Poll: How Many Guns Do You Have?

[lucusloc]

My son called me today. He is not coming to take my guns yet. He said he is bringing me a shotgun that he got a really good deal on. He will be down in a day or two. He says he will wait to get my guns until I actually do croak.

I made the right decision to stop those meds. I have appointments tomorrow. My heart rate and rhythm is completely normal. I wish I could sue the VA and get a bunch of money and take a nice cruise with my wife, or my granddaughter to Disney World, but they would kick me off benefits I'm sure. And, it really is all I have for healthcare.

The meds and labs don't cost me much. But damn, they can be so incompetent at times.

You get better, no more memorial threads this year. And remember we are shooting for 0 next year too. Don't be that guy who ruins the record.

 

[64MercurysRule]

You get better, no more memorial threads this year. And remember we are shooting for 0 next year too. Don't be that guy who ruins the record.

View attachment 2184554

Or @lucusloc will stun you with his phaser ............

 

[lucusloc]

So this poll has gone wonky;


No one wants to admit to having just a few? I Would expect this to be a lot closer to a regular distribution, but that dip right in the middle is super interesting. I am curious if it a self reporting thing, people over-reporting when that is the correct category for them or something else.

 

[monks]

I made the right decision to stop those meds. I have appointments tomorrow. My heart rate and rhythm is completely normal.

That's great news! I was wondering how you were doing. You made my day!!

 

[Tlock]

Or @lucusloc will stun you with his phaser ............

Is that what he calls it? I named mine too....

 

[64MercurysRule]

Is that what he calls it? I named mine too....

Frank.......... ?

 

[lucusloc]

Is that what he calls it? I named mine too....

Phased right through 'er

Wait, what were we talking about?

 

[Tlock]

Frank.......... ?

Tootsie!

 

[monks]

Frank.......... ?

Chauncey?

 

[1911Fanatic]

Tootsie!

How far do you want me to pull back?
How about Cleaveland?

 

[Cavedweller]

So this poll has gone wonky;

View attachment 2184556
No one wants to admit to having just a few? I Would expect this to be a lot closer to a regular distribution, but that dip right in the middle is super interesting. I am curious if it a self reporting thing, people over-reporting when that is the correct category for them or something else.

It's called a bi-modal distribution. Not unknown in statistics. Since the number of firearms owned is not a biological characteristic, there is no reason to expect the data to be normally distributed (i.e fitting a bell curve). We could explore the reasons why that might be the case, but who cares?

ETA: Could be just an artifact of small sample size.

 

[1911Fanatic]

You're a tough ole bird I tell you what . Life isn't fair sometimes that is for sure . Affect that which you have control over and guard yourself against the incompetence that is prevalent in this world my friend .

Thing is, I'm not that old yet. I am trying to get old though. I have to take my mom for cancer surgery on Halloween. If I am sick, my wife will do it. I spend so much time on the forums because I am sick so much and this is my entertainment while I'm in bed.

I am also a moderator on a guitar forum. I haven't been able to make any videos for that site lately because my arthritis has got so bad I can't play guitar anymore. I see a doc for that on Nov 4.

 

[lucusloc]

It's called a bi-modal distribution. Not unknown in statistics. Since the number of firearms owned is not a biological characteristic, there is no reason to expect the data to be normally distributed (i.e fitting a bell curve). We could explore the reasons why that might be the case, but who cares?

ETA: Could be just an artifact of small sample size.

Yeah, but I would expect the number of X a group owns would be a fairly regular across the whole range. It seems weird that the number would be fractured into islands. It's not like people buy guns in sets and there isn't a good way to land in the 6-10 category. What is it about that group that makes them so underrepresented here (even accounting for the small sample size)?

 

[1911Fanatic]

That's great news! I was wondering how you were doing. You made my day!!

I am sick so much. That day that you met me at McD's, I threw up on the ride home. I spend most of my time in bed. That was the case for 6 years, and then it got better for a year, and then it got worse again.

