Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on my Dad's knee, shooting a pellet rifle and a .22 Marlin single shot youth model. A few times a year we'd get together with my uncles and cousins, and we'd target shoot. I'd love it. It was better than Christmas to me. When my older brother turned 10 (I was 8) he got a Daisy b.b. gun. We wore that thing out in the backyard. When I turned 10, I got my own b.b. gun. And we wore that one out, too. We'd shoot soda cans, bottles, empty shotgun shell hulls, bottle caps, little green army men... Whatever was on hand and made a challenging target.

So, by the time I hit 21, it was a given I was going to dive into firearms ownership. My mom hated guns. My dad likes shoot clays and target plinking, but hates EBRs and doesn't really care for pistols. So, I wasn't going to get any of those things until I got out on my own.

Sometime when I was about 10 or so, I got my hands on a Sig Sauer promotional catalog. I fell in love with the p226 on sight.

By the time I hit 21, the SigPro was around, and I nearly went for a sp2009, but the pull of the 226, and some guidance from this very forum, could not be ignored.

So, I got my 226, in 9mm, when I turned 21 in 2004.

...and I shot it like crazy. I discovered IDPA, and shot in a local weekly match for years. That sure made me a better shooter. It also got me paying attention to the defensive applications of firearms and I got a little more serious about learning how to shoot and handle my weapons, as well as the need of long guns for a defensive plan.

It wasn't long before I'd gotten an AR-15 carbine, and learned how to use it. More guidance from this forum helped me find my optimal configuration. It's been my primary home defense weapon for over a decade.

But, all the while, the joy of shooting and improving/maintaining my skills is what keeps me interested and excited about firearms. I have discovered an interest in military arms of bygone eras, and enjoy articles and videos that take deep looks into the development, design, history, and function of these old guns.

Most of all, though, firearms are fun. And now I'm sharing that fun with my daughter.

quote:

Colt SAA cap guns were the beginning. Then Daisy Red Rider, then Colt 1911, Sig, Ruger, Thompson/Center (Still no Glock)...

I pretty much started out the same. Owned all of those except the 1911. Carried one in the army, didn't care for it. I do have a Glock!

because a M1 Abrams tank wont fit in the garage

Because they are the best.

Because my government does not trust armed citizens.

Like a lot of people I got interested while watching movies , mainly WWII (pacific) & westerns as a kid.
I got to fire my first rifle pretty young and was irritated that I couldn’t shoot like the TV folks did.
That started a life long pursuit of marksmanship.
Shooting the bare minimum (220) to qualify as expert at Parris Island lit a fire under my ass to keep that rating.
Each time I qualified I shot a higher score than the previous year. After 5 straight ears of that they gave me a chance to coach marksmanship at the rifle range and on the side I got to help guys who couldn’t seem to to do much more than barely qualify with a pistol.
Once out I was pretty bummed at the range set ups in the civilian world but once I got my head around the fact that I’m not in the Corps anymore and I’ll not be sent off to war again I was able to shift my mindset to civilian scenarios and my interest was piqued again.
I’ve always liked and have been a bit awed by true marksmen.
Love that I live in Ohio and have Camp Perry to go to and see folks putting it out to amazing distances with that kind of accuracy.
Feel like a kid again watching them except they’re not actors.

I don’t know if any of that is “Why I own Firearms” though.
Perhaps it has to do with my love of hand tools
I love anything that’s done by hand and not easy to master.
Drawing, hand carving, furniture making , blacksmithing, Shooting.
Being self sufficient may have a bit to do with it.
I like to be a self sufficient as possible and little is more important and basic as being able to protect yourself and those you love from the evils of the world.

Interesting question you’ve put up here.

quote:

Originally posted by Steyn:
Because my government does not trust armed citizens.

Again, all throughout this thread, I have seen such responses. Are we to believe that you have invested in firearms, accoutrements, ammunition, firearms training and/or education and the like- no small matter, either monetarily or in time consumed- on principle alone?

Quite simply, this is not at all believable. Why bother to answer this question with such posturing? Everyone- every single person- who reads and participates in this forum has an interest in firearms. You are not here on principle alone. You have not invested time and substantial sums of money in firearms merely because you're a dedicated constitutionalist. It's preposterous, and, again, I ask why anyone would bother to give such a trite and clearly false answer to this question.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Steyn:
Because my government does not trust armed citizens.

Again, all throughout this thread, I have seen such responses. Are we to believe that you have invested in firearms, accoutrements, ammunition, firearms training and/or education and the like- no small matter, either monetarily or in time consumed- on principle alone?

Quite simply, this is not at all believable. Why bother to answer this question with such posturing? Everyone- every single person- who reads and participates in this forum has an interest in firearms. You are not here on principle alone. You have not invested time and substantial sums of money in firearms merely because you're a dedicated constitutionalist. It's preposterous, and, again, I ask why anyone would bother to give such a trite and clearly false answer to this question.

Para, my answer is not false or posturing. The reason I have firearms IS because my government and my Supreme Court do not trust me with one. I’m Canadian, and up here firearm rights are deemed tp be “privileges”.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Steyn:
Because my government does not trust armed citizens.

Again, all throughout this thread, I have seen such responses. Are we to believe that you have invested in firearms, accoutrements, ammunition, firearms training and/or education and the like- no small matter, either monetarily or in time consumed- on principle alone?

