mcb
Member
You might call this a slight bit of a rant (well probably not) but an observation that does not have a right or wrong answer.
Firearms and self-defense go hand in hand that is no doubt. But I am always impress how pervasive self-defense is in this and nearly all other gun communities I have interacted with and how often that aspect of firearms use stomps on the discussion of other applications. Maybe I grew up in a shelter life (not really) but in the overwhelming number of cases when I see some new firearm, cartridge, or accessories the first thing I think about is almost never self-defense, it's probably not even the second thing I think about. Depending on what it is the first things I think about is either hunting or competition. I am always amazed how often someone starts a thread about a firearm related subject/product and the first responses are that X would/wouldn't be good for CCW/home-defense/bugout etc.
I have five gun cabinets/safes fairly full of guns and in that moderate collection I can point to two guns bought specifically for CCW and my home defense gun is a retired competition gun. I don't buy guns for CCW/self-defense I buy guns for hunting, competition, fun. (They can all be pressed into self-defense rolls if it comes to that.)
Nothing is more contentious than any of our firearms related subjects that gets stuck in the self-defense rut. Comparing two cartridges for hunting some particular critter and things often get boisterous but comparing two cartridges for CCW and things get down right rowdy. I would be willing to bet more threads on this forum get lock when the subject touches on CCW/self-defense than any other application we discuss.
So I guess my point is that often IMHO the self-defense aspects pollutes allot of threads that I would have been far more interested in as a hunting or competition or even collectors thread. I also realize that some people come to firearms first and sometimes only for the self-defense aspects. Those people probably have no interest in my hunting or competition threads. For myself I was first a hunter, from some of my earliest memories as a toddler (pretending to be a hunter), shooting for fun with family, then a competitive shooter starting in middle school. It's not that while growing up we never used gun for defense, I was not fully sheltered having my immediate family the victim of several attacks in my teenage years and our hunting guns were pressed into a more prominent defensive use (thankfully we never had to fire shots), but its still not something I enjoy.
For me firearms are overwhelming about good times and good times are hunting, shooting, and competition with friends and family. The self-defense aspect falls into the same category as fire extinguishers. I research a good one, I learn to use it effectively, I keep it handy and well maintained. I don't really want to revisit that subject over and over.
Well that is my rambling thoughts. Feel free to ramble back at me, agree or not I would be interested in everyone's perception of this weird take on our general focus here.
Firearms and self-defense go hand in hand that is no doubt. But I am always impress how pervasive self-defense is in this and nearly all other gun communities I have interacted with and how often that aspect of firearms use stomps on the discussion of other applications. Maybe I grew up in a shelter life (not really) but in the overwhelming number of cases when I see some new firearm, cartridge, or accessories the first thing I think about is almost never self-defense, it's probably not even the second thing I think about. Depending on what it is the first things I think about is either hunting or competition. I am always amazed how often someone starts a thread about a firearm related subject/product and the first responses are that X would/wouldn't be good for CCW/home-defense/bugout etc.
I have five gun cabinets/safes fairly full of guns and in that moderate collection I can point to two guns bought specifically for CCW and my home defense gun is a retired competition gun. I don't buy guns for CCW/self-defense I buy guns for hunting, competition, fun. (They can all be pressed into self-defense rolls if it comes to that.)
Nothing is more contentious than any of our firearms related subjects that gets stuck in the self-defense rut. Comparing two cartridges for hunting some particular critter and things often get boisterous but comparing two cartridges for CCW and things get down right rowdy. I would be willing to bet more threads on this forum get lock when the subject touches on CCW/self-defense than any other application we discuss.
So I guess my point is that often IMHO the self-defense aspects pollutes allot of threads that I would have been far more interested in as a hunting or competition or even collectors thread. I also realize that some people come to firearms first and sometimes only for the self-defense aspects. Those people probably have no interest in my hunting or competition threads. For myself I was first a hunter, from some of my earliest memories as a toddler (pretending to be a hunter), shooting for fun with family, then a competitive shooter starting in middle school. It's not that while growing up we never used gun for defense, I was not fully sheltered having my immediate family the victim of several attacks in my teenage years and our hunting guns were pressed into a more prominent defensive use (thankfully we never had to fire shots), but its still not something I enjoy.
For me firearms are overwhelming about good times and good times are hunting, shooting, and competition with friends and family. The self-defense aspect falls into the same category as fire extinguishers. I research a good one, I learn to use it effectively, I keep it handy and well maintained. I don't really want to revisit that subject over and over.
Well that is my rambling thoughts. Feel free to ramble back at me, agree or not I would be interested in everyone's perception of this weird take on our general focus here.
