What nonsense. It's just stuff, people. Stuff can be replaced, and usually by better stuff.
Wow I couldn't disagree more. Guns have played a big role in my family life as far back as I can remember. I actually gave away the first gun I ever got. I gave it to my daughter just like my dad gave it to me after having belonged to my brother before that and my uncle before that. The second gun I got will never leave my side until it becomes property of my son. It belonged to a neighbor that was essentially part of our family which is something people in the modern world really don't get. He ate dinner at my grandmother's house (the only other house on our farm besides ours), he bought a mountain of Christmas and birthday presents for kids that wouldn't have had nearly as much without him. He bought everyone a present when one of us had a birthday. He brought us something from the store every single day of the world when he came for dinner. I ate at my grandmother's almost every day in addition to eating at my own house. Yeah I was a growing, active kid and food was one of our great pleasures. The only other one we had was our guns. And we valued them because they could put food on the table and protect us from the "many" dangerous forms of wildlife we might encounter from feral dogs to wild cats (the worst actually) to possibly rabid critters of all kinds. But mostly we ate stuff those guns provided for us from squirrel to rabbit to quail and whatever else.
That neighbor left my dad that rifle I own now. And my dad gave it to me to protect my own family when I was young and nearly broke. I had the shotgun, which I gave to my daughter, for HD and the rifle for varmints. And those shotguns that were around did their share of protecting us too. From the time my uncle was kidnapped by bank robbers and forced to drive the getaway car (because the cops always wanted to kill the driver so they could catch the whole gang - yeah that was before my time but it happened) and he escaped. The gang followed him straight to granny's house (they knew where he would go) and demanded that granny send him out. They wanted him back because they had trained him and he was good at driving. She told them he was inside with grandpa and his shotgun. She said they might get Elwood back (my uncle) but at least one of them wouldn't come out alive. They left the farm and never came back. Then there was the time someone came to the back door of the house when they knew dad had just left for work. Mom was a very beautiful woman and he had been stalking her a while and knew their patterns. Dad's shotgun was in the house but mom didn't know how to operate it. Before the guy could turn the door knob far enough to open the door mom told him (and the cops she had on the phone which were at least half an hour away) that she was loading the shotgun and that if that door opened he would be dead soon. He let off the door knob and ran. Scratch one rapist that would have destroyed my mother's life.
But more than that guns were our pride and joy and they meant something as individual pieces. We remembered what every gun had done for us (still do that) and we valued them for it. And when dad gave me that rifle which was just a Stevens 15-B it was something I appreciated more than you seem to get. BTW that rifle shoots as accurate as any rimfire I own and I have some pretty nice .22's. It's not so easy to replace a gun that shoots like that.
Guns mean a lot to me. I'm not talking the ones I've bought when I had plenty of money. It's mostly the ones I got when I didn't have money and I needed a good gun. I spent part of the inheritance I got from my mother on a Sig P220 because I needed a better carry gun (replaced the Tokarev I was using). I actually intended to spend even more on a pistol but the LGS owner convinced me I couldn't do better than a Sig. He was right too. I still call that gun "mom" and mom looks out for me. That's the only gun I have with a name btw.
I value the 870 I bought for myself when I finally had some money (after spending all my money on raising kids for so many years - I had a bunch of the stuff before the kids came along but they have a way of soaking up a lot of it. I didn't mind that though.
I like the first rifle I bought for myself, a Marlin 60 that was a great plinker for me for decades. Still works great and is set up for dealing with night time varmints. I like the pocket pistol I bought when I had almost zero money as a college kid. I bought your basic Saturday night special and carried it when I felt like I needed to do it. I mainly bought it because of my first experience as a victim of an armed robbery. I hated that feeling of being helpless while some yahoo pointed a gun at me. I hated it more that some yahoo next to me got up and ran out the door putting me right in the line of fire had they noticed the yahoo running. The cops thought the yahoo was a hero. I wanted to stomp him in the dirt.
I could go one but you get the picture. Guns can do great things for us. I don't like having rabid foxes at my front door or packs of feral dogs chasing me or yahoos threatening to kill me over and over and over all of which I've had happen. Guns protect me from those things and more important they protect my family. So yeah they mean something to me. And I thought the world of my father. The guns he gave me are probably my most loved possessions. Well one belongs to my daughter of course which is something that is still right in this world. I passed that gun on just like it was passed on to me. Will I give up the other one? Not a chance. My kids can afford their own guns now. I'm keeping the Stevens .22. I hope my kids care as much about it as I do. I know my daughter likes the shotgun and where it came from.
Guns aren't like lamps. Lamps don't feed you or save your life. Lamps don't prevent some yahoo from making you scared of living. Lamps don't protect you and your son from a gang chasing you in a strange town after your truck broke down. "Mom" did. I could go on for hours why guns are special my friend.
Bersa Thunder in .380. Just grew out of it, and got out of the caliber. Nothing wrong with the pistol itself; it was a great learning tool. Took me a little time to find out what I wanted and liked. Now, if it had been a gift instead of a pistol I selected and bought myself, that would modify my feelings on it.
