What are the reasons behind why you purchaes a firearm?

[PlayboyPenguin]

When I first started buying firearms I was extremely "monetarily challenged" so every purchase had to mean something. When you can only afford to own one or two low-mid range firearms you have to put a lot of thought into it. Your weapons had to be able to serve all your needs. That meant having firearms that were good at multiple things but not great for anything.

When I started buying again later in life I had a bit more money and could afford to own more guns. That meant I could purchase guns that were more "single task" oriented and guns that were a bit higher end. Still, I always had to have a specific need in mind to purchase a firearm.

After I got a little older I had more money so "task driven" purchasing pretty much fell by the wayside. I then just started buying guns because I wanted them...not because I needed them.

Now that we have kids I have slipped back to having to have a need for a specific gun. When I start thinking about buying a gun now I have to be able to say I really need it or the money is much better used on a nice weekend outing or put into saving for future education expenses.

So I guess I have gone pretty much full circle. I started out buying only the necessities and moved into indiscriminate buying. I would buy pretty much everything just because I could. Then I started collecting only quality guns (narrowed my collection from nearly 80 guns down to about 50). Now I am back to buying only what I feel I actually need. I even reduced my collection down to a more streamline couple of dozen firearms in the process.

 

[Migo]

Reliability, solid reputation, history, and I don't have one in that family already. So for example, now that I have an M4, the next rifle I've been eyeing is a Remington 700. If I'm going to spend money, I want to be able to do something I haven't been able to do before.

 

[centerfire]

My main reasons for a firearms purchase are-
Home defense/protection for my family. I currently have no guns in the house. I used to have a Glock 19 but sold it due to economic issues. ;o(
I also like target shooting/clays as well. Thats always fun to run some rounds through them.
Just for general protection since I dont see local crime rates going down anytime soon.

 

[glockguy]

Well I actually just bought a gun cause it seemed like a decent deal last night... a Tanfoglio/EAA Witness P .40 never seen one or shot one.. but it looks like a decent gun to just "have" so i guess i do buy guns with out actually having a main reason lol... bad me!

 

[Sun195]

Reasons I've bought a firearm:

1) Impulse buy - it seemed cool, so I bought it
2) Some guys on the Internet said it was a good gun - and it was
3) Some guys on the Internet said it was a good gun - and it wasn't
4) They might ban this thing someday, so I should buy one now
5) If one is good, two might be better
6) To replace a gun that I regretted selling earlier
7) Someday, I might use this to go hunting...
8) We're visiting a friend's cabin in Idaho and there are bears/wolves/etc. nearby - so I might need this just in case (although, we never went to the cabin)
9) I really wanted firearm X, but could only afford firearm Y (which was almost as good), so I bought it
10) I just wanted to see what it was like to own
11) It seemed like it would be easy to conceal-carry
12) They might not make these anymore, so I better get one now
13) I've never seen one like this, so I better buy this one now
14) It's a good price
15) I might use it for competition someday....

And, probably a bunch of other reasons.