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Old 01-08-2013, 04:45 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Default Do more people own long-guns vs. handguns? Personal Observation.

I've been shooting for almost thirty-three years. I honestly don't know how many firearms I've owned over the years. A bunch. Bought, sold and traded many of them. Of that I am certain. I should make a list one of these days. The point is I've spent many hours in gun-shops and visiting with other gun-owners.

I am also a police officer in Idaho - where there are many personally owned firearms. Over the past twelve years I've met more than a few folks (on and off duty) who own firearms. I also have many relatives who live in the southeastern U.S. (Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina) who are serious about firearms.

Over the past several years I've noticed that it seems many private collections usually seem to consist of between 3 - 7 firearms. On average. I know that there are those who own less and those who own many many many more. Just bear with me please.

The other thing that I have noticed is that typically the number of rifles and shotguns (on average) outnumber the handguns in many of these privately owned collections.

For what it's worth I've also noticed that long-guns often outnumber handguns at your typical gun-shop. Once again let me stress the words typical and average.

The other thing I've noticed is that many of the private collections might have some pretty nice rifles and shotguns, but often the handgun (and sometimes it might be just one or two handguns vs many long-guns) are utilitarian. A Ruger 22 pistol and/or a mid-size .357 magnum revolver with a 4" or 6" barrel. In the past few years younger gun-owners will typically have a Ruger, Glock, or Taurus 9/40/45 pistol instead of the revolver. And that's it.

More than once I've gotten raised eyebrows and expressions of amazement when I tell other gun-owners that I own five long-guns and twenty-two handguns. I've had a couple folks use words like specialist , connoisseur, snob and interesting.

I've done some research lately on well known gun-owners in the past. It seems that for every Elmer Keith and Jeff Cooper you find guys like Ernest Hemingway, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery and Steve McQueen who evidently owned 3 or 4 rifles and shotguns for every handgun that was in their collections. I understand that not every piece in their collections have been sold off, but what has been sold off tends to be more rifles and shotguns.

So fellow members my question is this.

Are long-guns owned in greater numbers than handguns? Are there less (hardcore) handgun owners than long-gun owners? Are there more long-guns spread among a larger number of private citizens than handguns? In other words are more handguns owned by a smaller percentage of the population than long-guns?

I'm inclined to say yes, but I'm basing this on personal observations and my gut.

Please weigh in. I'm honestly curious as to what others think.
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Old 01-08-2013, 05:33 PM
commando552 commando552 is offline
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It is easier to have a very large number of long guns for practical purposes without ever "doubling up" in one area. For hunting you could own dozens of rifles of different types, sizes and calibers which would legitimately be used for different types of game or locations.

Whereas handguns are not used for hunting so much so the only actual purpose they have is pretty much down to home/personal defence in terms of the mass market. For this purpose people will generally only have a few pistols at most as you will pick a caliber that you believe is sufficient and become proficient with one particular gun. I'm assuming that most people don't carry a .380 ACP normally, but switch it up to a 9x19mm sub compact if they are going out at night, and go all out with a double stack .45 ACP if they are going to a dodgy are.

As far as I can see the only reason why people would have a large number of pistols is if they likes collecting and shooting them. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I own a dozen guns and only a couple of them are used for anything other than fun. I come from England where you pretty much can't own pistols, but I do have a couple of black powder revolvers and a Buckmark that is converted to be legally not a pistol by adding a weight at the back and having an extended barrel. These are purely for fun though.
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Old 01-08-2013, 05:33 PM
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Excalibur Excalibur is offline
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Shouldn't this topic be in the Guns section and not off topic?
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Old 01-08-2013, 06:04 PM
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There are also less restrictions are owning long guns versus handguns. For example, in New Jersey, once you get a purchasing permit, you were allowed to buy as many long guns as you want (assuming they weren't on the banned list.) You could also use that purchasing permit to buy long guns out of state like at gun shows in PA. But you had to get a separate permit for each pistol you wanted to buy, and each purchase had to be done in-state.

Personally, I own more long guns than handguns.
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Old 01-08-2013, 06:59 PM
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I have 19 handguns, 15 long-guns currently. I sold 5 handguns over the past three months, just to thin things down. (At 24, that's the largest I've had at a single time.) I've sold/traded countless handguns over the years, but I've only sold one long-gun.

I enjoy shooting handguns at the range more than I do rifles or shotguns. So maybe that's why I end up selling pistols more than I do rifles. When it comes to collections, every person is different. Handguns are nice to collect because they take up a lot less room.
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Old 01-08-2013, 07:48 PM
SPEMack618 SPEMack618 is offline
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I've got round about 25 guns. Mostly long arms, and of those long arms, most of them are shotguns.

Of my pistols, with the exception of my Tec-9, they are all utilitarian or training related.

Such as a 22/45 and a .38 Spl for hunting/practice, and a couple of .45s and one 9mm for various forms of CCW or nightstand gun.
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Old 01-08-2013, 09:51 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
Shouldn't this topic be in the Guns section and not off topic?
Fair enough.
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Old 01-08-2013, 10:01 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Interesting responses. I'm not a hunter, trap or skeet shooter nor do I do participate in Cowboy Action shooting or 3 gun shooting competition. I used to own more rifles and when I was younger (over 20 years ago) I actually preferred long-guns.

But times and tastes change. I found that I enjoyed shooting and collecting revolvers and pistols more. It didn't hurt that (as the years went by) I became a better handgun shooter which increased my enjoyment. Gradually I've sold and traded the bulk of my rifles and shotguns and I have become a handgun collector.
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Old 01-08-2013, 10:20 PM
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I'll probably end up owning more pistols than long-guns over the course of my life
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Old 01-09-2013, 12:12 AM
SPEMack618 SPEMack618 is offline
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JCordell, I think there is an interesting correlation to be had here.

You don't participate in the "long arm sports" and are a police officer, who is primarily armed with a pistol

Makes sense that you would gravitate towards pistols.

I, on the other hand, am an avid hunter and shot skeet competitively in middle and high school. Also, I shot both small bore and air rifle competitively in high school.

In the military, I was issued both an M-4A1 and a Beretta. Obviously, I used the M-4A1 more.

And I gravitate more towards shotguns and rifles. Though now, my wish list is primarily rifle centered, and old hunting rifles at that: a Savage 110 in .25-06, a pre '64 Model 70 in 7mm-08, and a Remington 600 in 6mm Remington. That being said, those rifles are desired because I pretty muich have all the shotguns I want. Minus either an Ithaca '37 in riot configuration or a Remington 870 police magnum with wood furniture.
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