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Question of the Day: Does the Number of Guns Someone Owns Matter?

Robert Farago - comments No comments

“The Colorado man who fatally shot a sheriff’s deputy and wounded six others Sunday in an ‘ambush-style’ attack purchased 11 of his guns — including an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle — from a store in Wyoming,” foxnews.com reports.  “Authorities say a teen fired guns at homes in northwest Iowa,” ksfy.com relates . . .

“leading to an investigation where police found dozens of guns at the juvenile’s home in Brandon.” Man charged after police allegedly find 109 unregistered guns the headline at Australia’s smh.com.au declares. SMH indeed . . .

The mainstream media is infatuated with guns. The idea that a bad guy could get a gun is, somehow, news. The idea that a criminal or other prohibited person could get DOZENS of guns is the stuff of headlines! And yet . . .

How many guns can one bad guy shoot at a time? How many can he or she carry?

Sure, “New York” reloads (shooting a different gun when the primary runs dry rather than reloading) are a thing. But not much of a thing, except, sometimes, during spree killings. Which are as rare as hen’s teeth. And even then the homicidal psychos don’t shoot “dozens” of firearms.

As the old saying goes, beware of the man with one gun.

Which, of course, isn’t you. Or me. Or any of the millions of Americans who have more than a few firearms. Given the above, what difference does it make that we’re equipped with an “arsenal”? Why do the antis get their knickers in a twist about supposed “super owners”?

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Question of the Day: Does the Number of Guns Someone Owns Matter?”

  1. “Does the Number of Guns Someone Owns Matter?” – If it didn’t matter, I wouldn’t be buying anymore. It’s a much better investment than any other hobby I’ve ever had.

    “Given the above, what difference does it make that we’re equipped with an ‘arsenal’?” If we have an arsenal, we can better share with friends and those in need.

    “Why do the antis get their knickers in a twist about supposed ‘super owners’?” The more super owners there are, the less people own guns.

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  2. There is always “one” more I’d like but storage space is becoming a problem. Having said that 3 rifles do most of my hunting.

    No restrictions on the number of firearms you can own in my part of Australia aside from having an alarm once you get past either 30 or 50 guns.

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  3. I picked up an original P22 years ago (pre-obama) for use with little hands. I had a MKIII, but didn’t want the boys to learn on that odd grip angle, then get flubbed when transitioning to a full-size pistol.

    Worked fine for what I wanted it to do. A bit finicky at first, not terribly accurate, but not terrible. Hate the mag release. Works peachy with a TacSol .22 suppressor. Hasn’t been out of the safe in many years now. Probably give it to one of the boys when they have small children to teach (someone a million moms cry out in terror…).

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  4. Other than envy that I don’t own the Charleston cache, or the dragon mans cache 😀

    I’m working on it, but I don’t think my retirement will allow that big of a collection. Barring a winning lotto ticket.

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  5. This argument died 40 years ago. The Soviets agree about 7.62×39 and adopted 5.45×39. Yes 7.62×39 is still in use, but that’s comparing a 1940’s to 5.56×45 which is much younger.

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  6. I guess this will be another form of profiteering…Sure! Paramilitarized Police departments will now have an excellent reason to enforce unconstitutional state Gun control: search and seizure laws…That will definitely bring meaning to “THEY CAN PRY IT FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS…OOPS!!!”

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  7. Pull all fed funding and employees from there and let it fall in on itself then nuke it from orbit it’s the only way to be sure…

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  8. does the number of guns I own matter? umm only in the sense than it is always at least 1 less than the number I want or can convince the wife I need.

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  9. It’s good to know whose house serves as the neighborhood armory and ammo dump in case of trouble. (And of course to be on good terms with that neighbor.)

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  10. I just purchased a virtually new Interarms PPK/S stainless .380 for $699. This one has no scratches and looks great since it was only used once and put in a drawer after that. I am waiting for it to arrive. These are getting pricier all the time. I think I did ok on the price.

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  11. Why do the antis get their knickers in a twist about supposed “super owners”?

    In addition to the other reasons that other commenters already mentioned, “super owners” have a large pool of firearms that criminals can exploit to supply their stolen firearms trade. Remember, gun-grabbers whine incessantly about “stolen firearms” and how criminals would somehow have a much more difficult time acquiring firearms if we reduced/eliminated civilian firearm ownership.

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  12. With a 12% clearance rate, I wonder why Chicago would even bother charging anyone. Let the miscreants kill each other off. Street justice may not be justice, but neither is Chicago’s pathetic attempt at criminal justice.

    Let it burn.

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  13. The solution is to get Congress to change the law and get pot off the Schedule 1 drug list. That would take care of the gun ban issue, as the question would no longer be a relevant consideration on a 4473, and would stop Sessions in his tracks. Sessions, sad to say, is a total hard ass on pot, and with the rescission of the Obama Administration letter taking pot of the priority prosecution list, I am waiting for the AGs in California to issue their threat letters to all the pot shops and all the owners of the buildings in which such shops are located stating that they are subject to being raided and all property, including real property, seized and forfeited to the government. It was done before when California legalized medicinal marijuana, but no action was taken after the change by the Obama Administration.

    Personally, I have no dog in the fight, since I do not imbibe, but it could have a massive impact here and in the states that allow recreational sales.

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  14. It’s pretty funny coming back and reading this article, in the Day and Age of the Galil ACE and all that it brings to the table.

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  15. I have a Walter P22 (Gen1, I guess?) that I bought at a gun show back in ’05 or ’06. It was my first handgun that I bought on my own dime. I went with the 5″ target model, and it’s every bit as accurate as most any .22 I’ve ever fired, but certainly doesn’t have the best trigger. The rails are worn out now, and the slide has a little too much play, but I’ve never had a problem cycling any type of ammo.