Quite simply, this is not at all believable. Why bother to answer this question with such posturing? Everyone- every single person- who reads and participates in this forum has an interest in firearms. You are not here on principle alone. You have not invested time and substantial sums of money in firearms merely because you're a dedicated constitutionalist. It's preposterous, and, again, I ask why anyone would bother to give such a trite and clearly false answer to this question.

I dunno’, Boss,

Even if the reasons for choosing the last option, “It’s my 2A right!” are completely dubious, infuriatingly pretentious, or stupidly uninformed, there is some value to it for the purpose of this poll.

I sometimes add ridiculous options at the end of my polls, such as “I like monkeys!” just as a joke option at the end. I was partly sincere, and partly tongue in cheek when I wrote that last option. Yet it has been the most popular option. 47% of the respondents have chosen this option at the time of this writing.

I have learned far more by the choice of this option than I would have if I had left it out. I surmise most who choose this option are afraid, and perhaps rightly so, that they exercise their 2A rights out of fear of not being able to in the future.

All in all, the results of this poll have been most surprising, and greatly illuminating.

Perhaps at least a small contingent of our populace are dubious, pretentious, and uninformed? Or perhaps some other answer will present itself.

H&K-Guy

I think I have been crystal clear in my reasoning and I stand by my statements, unreservedly. The OP putting "2A" is in his poll has nothing to do with members posting such statements in this thread.

My main reason is self-defense at home and carry. Secondary reason is that I just like them. I don't hunt or do sport shooting.

I'm sure most all of us know that guns are "the great equalizer."

Here's a pretty good short essay about that published in 2007 by a guy named Marko Kloos. He's a writer living in the US who was born in Germany and served in the West German military:

Why the Gun is Civilization.

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat–it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weightlifter. It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation … and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Boss,

Your reasoning is undeniable. There is discord between choosing this option for what it was intended and what has been explained.

I find that fascinating, but it is getting tiresome.

Perhaps there is something to learn from this.

H&K-Guy

I grew up with them.

I like to control them. I want to always shoot them the best I can, score the best I can, to score bullseyes. I must master it every time I pick one up.

They make me challenge myself, to be accurate and to be safe at all times.

I enjoy the responsibility of owning, maintaining, storing, mastering them.

I like the mechanical ability of the designers, engineers, crafts people, etc, the brain power to design them to not only function well, but also make them attractive, a work of art. The ingenuity, brain power and the will to create something reliable out of wood, plastic, metal, etc. I admire the Capitalism required to bring something to market.

I admire the talent and drive of the one person who can conceive, create, make it come alive, market, sell and service something. I admire John M. Browning, Bill Ruger, Gaston Glock, and many others, including the Beretta Family who continues as a going concern now for several centuries.

I like the form and function, the beauty, and probably more, but it’s now late at night and I’m tired and sleepy.

Howdy,
I like these reasons
"I'm too old & weak to fight,
Too slow to run away,
I'll just have to shoot you"

quote:

Originally posted by YogiBear:
Howdy,
I like these reasons
"I'm too old & weak to fight,
Too slow to run away,
I'll just have to shoot you"

That is my answer, too.

quote:

Originally posted by YogiBear:
Howdy,
I like these reasons
"I'm too old & weak to fight,
Too slow to run away,
I'll just have to shoot you"

"They say God created all men. Sam Colt made them all equal"

- Matthew Quigley

My primary interest is self defense. In 2004 Ohio passed “shall issue” concealed carry. Originally my pistols were like holsters; I bought one after the other looking for the perfect handgun to carry.

I was also fortunate to have TDI, Ohio as a local training resource.

Today, I carry everywhere it’s legal and still try to get some form of training at least once a year and visit a local range every week.

I’ve settled on carrying either a 239, a G26 or Sig 320cRX.

Varmint control primarily but I also relax well behind a rifle.

Several of those reasons were primary for me. One thing I will never forget though, and that hooked me early, was when my Dad let me shoot that double barrel .410 the first time. How great it smelled when that action opened up, and spit those smoking paper shells out. An addiction ever since.

I didn’t grow up around firearms, but when I moved out of my parents house, I found a couple friends that liked to go shooting. Back then, you could buy a brick of .22 for $5.00. We’d go to lunch, then out to the country for an afternoon of fun. The evening cleaning was a social event as much as anything. Those were good times.

Eventually we all moved on, and even though I always had a gun, I didn’t go shooting for quite a few years. When Kansas got concealed carry, it got my interest going again. I’d go to the range every weekend, and did some IDPA shooting for a couple years. I enjoyed shooting, and used it as a getaway from the problems at work. When I was concentrating on shooting, I wasn’t thinking about work. It was therapeutic for me. I also enjoy cleaning my firearms. I like the mechanical part of them. I can spend a cold, or rainy, afternoon in the basement detail stripping, cleaning, and reassembling a pistol that was clean when I started.

I’ve got to buy, and sell, many guns, and have ended up with some that I really like, work well for me, and I plan to keep as long as long as I can. I still go to the range occasionally, but my main reason for them is self defense, at home, and away from home. I’m more mature now, and my center of gravity is closer to my belt line, but I would like to think that if something happens, I will at least have the opportunity to defend myself.