Why do you like guns?

[el Godfather]

Dear THR:
Why do you like guns? What is your primary interest in weapons and what sparked it, in case you picked up this lobby recently?


My main interest is SD/HD and collection. Target/competition are not valid concerns for me to to own the gun. They are, however, secondary in nature.

Thank you

 

[Hometeached1]

My reasons for owning firearms are.
(1)SD/HD
(2)Hunting
Having fun shooting them and spending time with family an friends don't hurt either.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

I am 53 and can't remember not liking guns so why is hard for me to narrow down. Maybe it was the Lone Ranger or all the other westerns I used watch. I don't hunt anymore at all. I think after being around guns all my life I can't comprehend anyone's aversion to them but I try to understand.

It can be a one man sport. I enjoy the competition with myself to improve. I enjoy the accuracy, power, recoil (well, some recoil) and maybe even noise. I enjoy the beauty in blue steel and wood yet I enjoy the versatility in black plastic too. I enjoy the smells of burned powder and oil..... and don't forget Hoppes #9 LOL!

 

[longknife12]

Shooting has been a family tradition all my life. Hunting/ competition/military and general fun. Some people golf/ fish/ ski for relaxation. For me, shooting requires concentration= relaxation!
Dan

 

[MI2600]

I always thought the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers were rather hokey, but Lash LaRue and Gene Autry were REAL cowboys!

I'm a history buff and enjoy the older weapons and their possible history.

 

[rockhopper46038]

They are beautiful works of mechanical art. Not just in the engineering, but in the aesthetics. Some firearms are flat out beautiful; others are beautifully designed.

They enabled us to form this great country, and to preserve our freedoms (such as they are, now) since the founding of our nation.

They enable me to protect my family and myself, as well as feed us.

What's not to love?

 

[Warp]

1. They are the most effective arms available. Defense/'combat' use.

2. They are fun.

 

[LeonCarr]

Shot a Daisy Red Ryder at age 7 and have been shooting ever since.

I like guns because guns are what I do .

Firearms cater to my historical side, my mechanical side, my analytical side, my hunting side, my self preservation side, my competitive side, and my fun side. Firearms to a great extent influenced my upbringing and later my career choice. Other than spending quality time with family and friends my favorite places to be are the garage (Loading Ammo), the woods, and the range.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Dinosaur1]

Engineering, chemistry, physics and art in one small package that allows me to cleanly miss a grouse flying 50 mph through brush so thick you couldn't hit a golf ball through it. AND the smell of burnt powder. What's not to love?

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I like guns because they're...guns.

They're beautiful.

The go "BANG!" when you shoot them, and "BANG!" is fun.

They poke holes in objects at a distance, and poking holes in objects at a distance is both challenging and fun.

They make some objects blow up at a distance, and blowing up objects at a distance is both challenging and fun.

They put food on the table and putting food on the table is challenging, fun, affordable, and tasty.

They represent an opportunity for quality family time and values, which is challenging, fun, affordable, and (when hunting) tasty.

They can be fun for related hobbies, like woodworking, building, and so forth...which is challenging, fun and affordable.

They are an excellent self-defense tool, the use of which during training is challenging and fun.


Oh...and have I said they're fun? "Cause they are.

 

[22-rimfire]

Started with a BB gun in the 2nd grade and never stopped enjoying shooting. My original purposes for firearms was hunting, plinking, and having fun. That changed to hunting, plinking, collecting, target shooting, and home/self defense and above all having fun. Not much changed really other than I grew up and had more resources available to me.

 

[oldcelt]

My Dad was a collector, hunter and shooter. I have been exposed to firearms since my earliest memories and have had a lifelong love affair with guns.

 

[Magnuumpwr]

For no other reason than to collect them, first an foremost. Secondly, for defense. And lastly, a way to provide meat for food. Or at least that's the original reasoning, now it is defense, food, then collecting.

 

[FROGO207]

They are cheaper to collect and use than Lake Amphibians. They can however make just as much noise.

 

[Teachu2]

I enjoy the mechanical engineering, the craftsmanship, and the challenge of mastering the operation of multiple machines in different conditions. I'm also attracted to machine tools, engines of all kinds, vehicles of all types and sizes, sewing machines, catapults, drawbridges, watches, power tools, Rube Goldberg mousetraps.....

I like the precision fit of the parts of the gun, and the precision achieved in throwing projectiles considerable distances at high rates of speed. I enjoy improving the performance through modifications to the guns and the ammunition.

