I had one handgun for 25 years, and multiple rifles and multiple shotguns for various specific uses, mostly hunting. Then recently I started EDC pistols, and my focus changed in search of the new perfect, shiny tools. I have found myself in the position that I have the tools I need for my purposes. Now I come up with elaborate reasons to rationalize buying more guns, you know, for the grand kids.
Based on Buzznroses’ investment adviser’s recommendation.
I don't disagree. My googling was more of an exercise for me out of curiosity. I saw a survey result and found it interesting the shifting demographics of guns that people are buying and why. Then I, of course, take it a step or two further
. I also found it interesting that some of it coincidently fit my current focus and purchasing goals. Maybe my decisions were influenced by marketing, reading gun forums, and the news. The decisions certainly weren't made in a vacuum. The statistics, however, did not have one conscious iota (maybe a subconscious iota) of impact on my decisions. Regarding guns, I am definitely not average 
.Excellent idea. Another justification to use.
I buy more handguns bc the only convenient place for me to shoot is an indoor range, and I don’t enjoy long guns at a 25 years indoor range.
Taurus and BersaI will assume the 0.56 handgun is parts for now)
Yeah I was thinking about that last night, that was an off the cuff guess but it's probably 100:1 for me too. I stopped burning up cases of .223 when they started being 50cents/rd. So as of the last few years, it's probably 100:1
I have some AR and AK but don't enjoy shooting those. I use one for varmint and keep one for SD but compared to the trends of thousands of handgun rounds i shoot, the ratio would be WAY higher for handgun. Lol. I teach people with a 10/22 or lever action 22 so a few that way. But take out rimfire and it's way off
I would say that many owners have one pistol for self defense and nothing else. I was in that category for a decade. I own a way more lopsided ratio of rifles and every purchase it doesn't get better. Might have a lot to do with the sports I like with guns. Lever games are my favorite.Read some survey that around the year 2000, the number of handguns in the US passed the number of long guns (rifles/shotguns). Looking at my inventory, I have 125% more long guns than handguns, so I have a long way to go to catch up to the average norm for gun owners. Now I recognize that, as members of a gun board, we are not a statistical cross section of the population. I'm sure 99% of us are members of the super owner group. So even though the ratio of my collection is out of balance, the number of guns I own tip the scale back for me. Anyway, I dug up some stats and conflated them since many of them are from different years, from around 2021 through 2023, and some going back to 2009, so take them for what they are worth.
The percentage of adult Americans that own at least one gun is 32%. With 261,744,000 American Adults in 2023 equates to 83,758,080 gun owners in America.
In 2023, there were an estimated 466,000,000 firearms in the U.S. Using estimates from 2009 and adding in ATF estimates of manufactured firearms from 2010 to 2022, there are an estimated 178,000,000 handguns, 150,000,000 rifles, 96,000,000 shotguns and, I'll say, 42,000,000 misc. firearms, to make 466,000,000 (monkey math ensues). Sooo....
In 2021, 83% of gun owners owned a handgun which equates to 69,519,206 Americans own a hand gun. An average of 2.56 handguns per handgun owner (I will assume the 0.56 handgun is parts for now
In 2021, 69% of gun owners owned a rifle which equates to 57,793,075 Americans own a rifle. An average of 2.6 rifles per rifle owner.
In 2021, 58.4% of gun owners owned a shot gun, which equates to 48,914,718 Americans own a shotgun. An average of 1.96 shotguns per shotgun owner.
50% owned 87% of the guns, or 41,879,040 gun owners owned 405,420,000. An average of 9.68 guns for the upper 50% of owners. I'm looking good here.
23% owned 66% of the guns, or 19,264,360 gun owners owned 307,560,000. An average of 15.97 guns for the upper 23% of owners. I'm looking good here, too.
So, I'm above average on overall numbers, but the average gun owner has more handguns than rifles. Not sure I can settle for less than average in that regard. I need to buy 12 handguns to get my ratio close to the 1.2:1 handgun to rifle ratio that America has achieved. Please don't ask me to cite my sources as it was a hodge podge of Google searching and I didn't write down the links. It's all monkey math anyway.
My "list" currently has 8 handguns at the top, which will help with my handgun to long gun ratio. I've run out of room in my safe for rifles, and handguns just seem to make sense right now, regardless of my ratio. I can't argue "need" as functional tools as I have all I "need", but I guess I can come up with some more excuses. (10mm is good for bear defense, right?
Are you below average?Do you need to buy more handguns, or have you properly allocated your resources over time? Where are you lacking to be statistically adequate?
The 1920 census revealed for the first time 50‰ of Americans lived in cities. And in 2000 we switched over to pistols.....
I also had one pistol for home defense. Everything else I owned was for hunting, so rifles and shotguns easily outnumbered my pistol. Then I got some AR’s, that I use for hunting - so my pistol was even more outnumbered. Then I started carrying and my ratio got smaller. I started to like shooting my handguns more, and now they have become my preferred purchases - and a functional collection. I don’t carry 1911’s, so why did I purchase three of them? (Rhetorical question. I know why
)
My wife seems to think soAre you below average?
It has come to my attention, that you are no longer allowed to ask me that question, Sir.
I believe that to be my issue as well.
I somehow suspect context is getting lost with time in this threadMy wife seems to think so
It has come to my attention, that you are no longer allowed to ask me that question, Sir.
! But I can completely relate to the inadequate size of my collection - of guns.
