Gun lust and you!

[Carbon Helix]

I just wanted to thank you guys for giving me something new to 'argue' with the wife about.....the number of firearms and the amount of ammo we own.

My wife is in the Air Force and we both grew up in Oklahoma, so firearms were something we both appreciated, but we never owned as adults. Two months ago our car was stolen. While a firearm would not have helped in that situation, it reinforced the fact that the single most important job of a husband is to protect his family, and that I was doing a poor job by being unarmed. :banghead:

The next day I bought a Mossberg 500. My wife applied for her concealed carry permit a week or so later (her being in the Air Force qualifies her; I will as soon as I go through the proper training).

Since then, I found this wonderful site. It was helpful in picking out her concealed carry weapon (Beretta PX4 SC). However, it has caused some problems. The day I bought my shotgun, I knew it would not be my last firearm. I knew that as with all tools you need the right firearm for the job. A shotgun, rifle, and handgun was my plan.

You guys have pushed me far beyond owning a firearm as a 'need' and well into a 'want.' I was happy with a concealed carry Beretta, but threads like this one: Sexy 1911's...post your pics! Have made me lust after an old fashion colt with ivory grips. I had been content with a nice bolt action hunting rifle, but now I dream of an 'EBR'.

Needless to say the wife is still at 'need,' and can't figure out my sudden lust for an object other than her. Any tips from you old timers?

 

[CoRoMo]

Warning brother... this site is documented to increase your gun collection... and fortunately, your gun knowledge. I can point to multiple guns in my house that I think I would not own if I had never joined this site.

 

[jimbeam]

Congratulations on your new vice. Start a coin jar, put your change in it at thr end of the day. When you use that towards your purchase, your guilt will diminish, if you have any. I used my cigarette money (from not smoking) for 50 years, that money bought a gun or two.

 

[kanook]

the best thing about collecting firearms is you usually don't have enough money left over to go out and spend it foolishly.

 

[kanook]

congrats on you and the wifes new addiction

 

[JohnBT]

At more than $5 a pack I've saved $300 in the past 2 months since quitting. If they'd raise them to $10 a pack I'd could rationalize spending even more on shooting.

Advice to OP, take your time because shopping is a lot of fun and you might just run across a deal during your travels.

John

 

[edelbrock]

If I could just buy guns I would be ok. Keeping them fed is another story. It costs me more in ammunition than the guns cost.. And I reload.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

Admitting that you have an addiction is the first step in acquiring more firearms.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Use lay-a-way instead of plastic.

 

[lions]

Work it into your budget, you have your "shooting" budget and she gets her "shoe/purse/other crap" budget. It is hard to argue about a new gun if you used your budgeted money... hard part is negotiating what that budget should be.

 

[catspa]

You know, you've purchased one gun already. Whose is it: yours, hers, or both of yours? Who will own the next one?

Hint: if your wife is already gun-friendly, building your arsenal together can be a lot of fun...

Parker

 

[Poper]

Needless to say the wife is still at 'need,' and can't figure out my sudden lust for an object other than her. Any tips from you old timers?

I'll venture the tip that you need to take her shooting more often.

Trust me. The more she shoots, the more confident she will be with her weapon and the more she will want to shoot your new acquisitions.

Poper

 

[10-Ring]

Guns are better than crack, alcohol, gambling and other women...problem is, if you think of it was 'need' you stop after the first one so you have to change the focus. For me, I use the idea of man-jewelry I've got day time wear, night time, casual, long range & SHTF

 

[22-rimfire]

I wrote a piece about my own interests about 20 years ago titled "Gun Lust". I find the terminology somewhat interesting.


Carbon Helix; I can tell you that the lust gets stronger if you actively shoot. It starts with three guns and goes from there.

 

[BP Hunter]

It gets crazy!

Carbon, welcome to the obsession of guns.

I live in WA State and waited for 3 loooooong years to legally own a firearm. WA state, till a few months ago, did not allow non-US citizens to legally own a fiream. And I hold a permanent visa card. A month and a half ago, I successfully and legally purchased a Taurus 24/7 Pro 9mm...3 weeks after, I bought a Taurus Model 85 .38cal snub nose revolver and a Glock17...2 days ago I added a Springfield XD9 semi-auto to my collection. My wifes want her own gun and I am looking at a 1911 for maybe next month. It's an ADDICTION.

Alot of posts also contain valuable information from responsible gun owners like you.

 

[Bestboss]

Carbon Helix,
I wish I could offer some suggestions for your dilemma, but the only solution I have found, is to make more money. And then get a second job. The time you spend working, will reduce the time you read gun rags and cruise the internet for guns you never even knew you would want.
On the other hand, I have been activly shooting for some 45 years and reloading for 40 or so of those years. The number of firearms I have owned and experimented with, would take pages to even list. I wish I had kept better records, as it would have made one heck of a book. At least I would have enjoyed it.
I can credit my firearms for resolving many dilemmas, most of which were with animals from rattlesnakes to a bear and everything in between. Life can get a bit complicated at times and sometimes a credit card will not suffice. If I have learned nothing else, it is during those times, that you are on your own. Even the best equipment whether guns or golf clubs, is nearly useless if you have not practiced with them. Best of luck......
Larry

 

[joe817]

Ahhhh, Carbon Helix you have the fever. The only tip I can give you:

To help the fever, play with your new acquisitions. Learn to field strip them to the point you can do it in the dark, and in your dreams. Buy some snap caps, and practice aiming and snapping at trees or a twig on the ground. (be damn sure they are snap caps though! I can't stress that enough. Always assume a gun is loaded prior to your handling it, and then verify for yourself. Never take someone else's word that it's unloaded)

The fever will never go away. It will merely mature into something much deeper.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

Gun lust isn't a terrible thing. I'm rather odd to begin with when it comes to money (blame it on my Jewish mother being an accountant and her father and grandfather being successful lawyers and business owners, and blame it on my Irish Catholic Father for being a successful telecommunications guy who started his own business).

