerican not to have a 10/22 or marlin model 60 so I need one of those as well. A scoped .338 win mag couldn't hurt and I wouldn't mind an AK/dragunov pattern to run 54r. I've needed a walther p99 since a small boy for reasons unknown to even myself. I also wouldn't be able to pass up a good working featherweight sxs 12 or 16. Hard to get all that when I keep finding good deals but I'll get there one day.

 

[FROGO207]

In the beginning I got the utility thing out of the way. Then I was in the gun of the month club for many years and bought a large assortment of firearms if they looked interesting to me.
After a while it was only buy something if it was a great bargin. Then I shifted to fleshing out my reloading tools and supplies and that satisfied me for a while along with the accuracy game.
Then it was go into casting/swaging my own bullets. Now I am retired so I play around with all things firearms as it suits me and my budget.

 

[Reinz]

All I know is Ima Jen-u- wine gun addict.

I just bought two new handguns an hour ago and I had already bought two others 2 weeks ago, but, but, but, they were USED guns!

To add to the affliction, I’m Not rich!