 

[wally]

As an engineer I really like the interaction of power and precision of firearms, and the fact unlike most other things in this category I can afford to own and use them.

Learning to shoot with my grandfather is one of my oldest and fondest memories.

Self-Defense is a strong reason now, but it was a non-issue when I was a teenager and nobody locked their doors or took the keys out of their cars.

 

[plmitch]

I didn’t want to be the only kid on the block without one, oh the peer pressure.

 

[Bobson]

I've always been interested in weapons of all types. From a very young age, I was fascinated by man's drive to harm or kill other people. As I got older, that interest in weapons gravitated toward firearms because they're readily available and easy to use. Despite my continued interest in the psychology and history of violence, my current interest in guns is mostly geared toward sport - accuracy, speed, and doing both things better as time goes on.

 

[Deus Machina]

Self defense is a very large consideration for me, but I wouldn't call it an interest. I want a very suitable tool for the job, but after that it doesn't preoccupy me more than, say, changing the oil in my car.

Collecting is nice, but I'm a utilitarian type. If it doesn't do the job, I won't spend any more on it just because it's collectable.

I do like target shooting. Maybe I won't sink $4k into a benchrest rifle, or even $500 into a target-centered 1022. But I've slapped a good enough scope onto my $130 Savage Mark 2 that I can cover a 5-shot 50-yard group with a penny, with the right ammo and a good day. That's more than good enough for me, for now.

I enjoy them as hardware, mostly. Being an engineering student and hobby machinist, I like them the same as my lathe and mill. They do what I tell them to do, reliably.

Also, sometimes it's fun to take out something with some serious kick. Kind of for the same reason that any car guy occasionally likes to stomp the gas.

 

[MedWheeler]

Power.

The power to resist attack by criminal element.

The power to resist attack by foreign element.

The power (as originally intended) to have the strength of my government; to have a higher-power-to-government ratio than that of my peers in other countries.

The above powers is what likely brought me to firearms a long time ago. It is also likely what keeps me interested.

I can have fun doing a lot of different things that are unrelated to firearms, and I did for a long time. Still do. But, it's even more fun to have fun while exercising a right my government was established on the recognition of (and that its current presentation would like nothing more than to eliminate that recognition of!)

 

[Byrd666]

SD
HD
Hunting
Fun to go shooting
Safety of me and mine

 

[sig228]

I enjoy the mechanical engineering, the craftsmanship, and the challenge of mastering the operation of multiple machines in different conditions. I'm also attracted to machine tools, engines of all kinds, vehicles of all types and sizes, sewing machines, catapults, drawbridges, watches, power tools, Rube Goldberg mousetraps.....

I like the precision fit of the parts of the gun, and the precision achieved in throwing projectiles considerable distances at high rates of speed. I enjoy improving the performance through modifications to the guns and the ammunition.

^^^ This. I love everything mechanical. Especially automatic watches and guns. Just something about the quality and precision of these devices that fascinates me. Of course the fact that they make a big bang (guns, at least) make them even cooler.

 

[Liberty1776]

I grew up in a time when guns were not evil. They just...were. I am fascinated by the mechanisms, the designs, the shapes, the beauty of the elements. And they go bang and are fun...

 

[gspn]

My mom never let me play with toy guns (not quite that bad but she never liked it). I grew up, joined the Marine Corps (twice), and now own a whooooole bunch of guns. I find that be hilarious...you can try to keep nature from taking it's course...but it will only surge farther once it finally breaks loose.

Like most males of the species, I've always been interested in guns. A friend of the family took me when I was a kid. I remember shooting empty shotshell hulls with a Ruger 10/22. It remains one of the coolest memories I have from that time of my life.

I hunt, I shoot, I have a family to protect, I like mechanical things, I like loud things, I love explosions, I appreciate fine craftsmanship and simple efficiency alike, I reload, I like to explore, I like technical things that allow me to keep learning, for all of these reasons and many more...I like guns.

 

[49willys]

I grew up surrounded in guns and reloading,for me its not a matter of why I "like"guns,its more like I "need"guns.Not the need a soldier or leo has,but more like my need to breathe air and drink water.They go together with me like socks and shoes,peas and carrots,and wile e. Coyote and the roadrunner.Shooting has a calming effect to me,kinda like a long pull on a cigarette to a smoker.When I need time away from the rat race of life,I go to the range and shoot.Like medicine for the whole body.