My fervor for shooting and gun collecting led me to start mowing yards. Just twenty bucks a yard, six yards to start around my parent's house, that turned into ten, then 15, then 20, then buying a trailer to haul my riding mower that I bought in Miami cheap, then thirty yards and I'm buying another mower but it's a commercial job along with a push mower, a leaf blower, some weed whackers, then I'm at forty yards and I get two employees, now I'm about to break into fifty yards, got a corporation, granted I'm looking to sell it all to one of my employees because I'm in law school, I've got a small carpet cleaning business(again started it to pay for shooting and gun buying) taking off faster and turning a better profit, I'm an NRA pistol instructor now doing between 25 and 30 clients a month(for the last few months) and I just started getting out there into the public beyond my two war veterans I'm using as assistants who get my clients. Oh and I'm turning 25 in September to give you some idea.

So yeah my gun lust is pretty bad, bad in that it has motivated me to make more money, because I have to spoil my fiancee(in your case your wife probably) as well, and I gave up gambling(even though going to the casino made me just under 5k last year, still day trade but I'm only making four to five hundred dollars a week, got conservative). Had to pay over seven thousand dollars this year in income taxes because of my investment profits. Eh, and oh yeah before the primaries I took two thousand dollars from a big profit I made on a stock buy and bought a ton of ammo and reloading components.

So, enjoy the lust but wary not to overspend. Treat it as a fun hobby to motivate you to make money, save your beer and coke cans for the salvage guy, etc. etc.. It's motivated me to make more money because I've spent over five thousand dollars from the time before the primaries to now on ammo and guns. And oh yeah, an old gunsmith passed on that I did work for from time to time who left me five pistols and a rifle to me in his will. So I quickly filled that third gunsafe I bought that I thought I would have time to not stock up.

I've told myself time and time again I would stop but...Eh granted I mostly bought Tokarevs and Mosin Nagants, did a couple AK homebrews, a PPSH43 in pistol homebrew, bought a bunch of second-hand private sales from folks needing money to pay car payments and mortgages and me giving them better than what the pawn shops and gun shops were offering.

So hopefully you know a bunch of gunnies. If they run into trouble and need cash and are willing to part with a gun offer to go to a pawn shop or gun shop or two with them and see if you can't beat the offer by 15% and help them out some while helping yourself out. One deal netted me an AR-15 in 5.45x39, Taraus PT 92, and .22lr Ruger MK III for a $1,000, the gun shop literally offered $750 for all three, and the owner even tossed in all the ammo (not much) for them because I did right by him. He needed the cash that day and couldn't wait for gunbroker because he was coming up on his third month late on the mortgage for his house.

 

[Phydeaux642]

Guns? You are just getting started. Next there are knives, canes, walking sticks, etc. It never ends.

 

[B BRI]

Warning brother... this site is documented to increase your gun collection

It will, trust me . . . but you are ahead of the game with a wife who is "into it" as well.

My wife was fondling her Mother's Day Present tonight ( a Marlin Model 1936, a vintage 30-30), talking of a hunting trip this fall . . .

Keep up the good work!

 

[chuckusaret]

Some of us are very lucky, my wife was born and raised on a farm, and guns were part of her everyday life. When I got my CCW permit she went with me to buy a carry pistol and again to buy another and another. Gee, I had a very hard time finding the "perfect" carry weapon. I bought 3 or 4 before I found the XD40 sub compact, my "perfect" CCW.

 

[cortez kid]

Are you at "Frankies Rocket Ranch" (FEWarren). Great place, Cheyenne. Was there for 5 years. Great people and great for guns. My father-in-law saw a cowboy walking down the street with six guns drinking a Coors. He loved cowboys and nearly fell out. Frontier Days, Coors, guns, Rockies. What the hell am I doing in Pa.
kid

 

[stickhauler]

You probably just need one handgun.

WHO let this guy in, that's heretic talk! I carry 4 handguns to the range every visit (and often carry the AR & WASR along just so they don't feel neglected).

One thing you might try is my "explanation" to the wife when yet another gun follows me home. Tell her it cried out to you, and told you to take it with you, as those goons at the gun shop mistreated it when you weren't there. There's nothing worse than gun abuse, and we need to do everything we can to prevent it. I refuse to see another gun have to live that way.

Now can someone explain why my wife rolls her eyes and sighs when I use that story?

 

[ScotZ]

The wife and I have three checking accounts. Hers ,mine and household monthly expenses. We contribute equally to the household account and god help either one of us if we need to "borrow" from the other one Its been working for years.

 

[wrs840]

I wouldn't call it lust...

"Appreciation" of useful and varied tools... may be more appropriate.

It's a good thing to learn, and knowledge gained here may lead you to understand that both industry-standard and "specialty" tools are desirable. It's a natural and responsible part of growth in any profession or avocation.

Who could argue with that?

Les