It wasn't cheap. I had to sell a couple to get it, but after buying it, it was well worth it for me at least.
I could go through item by item, but I think that would obscure the more important point. I own guns for sporting purposes, for collectors value, and for home and personal protection, but mainly I own the guns I do because I want them, and it is within my means and my rights to own them. Nobody ever asks why someone owns a nice kitchen knife, or a video game, or a pet, or the naming rights to a star, or some nicknack statue that sits on a living room table. It is assumed that the person who has those things owns them because they wanted them. It is a flawed question to ask why somebody owns a gun because it fallaciously assumes that there must be some grander utilitarian reason to exercise the right of ownership over that particular object. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but the question in itself raises political and philosophical questions that I think are misplaced. I own firearms because I want to own firearms. That is the only reason there needs to be.
I'd hang on to that. Only thing vintage I have, is my grandfather's bayonet from WWII. He received a Purple Heart(I have this too). Him and his buddy were side by side in a trench and he was shot in the back. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was his buddy shooting at the germs who shot him.
I can't carry at work unless I want to go to prison. Any other time, I'm pretty much armed. Maybe if I took a job in TX, I could be one of those teachers that legally pack at school. Don't think I would want the extra responsibility around teenagers though.
I asked for four reasons: 1. Guns are expensive and it would seem to be an expensive hobby if the guns weren't gifts or passed down. What about them are most appealing to sink those kinds of costs? 2. I know people that have all kinds of interests... movie and book collections, comic books, stamps, old cars, tractors and so on. I know comic book collectors that buy the comic, put it in plastic and never look at it again. I know others that meticulously go through each comic one by one, reading it from cover to cover. What about those possessions intrigues one? 3. I don't know why I can't talk about guns without being accused of "fallacious" and "misplaced" philosophical arguments. Obviously owning guns comes with it an additional responsibility that say, collecting stamps, does not. I'll admit that I don't personally have an interest in guns for a number of reasons, but I also don't like cauliflower or jet skis, and asking someone why they like those things (which I have done on a number of occasions) seems to be a fair question. 4. "I own firearms because I want to own firearms." Fair enough. But that doesn't seem to be a sufficient argument to make sense of our lives, or why we choose to do anything outside of our basic animal functions, whether it is purchasing guns or rooting for the Vols.
There isn't sufficient argument to make sense of our lives. I just wonder why gun ownership seems to be singled out as something that must be explained, while cauliflower, jet skis, and Tennessee don't. I do have a fairly extensive comic collection dating from the mid-80s.
There isn't sufficient argument to make sense of our lives. I just wonder why gun ownership seems to be singled out as something that must be explained, while cauliflower, jet skis, and Tennessee don't. I do have a fairly extensive comic collection dating from the mid-80s.
Really? I've tried to get into this but I don't know enough about it. I eventually gave my collection to someone who just liked to read comic books. I have a fairly extensive vinyl, book and baseball card collection.
I finally divided it up between stuff that belonged to me and stuff that belonged to my brother, but other than that, I haven't done much with it other than store it. Baseball cards are confusing to me with the different manufacturers, different versions of the same card, etc. Comics are easy. All you need: Amazon.com: The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 39th Edition (9780375723117): Robert M Overstreet: Books
Guns are not that expensive. For the price of a new gaming console on release ($399 for the Xbox), plus a game ($59.99) and tax and whatever else, you can buy a gently used Glock, and depending on the store, the day and the gun, a new one. When you take a firearm to the range, you realize two things: 1. you are only as good as you are, 2. you are going to have to work to get better. You play golf? The above should sound similar. How much are greens fees these days, anyway? I'd wager a bit higher than a couple boxes of ammo. Dunno. Classic gun owners could give more insight into that. If I had to guess, the history and the joy of collecting. Most people with massive collections collect... not sell, so they just like collecting. What additional responsibilities does a gun owner have, that others do not? Why must a gun owner take extra precaution to protect his property from a thief? It is not the gun owner's responsibility to police others, simply because his item might be used for harm. Such a thought is misplaced; instead of putting blame on the thief, we put blame on the gun owner. Such a terrible way to think. That he must protect it from a child? Sure. In the same way that you protect the child from kitchen knives, hot stoves, the bleach under the sink, electrical outlets and playing in the street. This is called parental responsibility, and has nothing to do with firearms ownership. The responsibility of not shooting someone else? This isn't so much of a responsibility as it is, um, a law. But, because accidents happen we have sayings like: "Know your target and what is beyond it." So, just what responsibilities do you think firearms owners have? No, but it is a sufficient answer to the fundamental concern; the liberty to do so, liberty that not everyone has.
Full disclosure: Float, I am not an anti-gun zealot. I grew up in a community and family where many people owned guns for hunting or killing pests like coyotes or opossum. (I can't say I knew much about hand guns, though I am sure folks had them) In my own house we didn't have guns, but that was the position of the patriarch and so I accepted it per living under the rules of the house. I liked archery -- still do actually -- and hunted on a rare occasion with a bow and arrow. Because I didn't "grow up" around guns, I never bought any once I was an adult. Additionally, I knew if I bought a gun I would want to buy a safe, which is something that is not in my financial wheelhouse at the moment. I'm not in the poor house but have kids, school loans, mortgage, etc that are taking priority. As to being a responsible gun owner, isn't that the first thing we're taught in a hunter's safety course? That's all I meant. I have left my vinyl collection in a place where my child has gotten to it before, but I can't imagine I would be that cavalier with a hand gun. My initial question was aimed out of genuine curiosity not some intellectual trap. I appreciated the candidness of some of the responses. I think JG's response that "once you have one you want another" probably rings true. Sure, you have the liberty to own a gun. I thought the question was harmless enough.
