Real reason for acquiring handguns.

I enjoy guns. I enjoy shooting guns and really enjoy the differences between the guns I own. I wouldn't admit it to me wife, but a single shotgun, rifle and pistol could really just about cover all me needs. The rest I own are simply because I enjoy them.
 
The same reason I picked up a '51 Navy on Friday. "That looks neat. Price is $100, and I have the cash to spare. I'll take it."

I have obsessive compulsive buying habits for guns.
 
I like machines, many firearms are quality machines that are very reasonably priced when you look at other fine machines. I love watching my mechanical watches work, watching how all the parts interact.

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My primary reason for purchasing my first handgun was for use at a shooting range but thats not to say I don't keep a loaded gun in the drawer beside my bed.
 
To protect myself from roaming dogs when I walk in my neighborhood. Also carry pepper spray.

Other than that, just because I like to shoot handguns and fill paper with holes at the range.
 
For me , it started in childhood as being about Hunting which I still enjoy. But it then graduated to reloading , shooting clay targets , studying guns and the love of guns for the pure sake of the love of guns and all associated gear attendant thereto. It most recently has extended to casting and metallurgy , etc. etc. etc. There is nothing better than getting a new gun except maybe getting two new guns. If you have never done it , you have no idea what it is all about. Ain't life grand!
 
I've had firearms since I was very young. I carried a handgun (Colt Detective Special .38) in Vietnam '69-'70. Some years ago I began to acquire and shoot handguns. I enjoy handguns for target shooting and some hunting, but I want and own particular handguns for self-defense. And finally, I tend to "collect" objects I like, e.g., firearms, wildlife art, etc.
 
1. Because I can. It's my right!

2. Because they are there.

3. I like things that go "Boom"

4. I enjoy shooting.

5. I like the various mechanical designs, finishes, and feel of all firearms.
 
I never realized until I joined TFL that I'm not an actual "gun guy". I always thought I was. I never realized how many people have guns just for the sake of having another one to shoot, or not even, just to look at it.

My "collection" is purely utilitarian. I have a purpose for each gun and there is little or no overlap between them.
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Wow. I can understand that. As in, it is written in English. I can parse the sentence and explain the meaning. But I can't imagine being like that. I was dying for my first gun when I was like 6. Was a total pest every time anybody went shooting because I had to go as well. Finally people started letting me shoot their handguns as well. Around age 12 or so I was getting good with them and it became "normal" for Dad to just hand me Grandpa's Browning Nomad when we went fishing. I put thousands of .22's through that gun.

When I turned 21, I bought a Ruger Security Six. It seems like I've bought a handgun at least once a year since then and I'm 50 now. Hmmm, guess the average is actually way higher than that when I look at the serial number spreadsheet! In any case, any real "utility" disappeared long ago. I carried the same revolver (S&W M296) for nearly ten years. Now I'm carrying an HK P2000 LEM .357 SIG and I'm just as happy with that.

Guns in general are fascinating. I love military rifles for their history. And there really is something about a handgun. The way the designer has to make it compact enough to be useful but still powerful enough to do the job. You weigh it in your hand and you dream of Bill Jordan or Skeeter or Keith. Easy to see who my heroes were. And what a lot of my handguns are going to look like!

Anyway, I'm in the "way too many guns to be useful" camp. I sometimes buy a new handgun, bring it home and shoot it that very day, then forget all about it for six months or a year. Or I buy a new handgun in some obscure caliber, buy brass and dies, but get busy and never get around to actually doing the reloading. I can think of a couple of those still waiting to be fired for the first time. I need to get around to that. I've got a rifle out in the big safe that is in the same boat! And I bought it almost a year ago.

Gregg
 
If I bought only guns I "needed" I'd have a 12 ga. pump gun. I could do everything I want to do with a gun, with that except conceal carry I suppose, and I've, to be quite honest, never felt the "need" to do that.

I have other guns, and carry one because I like guns. Sure, I can use it to defend myself, or overthrow the government, or to help push the Martians back into the sea, but I really don't ever expect to have to do any of those.

Another thing I enjoy is the hunt. I like finding guns I don't have, or have never had. I didn't "need" a 10/22 with a Manlincher stock. But I wanted one. Sure, I could have gone to Gunbroker and purchased one, but that's like shooting a fish in a bucket. I had to "hunt" for it. When I found it, it came home with me. Took a few years of watching the same stand, but it did show up.
 
Reasons

The real reason? Being honest about it, despite the fact that there are lots of other reasons, the basic one for me (and I suspect for many, if not most, shooters) is the "will to power".....even the smallest, least impressive cartridge is quite powerful and certainly dangerous. Controlling that power is the rush that fuels a lot of my shooting. Making any gun do what I want it to...controlling the power of any gun.....provides a sense of mastery and accomplishment that is different than any other.
I don't think about that much but when I look for the real reason that I own and buy the guns that I do, the ideas above are the most basic.
Pete
 
I worked my butt off for years and missed out on a lot of things. After the kids were gone we have been busy developing the hobbies each of us always wanted to do. My wife is very active in community. Me? I like doing things mostly outside so I bought a pistol just for grins and jollies. Then another and another then I needed a new .223 followed by another pistol or three. Suddenly shooting began to get expensive so I got a reloader to help defray the costs of my bang, bang hobby. Later a friend showed up with his chronograph which sort of made reloading and shooting a whole lot more fun not to mention I love going to the range and shooting targets at 100 yds with my .357 pistols although some of my first loads were disappointing.

I'm a died in the wool bird hunter. My old 870 recently mentioned to me a Benelli Ultralite might be a good addition but I've got all summer long and I want to shoot some clays with one before I make up my mind.

Now it looks like I need another safe. Santa!!

What I don't understand is why some people seem to look down their noses when I mention guns? A person mentioned "Gun Culture" to me the other day which threw me because I looked at shooting as nothing more than going out and seeing who was doing a better job on the range and in the shop on the press.
 
My real reason for acquiring any gun is because I want it. I guess if I had to I could make do with just a couple of different guns but that would be kind of boring. For me they don't have to have a purpose I just enjoy shooting them.

Stu
 
I have 50 or so guns ( about 30 handguns / 20 shotguns and a few rifles)...

I have a CCW permit ...but I rarely carry a gun ...( maybe twice a month ) ...and to me, the concept of defense just doesn't concern me/doesn't worry me.

but I enjoy the skill it takes to draw a gun, double tap, reload, etc ....in a tactical course of fire....and I also enjoy being able to do that with a number of different guns ....( a variety of 1911's in 9mm and .45 acp / a few Sigs in 9mm and .40S&W / a lot of S&W revolvers....K, N frames in .357 mag & .44 mag )....

I'm also a clay target shooter ...skeet, trap and sporting clays...so I have a lot of shotguns ...for clays, etc....but I don't hunt much anymore.

I used to hunt big game ...from the time I was a kid ...but those days are behind me now...I only have a few rifles....

I shoot - and collect - what I like ...
 
Why? I enjoy the personal challenge of trying to better myself at a shooting range. I buy a variety of guns because I like to reload and more calibers are more fun to work with.
 
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