But, today was a better day. I was able to watch a 2 hour documentary on Carlos Hathcock. All the way through. That guy was a bad MF. The amount of servicemen he saved is incomprehensible. He was only 56 years old when he died. I hope that he is in the Lord's rest. It's not how long you love. It's how you live.

 

[Joe13]

So this poll has gone wonky;

View attachment 2184556
No one wants to admit to having just a few? I Would expect this to be a lot closer to a regular distribution, but that dip right in the middle is super interesting. I am curious if it a self reporting thing, people over-reporting when that is the correct category for them or something else.

In my own experience, people with less then 5 guns don't really care about forums like this.

I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions though, like those just starting a collection.

I have a great uncle in Texas that has, from what I have heard, thousands. He's a gun dealer and maker as well so he is probably not the majority.

I find peoples collections (or what they will talk about) is directly tied to the amount of income they have or choose to throw at it.

Guns ain't cheap and now ammo is all over the place.

The thing I keep telling myself is that in the end they are an investment. That can be monetary (my wife says I'll never sell another one and she is correct), it can be for future generations (I don't want my grandchildren and theirs to be regulated to revolvers or 2 barrel shotguns only…) or what effects me daily is just the joy of having a collection (regardless of size) that gives me the option to go to the range - hunting - competitions or whatever.


This is very similar to like what was posted previously about asking someone what they make per year…. I have friends I've known for 32 years+ and would call family that I know they do well for themselves but I couldn't tell you how much they actually pull in over a year.

I would say it is way less kosher than asking a lady her age…. This the very funny onslaught of answers and pages and pages of non answers.

Just my 2¢

 

[1911Fanatic]

I was never worried about making a dollar amount. If I had enough to afford a place to live, a car, food, and a few nice things for my family, I had enough.

I was more occupied by learning new ways to care for patients, and shared hobbies with my son. Thankfully my wife has the same hobby interests as me, especially after the kids flew the nest.

 

[Joe13]

Yeah, but I would expect the number of X a group owns would be a fairly regular across the whole range. It seems weird that the number would be fractured into islands. It's not like people buy guns in sets and there isn't a good way to land in the 6-10 category. What is it about that group that makes them so underrepresented here (even accounting for the small sample size)?

I buy $200-350 guns used. For every gun I buy, I know regular members that buy dozens.

I'm just not in a place to toss money at it very often for life reasons and my most expensive guns have been gifts from my wife, good friends and great people in general.

Even if I knew now something like 25 years ago, I still wouldn't have a major collection. I spent a great deal of money providing for my family and bank rolling my wife's spending on a high quality education while homeschooling our daughter when she was young.


I did sell my guns (except for inherited ones) at one point to help with bills while working for myself and while my wife was going back to school so I had a significant set back but I don't regret it at all because she hasn't said a word about a single gun or related item since that happened.


Some of us just have less spendable income then others.

 

[Bolt_308]

I think there is also a large number of us who didnt actually vote- not wanting that stat out there to be harvested by Amazon . . .

 

[Lilhigbee]

Regarding the statistics comments, I would say the 1-5 group is skewed.
When the poll says your vote will be public I didn't realize it actually attached your screen name to your vote. Once I saw that I tried to un-vote but you can't do that, so I changed my vote to the 1-5 category. Not accurate, but the only choice I want my name attached to if I can't un-vote.

In my own experience, people with less then 5 guns don't really care about forums like this.

This too, and it may also apply to the 6-10 guns group.

 

[Cavedweller]

Yeah, but I would expect the number of X a group owns would be a fairly regular across the whole range. It seems weird that the number would be fractured into islands. It's not like people buy guns in sets and there isn't a good way to land in the 6-10 category. What is it about that group that makes them so underrepresented here (even accounting for the small sample size)?

It could be that there are a number of people who only own 1 or 2 firearms for self protection and/or home defense and are not interested in (or don't feel the need to) acquiring more for any reason. Then as you move into the higher numbers, you hit the collector/enthusiast group where you see the second peak. A lot could be income related. There's just not enough info to know, but there's nothing "wonky" about a bi-modal distribution. It is what it is. Don't try to force the data to meet your assumptions.

Anyway, it's not exactly a scientific survey, so don't worry about it.