So Much Easier to Collect Today
Regarding collections, those here that are in the "45yr old" ballpark can attest to the stark difference in the environment for purchasing firearms today as opposed to 1) the "pre-cyber" world of guns and 2) Hard-Fought establishment of CCW/2A Rights...
My first handgun was purchased in the mid-90's (prior to that I had the good fortune of having a cop for a Dad so I always was a "gun-guy") and I remember the absolute pain in the A** that the "7 Day Waiting Period" was
. For one, I had to drive all the way Downtown through horrible bumper-to-bumper traffic, deal with parking etc. only then to return back 7 Days later to pickup my "Gun Permit." So for those lucky guys today that simply just walk-in or click their respective way in order to purchase a handgun you have NO IDEA what a pain the mandatory "Gun Permit/Waiting Period" was to be sure. Secondly, remember that in the 90's the Internet was just taking off with Compuserve, AOL, Prodigy or some other 28.8K modem baud connection using only Netscape 1.0 (Internet Explorer did not exist, neither did Google!) there was no Gunbroker, Buds or any like thereof...one had to pickup a copy of the Shotgun News or actually travel somewhere in order to find a "brick-and-mortar" Gun Store...There was no pick your FFL to have the product shipped to unless you had the unique almost unheard of fortune of personally knowing an FFL chap...
Sorry for the ramble but I just wanted to provide some perspective for the guys here in these wonderful forums that perhaps either were unaware or if aware don't count their blessings for living in the "relatively speaking" Second Amendment friendly Country we have today. That said, please DO NOT rest on your/our laurels here and take said 2A Rights for granted for even one freaking second or you and I will blink and those very freedoms will be gone (one quick example of this is the increasingly Anti-Gun-Internet we see today where you can no longer "Google" firearms and or buy gun accessories on Amazon just to name a few examples)...
In retrospect, I think now that i'm in my forties I am disciplined "enough" to avoid bankruptcy due to purchasing the a zillion guns a year whereby, conversely, if I were that single younger guy with a decent job, minimal responsibilities and a buck or two to spend I would be seeking the advise of a "financial counselor" and or "local bartender."
My hat's off to those "youngins" that are able to responsibly spend his or her hard-earned ca$h because given this new much more friendly Second Amendment society in which we live today maintaining that "collection" budget is definitely commendable !