Poll results just in: y’all a bunch of gun nuts!
I ran a poll last week asking the readers if they had bought a gun or not this year. The results:
4% are not buying a gun this year.
39% Will be buying a gun this year.
57% have already brought at least one gun this year.
30% have bought more than one gun this year.
Total Votes: 983
While this is far from being a scientific poll, I am very surprised! I knew you all were gun nuts but now it is official!
As for the 4% of you not buying a gun … I hope you have a good reason 
It should also be noted that 24% of the visitors to this blog are not in the US.
I will be buying this years second gun soon. After that I will be concentrating on ammo.
I felt like I needed to flex my second amendment muscles this election year, so I bought a bunch.
Sample a little of my logic mixed with pseudo humor here:
http://aroundotown.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-avoid-being-car-jacked-in.html
I’m part of the 4%, the only reason I’m not buying a gun is that I don’t have enough money.
in 2009 I’ve bought a Tikka T3 in .270 and my second Evil Black Rifle (a S&W M&P15 I’ve modified and added an ACOG to). Last year though I bought a S&W .357 Magnum, a Para Ordinance 1911, a SOG Armory AR-15 and an assload of rifle and handgun ammo.
I may not be able to afford any more this year….
HTownGuy, nice
time to stock up on ammo!
Doh, didn’t get around to voting in the poll. Put me down for “Will buy…” and “Have bought more then one”.
I just started my collection at the start of 08, so I’ve got quite a laundry list of pieces to pick up. Unfortunately, the panic buying has made me have to spend extra time scouting around trying to find pre-inflation prices on things. Ohh well, it’s probably a blessing in disguise or else all my discressionary income would be going towards firearms.
My C&R paperwork is on it’s way, dunno if that will help or hurt
kerrmudgeon and Freiheiton. Ok, good excuses
I think we can refer to you guys as the “four %’ers”
I’m a sucker for deals, and as a gunsmith I tend to buy a lot of project guns for dirt cheap and fix them up. I bought a FAL and a Mini-14 for a song and dance by today’s standards, but neither attracted the attention of the average buyer. Turns out I have some odd complex where I like to buy non-functional (or barely functional) machines and make them work again
Mostly the reason I’ve bought a number of guns this year already is I keep stumbling into great deals. They just happen to be guns I’ve wanted for awhile too…
As one of the 4%, I believe I have the best reason for not buying anything this year:
I bought an evil black rifle last summer before the hysteria.
It was my first EBR, a DPMS TAC-20 .308, and I couldn’t be happier with it. Three weeks after that, the Heller decision was announced. It was a good month.
And a poll on ammo should be interesting…
Thanks for the poll resuts. Great blog!
I bought a Ruger SR9 and a Ruger Mark III this year and now have my sights set on a Kel Tec SU16. I just hope I’m not too late.
Also, I wonder when the manufacturers will catch up with demand. Any ideas anyone?
Steve,
Thank you, I will hold that as a compliment for the rest of my days.
You know what they say, the first step in solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem. I, have no problems…
Dan, dispite what other tell me, I also studiously admit to having no such problem
My reason for not buying a gun? I’m broke … but I will accept donations of lightly used Mausers, Colts, Sigs …
I think the number of guns I have is now double the number of fly rods I have. Some might say that 12 to too many, while a fellow sportsman would know that you gotta cover your needs from prairie dogs to elk, and likewise, from panfish to pike. I have 20-25 years left in the field, so I may not need to buy another hunting rifle or shotgun as long as I’m out there. The handgun battery is pretty well stocked with .22s, .357s and a 9mm, so I may be good there, too. As with Steve, it’s all about care and feeding now.
I’m in that 4%, I guess I should explain myself, or be forever shamed.
About a year back I took stock of what I have and how often I shoot it, I did the math and realized that for what a new gun would cost me I could spend many weekends at the range. Now that I live within 40 minutes of Knob Creek, that sounds like even more fun.
I also constantly bust my brothers balls, because he has a much nicer and larger collection of guns than I (about 15 to my 4) that he hardly ever shoots. He goes out and shoots maybe once every 3 months, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t go out and shoot at least once a month. I just can’t have that, its rare that I have legitimate standing to tell my big brother what to do.
Then it became a sellers market and with ammo prices rocketing up, I realized in order to keep shooting what I have I need to save up for ammo and not guns. I’d really like to have a PSL that I saw at the gun shop, but the price of a PSL will buy me a years membership at the range, a lot of ammo, and even some classes to help me shoot better with the guns I already have.
As a buyer I’m hoping that the current pricing is a bubble, that the fear driven buyers will not have their fears come to pass, and that a large enough portion of the newbies will decide that they should have started shooting with a 10/22 instead of a $1000 AR. For me I hope it means there will be some good deals and trades to be had in the next few months as the market self-corrects.
So thats one vote out of the 39 that weren’t buying a gun this year. What about the other 38 of us?