5 ms·

Recreation. Many people enjoy visiting a firing range.

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
Why not let the firing range own the weapons then, and rent whatever you like for the day? Or at least, why not store them there in an approved gun locker you can rent?
- back_beyond 10y ago
  Some people do exclusively rent guns and never take them out of the firing range. If this is your only intended use, that's probably the best strategy. However, like others have suggested, an additional reason to own a gun is self-defense; a gun stored at the firing range is completely ineffective in this regard.
- hga 10y ago
  Only the latter addresses customization of guns, and I've done a fair amount of that, plus fixing a couple of issues, plus of course all my cleaning of them, at home. Or assembling your own, in the US AR-15 pattern rifles are pretty much the ultimate examples of both.
- GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
  Because I don't just use one range? Also, I can't shoot intruders with a gun at the range.
  - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
    I've never understood "guns for self defense". Gun ownership without storing the gun in a proper secured gun locker is completely irresponsible, and is much more likely to lead to your kids or someone else discharging the firearm and injuring/killing someone than it is likely to be useful for self defense. And if you do store your guns appropriately, you won't have time to get them in a self defense situation. The former is like saying "I won't wear seatbelts so I can get out of the car quickly in case of fire". The latter is saying "I'll buy a fire extinguisher for my car, but I'll keep it locked up under the hood."
    - hga 10y ago
      And if you do store your guns appropriately, you won't have time to get them in a self defense situation. Simply not true: https://www.google.com/#q=push+button+gun+safe https://www.google.com/#q=push+button+gun+safe (Americans are problem solvers, after all; you can also use one with a key and keep that on your person, say, on a string around your neck; this is also what hardening your entrances etc. is about, to give you time to react). And "appropriately" is really situation specific; I haven't lived in a situation where there was danger of another abusing one of my guns for decades. There's also the pattern of keeping it in your safe until you get home (and if you're really hard core, carrying it until you go to bed). And you're completely ignoring concealed carry, which covers 42+ of the states and ~72% of the US population, 12+ million licensees, and 10 states without a license requirement: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980298 And that's before we even get into the "much more likely", which simply isn't supported by the facts, starting with a 25% drop in the number of fatal gun accidents per year in the period 1980 to now, while both the population and number of guns owned by it roughly increased by 50%. Note that if you're depending on e.g. Kellerman's studies, they score only fatal outcomes for home intruders as successful defensive gun uses, when the majority don't involve any shots being fired, the vast majority don't involve anyone getting hit by a round, and pistol torso hits resulting in fatality only about 1/4 of the time. Even the biased CDC admits to the utility of guns: https://www.google.com/#q=%E2%80%9CSelf-defense+can+be+an+important+crime+deterrent%E2%80%9D+cdc https://www.google.com/#q=%E2%80%9CSelf-defense+can+be+an+im...
      - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
        I guess my main argument against the need for guns for self-defense is that outside the US, only people living in the worst slums of megacities plus people living in the less civilised parts of Africa, Middle East and Latin America feel a need for guns for self defense. Everywhere else people do fine, and it's not like people getting killed in armed home invasions is a problem anywhere civilised. The occurrence of e.g. school shootings are also orders of magnitude lower.
        10y ago
- mtreis86 10y ago
  Same reasons most people own a car instead of lease - for one it is yours - every time you go back to the range, your favorite gun is the exact same as when you left, a few thousands rounds have not been thrown through it since. For two it costs less over time, to own if you shoot frequently. For three you are in control of maintenance and upkeep.
- valine 10y ago
  Because they're pretty to look at and can make incredibly loud noises / destroy things. Guns are just appealing to own. And plus a properly maintained gun will be more acurate than the one you rent at a range.

Why not let the firing range own the weapons then, and rent whatever you like for the day? Or at least, why not store them there in an approved gun locker you can rent?

back_beyond 10y ago
Some people do exclusively rent guns and never take them out of the firing range. If this is your only intended use, that's probably the best strategy. However, like others have suggested, an additional reason to own a gun is self-defense; a gun stored at the firing range is completely ineffective in this regard.
hga 10y ago
Only the latter addresses customization of guns, and I've done a fair amount of that, plus fixing a couple of issues, plus of course all my cleaning of them, at home. Or assembling your own, in the US AR-15 pattern rifles are pretty much the ultimate examples of both.
GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
Because I don't just use one range? Also, I can't shoot intruders with a gun at the range.
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  I've never understood "guns for self defense". Gun ownership without storing the gun in a proper secured gun locker is completely irresponsible, and is much more likely to lead to your kids or someone else discharging the firearm and injuring/killing someone than it is likely to be useful for self defense. And if you do store your guns appropriately, you won't have time to get them in a self defense situation. The former is like saying "I won't wear seatbelts so I can get out of the car quickly in case of fire". The latter is saying "I'll buy a fire extinguisher for my car, but I'll keep it locked up under the hood."
  - hga 10y ago
    And if you do store your guns appropriately, you won't have time to get them in a self defense situation. Simply not true: https://www.google.com/#q=push+button+gun+safe https://www.google.com/#q=push+button+gun+safe (Americans are problem solvers, after all; you can also use one with a key and keep that on your person, say, on a string around your neck; this is also what hardening your entrances etc. is about, to give you time to react). And "appropriately" is really situation specific; I haven't lived in a situation where there was danger of another abusing one of my guns for decades. There's also the pattern of keeping it in your safe until you get home (and if you're really hard core, carrying it until you go to bed). And you're completely ignoring concealed carry, which covers 42+ of the states and ~72% of the US population, 12+ million licensees, and 10 states without a license requirement: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980298 And that's before we even get into the "much more likely", which simply isn't supported by the facts, starting with a 25% drop in the number of fatal gun accidents per year in the period 1980 to now, while both the population and number of guns owned by it roughly increased by 50%. Note that if you're depending on e.g. Kellerman's studies, they score only fatal outcomes for home intruders as successful defensive gun uses, when the majority don't involve any shots being fired, the vast majority don't involve anyone getting hit by a round, and pistol torso hits resulting in fatality only about 1/4 of the time. Even the biased CDC admits to the utility of guns: https://www.google.com/#q=%E2%80%9CSelf-defense+can+be+an+important+crime+deterrent%E2%80%9D+cdc https://www.google.com/#q=%E2%80%9CSelf-defense+can+be+an+im...
    - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
      I guess my main argument against the need for guns for self-defense is that outside the US, only people living in the worst slums of megacities plus people living in the less civilised parts of Africa, Middle East and Latin America feel a need for guns for self defense. Everywhere else people do fine, and it's not like people getting killed in armed home invasions is a problem anywhere civilised. The occurrence of e.g. school shootings are also orders of magnitude lower.
      - 10y ago
mtreis86 10y ago
Same reasons most people own a car instead of lease - for one it is yours - every time you go back to the range, your favorite gun is the exact same as when you left, a few thousands rounds have not been thrown through it since. For two it costs less over time, to own if you shoot frequently. For three you are in control of maintenance and upkeep.
valine 10y ago
Because they're pretty to look at and can make incredibly loud noises / destroy things. Guns are just appealing to own. And plus a properly maintained gun will be more acurate than the one you rent at a range.