Only One Gun: Do you know.........

[SharpsDressedMan]

anyone who only owns one gun? Or do YOU only own one gun? (I'm betting that most who go on this site have more than one) I brought this up with a friend, and we could only think of one person who (now) has only one gun (he sold a .22 Marlin Model 39 to my friend a few years ago, and retains a .25 auto for home defense). The old "only one gun" philosophy comes around as guys get older and thin down, or sell all else off. Does anyone know anyone that is committed to owning only one, that they use for everything and anything, or just devote to pest control, home defense, etc? Let's hear what you got!

 

[JoeMal]

I know a guy with one gun. It's a Sterling Arms 300 .25 ACP and it's a piece of JUNK

 

[ScratchnDent]

I can think of a few people I know who own only one. With all of them, it's a handgun. One has a S&W Model 10 that's at least 40 years old, another has a Ruger GP100. Another has a Ruger .45 automatic, I forget which model, and another has a Beretta 92.

 

[TH3180]

For two years I only owned one gun. It was a colt new frontier .22 lr. My grandpa gave that gun to me 2.5 years ago. When he gave it to me that brought him down to only one gun. He still shoots 100 rounds out of his 45 every Thursday. He just turned 95 Sunday, I hope I can still walk at 95. When he is shooting at 30 feet he can out shoot most anyone at the range except his buddy Frank who is 97. Grandpa has had that gun since WWII, he has said many times that is the one thing he wants to take with him when he goes.

 

[Sgt_R]

My grandmother has carried a .380 auto in her purse for as long as I can remember. As far as I know, it's her only one.

R

 

[orionengnr]

Everyone I have ever known with only one gun never carried or shot it....so from my perspective, that is an antiquated theory.

 

[Birdmang]

I don't own any guns!


JUST KIDDING

 

[dougw47]

no, not me...

...I only had one gun in 1966, RG-10, 22lr. revolver...piece of shot, but it was all my young wife had when the neighborhood rapist tried to break in one night.

Like a good girl, like I taught her..she was able to put two rounds into the back door and he moved to another neighborhood! Gun more than paid for itself right there...and as a motivator/gift, I bought her a used s&w .38 when I got paid.

My cousin had NO guns...I gave it to him...he wore it out! When it started firing when it wanted and missing too much, he tried to get it fixed...the GS laughed and gave him a quote, then took it as a trade in on a H&R .22. He still has that one, he has other guns...but only that one 22 revolver.

A ninety year old lady called me and said she was going blind and was not strong enough to use her late husband's pistol any more...and would I help her get rid of it. When I got there, she had beautiful 1911, in an oily rag, that she said had not been shot in 50 years. It was the only gun she had.

I wanted it bad, 98% at least, but I could not cheat her...sold it to a collector for a grand for her. I was tempted to offer her a couple hundred, which was all the cash I had, but I didn't. It left Hartford in 11/1917.

Oh, she still has one gun, I gave her a 9-shot H&R .22 revolver, loaded with CCI shot shells. Better than nothing...and it made me feel better. Go figure.

 

[Onward Allusion]

I know quite a few of guys who only have 1 gun. They're usually pistols chambered in 9mm and are used for home defense and they go shooting maybe once every 3 months with groups more like shotgun patterns.

I've always wondered what their wives use for home defense? Maybe hide in a closet, dial 911, praying for the best while hubby clears the house?

I was fortunate enough to turn one of them around and now both the guy and his wife have their own. Funny thing is that she has the .40S&W & he has a 9mm.

SharpsDressedMan
Only One Gun: Do you know.........

 

[Justin Holder]

I think most people that have one gun keep it in the same way they would keep a fire extinguisher in the closet.

 

[wow6599]

Yeah, my wife Bersa Thunder Duo 380

 

[digsigs226]

Gun buying is a disease... once you start you just can't stop.

I suspect most people with only one gun had it given to them.

 

[Maia007]

I know several people who own only one gun. Always a revolver kept in the home for self defense and rarely if ever shot. None of these people are shooters and none hunt and none carry. They own a single handgun for "just in case". About half are women.

My wife owns but one gun (an ordinary .38 snub with laser sights) and shoots only occasionally at my insistence. She keeps it handy for when I am out of town and usually carries it when she goes hiking alone. She is not interested in recreational shooting, but she recognizes the need to have one.

