Mosin77
Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2019
- Messages
- 1,598
In my opinion there are a few ends of firearms ownership. Self defense (open or concealed), hunting for the pot, hunting for sport, varmint, pest, and predator control, and war/military use, and finally marksmanship, competition, and purely recreational shooting. Then there’s collecting, too, which kind of lays over the top of all of them.
In theory any gun can be used for any of these purposes with at least marginal efficacy, but in practice today there are many different sorts of guns highly adapted for one purpose or another. We’re far from the days of 1700 when one smoothbore flintlock long gun served pretty well for just about everything.
I think the phenomenon referred to in the original post, where everything seems first about self defense or fighting, is a result of our more urban lifestyle these days. Not only does this urbanization mean that urban gun owners feel slightly unsafe (or at least mindful that in the event of unrest they’re surrounded by many potential adversaries) but on a more mundane, day to day level, the reality is that a firearm is going to be seen first as a tool for self-defense or military use, and only distantly and theoretically for use with regard to animals, because the realities of farm life or hunting are so far away from the city. Few urbanites are laying awake at night dreaming about a bolt action .22mag that would be perfect for foxes at 120 yards. They probably got interested in guns after watching an actor in Die Hard or Mission Impossible, rather than because they loved watching their dad clean his deer rifle. Even competition is a use that tends to grow with familiarity or a more practical first use, so it’s a secondary consideration for the majority of buyers. They buy the Glock/AR first, and only after shooting it for a while and getting into the hobby do they start looking at the “impractical” range gun that’s actually more fun to shoot.
In theory any gun can be used for any of these purposes with at least marginal efficacy, but in practice today there are many different sorts of guns highly adapted for one purpose or another. We’re far from the days of 1700 when one smoothbore flintlock long gun served pretty well for just about everything.
I think the phenomenon referred to in the original post, where everything seems first about self defense or fighting, is a result of our more urban lifestyle these days. Not only does this urbanization mean that urban gun owners feel slightly unsafe (or at least mindful that in the event of unrest they’re surrounded by many potential adversaries) but on a more mundane, day to day level, the reality is that a firearm is going to be seen first as a tool for self-defense or military use, and only distantly and theoretically for use with regard to animals, because the realities of farm life or hunting are so far away from the city. Few urbanites are laying awake at night dreaming about a bolt action .22mag that would be perfect for foxes at 120 yards. They probably got interested in guns after watching an actor in Die Hard or Mission Impossible, rather than because they loved watching their dad clean his deer rifle. Even competition is a use that tends to grow with familiarity or a more practical first use, so it’s a secondary consideration for the majority of buyers. They buy the Glock/AR first, and only after shooting it for a while and getting into the hobby do they start looking at the “impractical” range gun that’s actually more fun to shoot.