A Farewell to "Collecting" Arms

[Sal Picante]

... buy less, shoot more. Trust me on this one.

I'm not for sale... But you can take a class if you'd like...

[rob_s]

For me anyway, coming to terms with my gun "collecting" had the result of me re-looking at a lot of things in my life and realizing that I don't want to be like that. I've since come to find accumulation/collecting to be pretty freaking weird no matter what the reason, outside of legitimate investment purposes (and very little winds up being legitimate).

[Duces Tecum]

This thread very much reminds me of Lindy Cooper Wisdom's famous poem.

"Grandpa's Lesson."

Pappy took to drinkin' back when I was barely three.
Ma got pretty quiet. She was frettin', you could see.
So I was sent to Grandpa and he raised me up real good.
He taught me what I oughta and he taught me what I should.

I learned a heap 'o lessons from the yarns he liked to tell.
There's one I won't forget because I learned it 'speshly well.
There jist ain't many folk who live a peaceful, carefree life.
Along with all the good times there'll be lotsa grief and strife.

But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix
With seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."

Grandpa courted Grandma near the town of old Cheyenne.
Her daddy was cantankerous - a very greedy man.
He wouldn't give permission for a fancy wedding day
'Til grandpa paid a dowry - biggest ever people say.

Her daddy softened up when Grandpa said that he could fix
Him up with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six.

Grandpa herded cattle down around Jalisco way.
Ended up behind some iron bars one dusty day.
Seems the local jefe craved my Grandpa's pinto mare.
Grandpa wouldn't sell her so he lit on out of there.

Didn't take much doin' 'cept a couple special tricks
Plus seven hundred dollars and his thirty ought six.

Then there was that Faro game near San Francisco Bay.
Grandpa's cards was smokin' hot and he took all one day.
He woke up nearly naked in a ditch next early morn'.
With nothin' but his flannel shirt, and it was ripped and torn.

Those others were professionals and they don't play for kicks.
He lost seven hundred dollars and his thirty ought six.

He begged some woolen trousers off the local storekeep there
Who loaned him both a pony and a rifle on a dare.
He caught those thievin' cardsharks at another Faro game.
He got back all his property and also his good name.

He left one bleedin' badly and another mostly lame.
My Grandpa's trusty rifle shoots just where you choose to aim.

Grandpa's slowin' down a bit and just the other night
He handed me his rifle and a box sealed up real tight.
He fixed me with them pale grey eyes and this is what he said,
"You're awful young but steady too and I will soon be dead.

I'll bet this here old rifle and this honest money too
Will come in mighty handy just as readily for you.
There jist ain't many folk who lead a carefree peaceful life.
Along with times of happiness, there's always woe and strife.

But.....ain't many troubles that a man caint fix
with seven hundred dollars and his thirty ought six."

****Lindy Cooper Wisdom

[mtnbkr]

It just occurred to me that I've seen a very similar thought process in a completely different hobby/pursuit: Trumpets

I'm a VERY amateur trumpet player. I played all throughout Jr High, High School, and some on college, but put it away for over 20 years. I picked it back up a couple years ago and noodle around with it some at home, mainly during the day when the house is empty (to the approval of the other occupants). On trumpet forums there is a similar schism between collecting and spending that time/energy/money on private lessons and such. Oddly enough, my view is different in that area because I don't feel I'm good enough to justify multiple horns (though to be honest, my one and only horn is pretty damn nice, so I'm not exactly struggling with the brass equivalent of a Taurus).

Chris

[BehindBlueI's]

I like a lot of what Dave Ramsey has to say and I truly believe that he's helped a lot of people. However, I used to work in finance at a dealership and worked with multiple people who had gone off the deep end with his stuff and now had a zero credit score. I hate the machine, I really do, but the machine says you must have some active credit in your world if you ever do want a loan with the best interest rate available. PSA off.

Ramsey is perfect for people who need bright line rules and don't really want to learn about finance. It's a "good enough" approach for many, but not the way to obtain maximum wealth.

[Duelist]

I feel a lot of this. There are so many cool things out there. I can’t afford, nor do I have space for, all the guitars and guns I would get otherwise. I was able to pare down my guitars to three, plus a uke. I’ve had as many as 13 before. My son has some, my daughter has one and doesn’t want more. My wife wishes we didn’t occupy the front half of the living room with guitars.

I have no more room in the gun safe. Mine is not huge, though. I could probably add a pistol, but ... it’s really tight in there. I could get a bigger one, but I don’t need more guns in actual reality. That doesn’t keep me from thinking about getting more. Nobody in my house likes shooting TDA or DAO pistols but me, and I’m actually carrying Glocks, so ... I suppose that would make more room. They all run Glocks better than everything else we’ve tried (my daughter and wife love the Ruger MKII, daughter also has really likes the Single Six), and I don’t see the point to choosing something else when they can run those. But I really like my TDAs and revolvers. If I were to ruthlessly downsize and simplify, I’d miss some stuff I really like. There’d be a lot more room in the safe, though, even as small as it is.

[s0nspark]

I like having stuff - I think I am genetically predisposed to collecting things (if my mother is any indicator LOL) - but that is usually at odds with my personal desire/need for focus, clarity, efficiency, and simplicity.

With the exception of a couple of guns handed down to me by family, I tend to not keep things around if they are not being used or demonstrating some level of utility to my situation. That approach has proven, on occasion, somewhat short-sighted but everything I've owned has been commonly available and easy to buy again.

The older I get, the more I appreciate how nice it is to keep things simple

[Gun Mutt]

A quick tally from memory has 18 guns in our house, 3 of them pistols my wife chose, 5 of them family pieces that will pass to my son (hell, all 'my' guns will). I'm in the Love Guns camp, too.

[RevolverRob]

My wife was recently window shopping for houses. And found a beautiful house on 17 acres of land with a nine car garage right in our (theoretical) budget.

She shows it to me and I stared at it for a while, dreaming about a nine car garage. I'm a gearhead through and through. If it's got a motor I'm interested, if its got wheels, I'm definitely interested. I like driving them, working on them, shopping for them, everything about (especially) cars and motorcycles I love. And I couldn't figure out what I would do with a nine car garage. Or I should say, what I could reasonably do with a nine car garage.

You know what else? I can't figure out what I'm going to do with all the guns I have either. I'm literally at a loss. I have I don't even know how many guns, spread across two states, in four safes. There are half-a-dozen I wouldn't part with, for any reason (sentimental) and the rest are just there. What does one do in these scenarios? Practicality dictates getting rid of them and yet, I can't see myself parting with (most of) them, either.

It's an interesting problem to have. It seems to be unique to our country. Maybe it's simply the reality of excess here or maybe it's the fluoride in the drinking water...whatever it is, serial accumulation is a problem that I, personally, struggle with and many others do to. If anyone has practical advice on getting rid of crap - I'm all ears.

[Clusterfrack]

I'm not a collector, but you wouldn't know it by looking in my safe. I keep getting sucked into buying guns because of threats of an assault weapons ban.