Why do gun owners own so many?

Why do most American gun owners own so many guns? Why not just one pistol, maybe for home defense; or, just one bolt-action rifle for hunting? Or a shotgun for sport shooting? Isn't one gun enough?

Why so many guns? There is more than one reason. There are probably more than four reasons. All I know is that I have owned a shotgun for skeet and I have owned a .22 for target shooting and I have owned a little mouse gun for concealed carry, and I have owned a used first-generation Glock 17 that used to be owned by a DC cop before that duty service pistol was traded in and went up for sale and I bought it. 

My reason for owning more than one firearm is a combination of reason one and reason two: 1) they're cool and they're fun to shoot 2) each pistol serves a very different purpose. Here are three reasons I know about.  This is the beginning in a series of posts I want to make to better explain gun culture to non-gun and antigun people.

Reason one: an affordable alternative to collecting cars

Guns are relatively inexpensive to collect in comparison to watches, motorcycles, cars, bikes, etc. They're both functional and historic. People like to own the things they served with in the military or the guns they see in movies or in history or read about in books. 

Reason two: the right tool for the job

Owning guns to a lot of gun owners is like owning golf clubs: each club has a precise purpose: wedges, putters, woods, irons for clubs and semi-automatic shotgun for turkey hunting, over/under shotgun for trap and skeet, pump shotgun for home defense; an entire array of bolt-action hunting rifles from .223 Remington to .338 Win Mag; .22 Long Rifle firearms, from bolt-action and semi-automatic and lever-action rifles for hunting rats, birds, squirrels, and varmints as well as plinking cans and training for bullseye league target competition, and then there are revolvers and autoloader pistols and, of course, the AR and AK platforms, often used, along with shotguns and "home-defense" pistols, be it a .357 Magnum revolver or a more traditional 9mm Parabellum autoloader, semi-automatic, pistol, sometimes in .45 ACP or .40 S&W.

Reason three: covering all your caliber bases

Ever since the Obama administration, there have been deep fears that guns and types of guns and types of magazines and capacities will be restricted.

So, just like toilet paper in the time of Coronavirus, there are always random runs on different types of ammunition and different calibers.

There are seasonal runs on extremely popular calibers such as cheap, bulk, .22 Long Rifle (.22LR) plinking rounds, 9mm, and .223 caliber rounds, meaning if you have a .22, a 9mm, or a 5.56mm firearm, you'll likely either not be able to find any available, you'll be limited on the number of boxes you'll be allowed to buy, or, the prices will be jacked up way past affordability (and people love to cry price gauging).

What people have decided to do is buy their favorite gun in as many calibers as is offered, allowing that gun owner to always take advantage of the oddball calibers and rounds when their 9mm and .40 S&W ammo is either unavailable or too expensive: 10mm, .45 GAP, .357 SIG, .380 ACP, or any round that gun shops and online stores can't give away. Same with the AK-47 versus the AK-74.

Years ago, they were giving away surplus 5.45×39mm ammunition, so buying an AK-74 was a no-brainer; now, however, because of import restrictions, the 7.62x39mm AK-47 variants use is now the cheaper option.

And, on the AR platform, if 5.56x45mm NATO or .223 rounds become too expensive, restricted, or hard-to-get, AR platforms can be set up to run the .300 AAC Blackout round, which is popular but not ubiquitous.

Covering all your bases.

I hedge my bets by being a .32 ACP guy because nobody likes, wants, or uses the old reliable round, also known as the 7.65×17mmSR Browning or 7.65 mm Browning Short, that Hitler used to kill himself and all of Europe's soldiers and police used them until they grudgingly adopted the 9mm because of NATO.

Oh, and James Bond's Walther PPK was actually chambered in 7.65 mm Browning and not .380 ACP.

So, even I am doing reason three a little bit. 

Reason four: two is one and one is none

This is the theory of redundancy. I know people who have firearms secreted all-around their homes. I know people who legally carry two pistols on their body, one in a holster on their belt and one on their ankle.

There is even a theory that the best reload is another loaded gun. So, if someone has one firearm, they're likely to have more or less eight guns per household. And the two is one and one is none theory believes that everything fails so you had better have a backup.

This is used, more commonly, with flashlights and other things that people need and cannot live without if you lose or break the one you have.

Via blog