 

[duns]

Gun buying is a disease... once you start you just can't stop.

I've only been a gun owner for about 8 months and already I have 2 revolvers, 3 autoloaders, and a rifle.

 

[DasFriek]

My dad owns 1 gun, A Taurus PT92 that sits by his recliner.
Then my mom owns 1 gun, A PPS 9mm i sold her at a loss. Better to her than a gun shop.
Then i own a few guns myself.

So just because a person owns only one gun doesn't mean the house has 1 gun

 

[Robert Wilson]

I never really accepted the theory. I suspect that the "man with one gun" isn't especially interested in guns and probably never bothered learning how to use them. I'm sure that, somewhere, there's an old man with a lifelong gun with which he is a true master. I've just never met him.

 

[TH3180]

I never really accepted the theory. I suspect that the "man with one gun" isn't especially interested in guns and probably never bothered learning how to use them. I'm sure that, somewhere, there's an old man with a lifelong gun with which he is a true master. I've just never met him.

I have meet him and shoot with him evey week. (Read my post above) The gun he shoots has saved his life.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Though I own more than one, I do the majority of my training with "the one" for the pistol (back up self defense weapon at home) and shotgun (primary self defense weapon at some). The rifles are a bit more varried though I make sure to bring one of my two hunting rifles each time so I stay sharp. For hunting, I feel a strong obligation to be as humane as possible by ensuring I practice every rifle range session w my hunting rifle.

 

[gun guy]

first point of order, those shot shell handgun loads are for snakes, maybe, really small snakes, and certainly not dangerous snakes, at really close range. a very poor choice for a ready service weapon. it's amazing, the people often called on to defend themselves do it with some of the bottom of the barrel weapons ever hammered out, with little to no training at all. but, they get the job done. i suppose if i were caseing a place to rob, the guy in the cammos, with a hog leg on his hip, a shotgun in his truck with a bumper sticker that reads, kill em all let god sort em out. would be towards the bottom of the list. the little old lady would seem the easier target. keep in mind, criminals are cowards, and not very bright ones at that. you gotta love it when the lil ol lady turns out to be anny oakleys grand daughter with a double barrel in the closet! our family has passed down the weapons, father to son since the civil war, my forefathers are long gone, but everytime i pick up the ol 3 band enfield, from a man i never knew, work the bolt on grandpa's ol springfield, handle dads 45 that went from normandy to berlin i feel their spirits smile above me. my son likes to shoot my car-15 (its not the one from the fall of saigon, but close) i know the legacy lives on. we have collected firearms for 4 generations now, as to my son, the 5th, he smiles everytime i bring home a new gun. he knows the stories behind all of them. he plans to join the navy soon as a medical officer, i keep bugging him to buy his first gun, even offer to pay for it, just to enjoy the moment, his response is, well there just isnt anything i want, that we dont already have

 

[forindooruseonly]

I know a guy who only has an old Remington 870. All he uses it for is to hunt dove. The rest of the time it sits in his closet loaded with buck for home defense.

He slaughters the dove though. There is no doubt that he knows how to use it and is quite impressive to watch.

 

[Frank Ettin]

I once had only one gun. But that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

 

[oldfool]

the legendary "one gun man" of gun forum lore ("to beware of") does exist, but is a rare breed... example noted above

but one gun owners far, far outnumber "shooters", I would hazard a guess they outnumber shooters by a 3:1, 4:1 ratio, maybe more
a lot of them may not buy a 50 rd box of ammo in a given 10 year period

a guy I know, retired USMC officer, owns but one, S&W combat magnum... I would guess he probably hasn't fired it in 20 years

 

[c919]

Yup, my father-in-law. He just recently bought a M&P9, and it is the only one he has. However, I suspect that there will be more in his future...

 

[waterhouse]

I know lots of people with one gun. I think Justin nailed their mindset when he said:

I think most people that have one gun keep it in the same way they would keep a fire extinguisher in the closet.

About once every 2 weeks I get a call from someone who has decided to buy a gun. They usually end up with some sort of pump shotgun that they want to stick in their closet just in case.

 

[MinnMooney]

from Birdmang (post 7) :

I don't own any guns!

Me neither.

I really can't think of anyone who owns only 1 gun. It seems to me that once a person is no longer a "gun virgin", they tend to get into shooting more & more. That's when they stop being a 1-gun person.