A Farewell to "Collecting" Arms

[Cheap Shot]

I have a very strong emotional attachment to my money.

I've tried to never accumulate more possessions (non financial) than would take me more than 15 minutes of regret to abandon.

[Cypher]

[Stephanie B]

The day I ETS'd my wife said to me "Now you can wear your BDUs for work clothes." I told her "If I wanted to wearBDUs to work I would have reenlisted."

I felt the same about khakis.

[Shipwreck]

I used to go through guns like water. The number of guns I have owned over the past 20 years is in the 3 digits. At some point, I have owned almost everything.

I will say that about 1/3 of everything I have owned has been Berettas of some form or fashion.

I no longer have the bug... Now, I am divorced, and I am living on 1 income again. So, money is tighter. But two... I saw that most of my new gun obsession was driven by an unhappy marriage. I was married for 15 years, and it it was a diversion to keep me happy.

Now, instead of having small black objects that I shoot only a few times a year - I'd rather spend the money on a vacation.

I never got to shoot the guns I kept very much, because I was always shooting some new gun... And, I'd find that I did not like it after all, or I wanted something else next, and one had to go in order to pay for the next one.... Then I'd shoot that one....

I have 1/2 the guns I normally have. And, that's fine. Most of the ones I have are for a purpose now - instead of just sitting in the safe fulltime.

Fixer will tell you how bad I had the new gun bug, in years past.

But, I will say - everytime you say "I am done," your friends always know better. That feeling can often just last a month or so before you get the urge again

[Drang]

Elsewhere the distinction has been made between "collecting" guns and "accumulating" guns. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference, which seems to be the problem.

[That Guy]

Outside of buying a Garand I never had a collecting phase. I think that fact was useful for getting to the skill level I'm at.

On the other hand, a new gun sometimes gets you to look at things from a different perspective. If the war started today, I would be rather unlikely to carry an N-frame in uniform, but my revolvers really helped me with the first DA trigger pull of a TDA pistol.

So, you know, everything in moderation can be a good thing.

I keep getting sucked into buying guns because of threats of an assault weapons ban.

God dammit, this. Stupid bloody government making me buy guns even when I don't have the money for it. (Of course, on the other hand - hey, more guns! )

[RJ]

So many great points of view in this thread - thanks to all for sharing.

My non-gun story resonates strongly with the minimalist approach here. Unfortunately, it took a cataclysmic life event to get me off the Accumulator path.

Seven years ago, I was in a country club, 4/3 pool house, 3 car garage type lifestyle. Stuff? I had the stuff. Stacks of it. Hell I had storage racks in the garage with 4x8 plywood overhead for more space for all the crap. And five figures of credit card debt.

Fast forward: got divorced and sold the house and started giving away all the stuff. I met the love of my life, and we started a downward spiral on shedding material things. She helped me reduce my debt to $0. By the end, we decided we wanted to travel the country in a travel trailer, which we did for three years. Everything I wanted for hobbies had to fit in a shoebox. It was hugely liberating.

Relative to guns, I had zip for knowledge on shooting when I picked up an M&P FS9 in 2014; I am still a relative noob. I decided early on I wasn’t so much collecting as I was trying to learn to shoot....which of course means if you are clueless about guns, you end up buying a few to ‘try out’. Then you sell that one and buy another. And so on.

It’s recently dawned on me how much effort and time I would have saved if I had listened to the sage advice on this forum to buy two Glock 19s and get on with life. But of course without any perspective, being new, you have to experience it yourself.

So I now have two Glocks and a Ruger LCR. That’s it, as far as guns ‘to shoot’. I was gifted a Ruger New Model Blackhawk SA revolver. Which is pretty cool. So I guess my collection numbers “1” lol.

Anyway, now that I have the right hardware, I’m really on the track of learning to shoot. These days, if it’s not $ spent on ammo, or training, I look really hard at that purchase.

Great thread.

[Bucky]

I keep getting sucked into buying guns because of threats of an assault weapons ban.

It's why I own so many magazines, including for guns I may likely own in the future.

[fixer]

I have 1/2 the guns I normally have. And, that's fine. Most of the ones I have are for a purpose now - instead of just sitting in the safe fulltime.

Fixer will tell you how bad I had the new gun bug, in years past.

But, I will say - everytime you say "I am done," your friends always know better. That feeling can often just last a month or so before you get the urge again

Man the wheel of berettas will always be cool.

Glad things are looking up on your end.

[Shipwreck]

Man the wheel of berettas will always be cool.

Glad things are looking up on your end.

Yea. Thanks.

There is only one gun I am really wanting right now... a 9mm Dan Wesson Valor. The reason I can resist is because I previously owned two of them in 45ACP. Plus, it would only ever be a range toy anyway, because I only use DA/SA for self defense.