    One thing I wanted to mention is that the thread adapter (or factory thread protector) is a tension device for the barrel. The sleeved barrel system allows for “tuning” the barrel with tension. Maybe experiment a bit and see if you can “tighten” those groups 😉

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  16. A follow-up comment to my earlier remarks:
    My .44 Mag. is a S&W handgun. It’s for self-defense, not for hunting; however, hunting in bear country with a rifle without my .44 as a backup is not a pleasant thought.
    There was a case many years ago in Glacier National Park where the rangers had to kill a grizzly. (I knew one of them personally.) Some unlucky camper had placed several .38 slugs between the bear’s eyes. It just made the bear more angry (and probably gave him a bit of a headache.)
    Luckily, all I have to contend with is black bears.
    P.S. The fences I have to walk are in N.E. Pa. — Hello there, neighbor in N.J.

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  17. I had one of these Walther P22’s, worst firearm I have ever owned. I can’t believe they are actually allowed to sell these. Not sure about the new ones but the older ones had a zinc slide that would fracture at the ejection port, a common problem. Yes, a slide made out of ZINC! The only reason to have one of these is to practice malfunction drills. Total junk!.

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  18. There are a few different zinc alloys that are perfectly good high-quality engineering alloys, if used within proper design limits. I believe that the P22 slide is cast from one of these zinc alloys and not “pot metal.” Many .22LR enthusiasts like to put quantities of Stinger, Velocitor, Interceptor, or other hot beyond-HV rounds through their P22. Walther explicitly recommends HV ammo only (on the old versions).

    To Chris Heuss: I found two sources (AmRifleman & Wikipedia) that say the P22 is a 75% scale down. Can’t remember the original article that I read. Since barrels come in different lengths, I looked at the height of the P99 and P22, and the P22 is exactly 85% in height.

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  19. This shows that the Chicago Police are almost incapable of actually investigating and solving crime since the national average for homicide clearance is around 60%, and Boston and Los Angeles were near average in 2015 or so. They make good control groups since they have similar population sizes, Democratic Party government and corruption levels.

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  20. I bought my P22 in 2002. I had reliability issues until I sorted out the ammo. Remington Thunderbolt simply did not work. CCI, Federal Spitfire and Aguila all work well, though I occasionally have a failure to feed that seems to have no particular source. I bought the longer barrel for it, too. It’s a pain to install and the fake compensator is pointless. I shoot it with the same accuracy regardless of barrel. I can bounce golf balls at 10 – 15 meters, no problem. I was also whacking wasps that visited a puddle of spilled soda, at 5 to 6 meters, hand-held. That’s about all I require of it.

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  21. You see, it’s obvious most of the people here have never handed a 45-70. Go on. Rock off a few rounds of 400+ grains as fast as you can in a simulated CQC scenario with a furry meat tank. There’s no doubt the bullet will do the job, but I have my doubts most of us would be able to handle it.

    Hunting? Sure. Defense? Eeeeeeehhh…
    Stick with either a shotty or pistol caliber in forty flavor.

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  22. I think I’m going to start my own political party. I’m calling it the ‘Confederate Nazi Party of America’. There’s no real ideological platform other than pissing people off and freaking them out. Our anthem will be Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’. Probably put up a reality TV show host for president in 2020.

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  23. Modern journalism skills on display. Just what states have a Westchester County? One? Several? More political grandstanding and poor writing skills. FAIL!

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  24. I wonder why they chose 18″ over 20″? Those inches help with velocity and the weight increase is small compared to an already heavier configuration.

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  25. so you mean to tell me that both testiments of the satanic bible that I own have no place in a collection held by a member of the general public simply for curiosity and collecting purposes? damn, and all this time we have been told this is the land of the free!

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  26. I only have two hands, and guns and ammo are heavy. Antis should feel good that the more guns I own, the more that are sitting unused in my safes in at any particular moment. 🙂

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  27. I don’t know, this looks like a solution looking for a problem. If a Benelli is properly functioning it cycles low power loads fine. If the problem is considered to be the rotating bolt head, well then why not just eliminate it like Beretta did with its Pintail? The rotating bolt head, despite what a lot of people believe, is not part of the inertia system.

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  28. Variable, depending what I find on the shelves and what I can afford. Right now I have two mags of Gold Dots 124 gr, and a mag of 115 gr. Xtreme Penetrators for round three for carry. I assume if I’ve gone through 15 rounds already, I will be shooting through barriers/walls for everything thereafter. I have a box or two of Critical Duty but don’t carry it. I recently bought 200 rounds of Freedom’s 124 gr HPs before the curtain fell in California, but haven’t shot any at this point. I do not know the source of their bullets; they’ve always offered XTPs, but this seems to be a nonbonded homegrown product. If nothing else, it will make a good practice round.

    For the home .45, I have some Golden Saber 185 gr., but I am partial to the Winchester PDX in 230 gr HP. The XTP is a reliable bullet, but Hornady seems to load a bit light. The HSTs have always been prohibitively expensive when I’ve looked at them–over $2.50 a round during the drought.

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  29. Essex police really broke their arms patting themselves on the back with this one. I’m imagining a bunch of Barney Fife types in spotless uniforms and short haircuts who spend their spare time luring over CCTV footage of young girls.

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  30. Any gun on your person all of the time is better than the one that is not with you. Anyone knows that because its always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I go for Fist, knife, and then my gun because I am very humble and in the court of law I would not be considered a small guy at 6′ 275lbs and bench over 400 with a black belt in GO JO RYU so I am better off to avoid the firearm at all cost and it would have to be a dire situation before I ever produced my fire arm in anyway. I would not farewell in a court room if I drew and shot without exploring other options first, plus I never want to hurt anyone much less take a life. I really love hunting but don’t enjoy the killing.

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