There has been a lot of discussion about people having a lot of guns - something that the media likes to call an "arsenal." How many times have we heard "The shooter had x-number of guns..." with him or in his home. Not sure what it matters how many he has at home matters, but media seems to think it does. What's worse is that often times "arsenal" equates to not very many firearms, sometimes as few 3 or 4. In the recent Oregon shooting the shooter had a total of 13 firearms, of which 7 were found at home. This has prompted some people to claim that there should be restrictions on the number that a person can have arguing that a person only has two hands and can only use two at a time. This is true - however, I do not see the reason to limit the number a person can have, after all we can only hold two at a time right?
I write this even as the President has spoken of requiring special licensing for individuals who may exceed an arbitrary number of firearms purchases, sells, or transfers. I didn't see a number specified but Federal Lawyers and the ATF have previously expressed that such a requirement would be illegal and unenforceable. My guess is it will target people who might have an "arsenal."
This prompted me to realize that a great number of people are NOT familiar with firearms and are grasping at concepts (any) that may help (in their mind) these tragedies. I was recently in conversation and pointed out that firearms are a tool - with specific purposes and functions. I pointed out that just for hunting that a person could potentially have:
1-goose shotgun, 1-duck shotgun (i'm not using a 10 ga for duck), 1-deer rifle, 1-elk rifle, 1-long range game flat trajectory rifle, 1-big game rifle, 1-Varmint rifle, 1- brush rifle (hog), 1-small game rifle, 1-hunting revolver (again multiple can be needed depending on game)
That's *10* firearms! An "arsenal" according to some!
I haven't even touched upon home defense, self defense (yes they can be different), competition (IDPA, 3-gun, trap, clays, etc), or just plinking.
And the 10 are just plain old hunting firearms. They are not even potentially scary looking (shotguns, bolt actions, revolver, etc) aka 'military-style' looking.
However, some of them certainly could be.
The AR15 that for some reason inspires fear in non-gun people can easily be used for deer, elk, long range game, big game, varmints, hog, and small game. The platform is remarkably adaptable (changeable caliber) and very accurate. Non-gun people might be surprised that the cartridge that the military uses was actually for VARMINT hunting. (Yes, gun people will be quick to point out the leade differences between 5.56 and .223 which is a technical difference that makes no difference for this discussion but I know someone will point it out).
I will also point out here that I was very explicit in using hunting firearms since they seem to be more accepted (by non-gun people) but that the 2nd Amendment, as the NRA slogan used to say: "Ain't about duck hunting." Remember, the Standing Army was DISBANDED after the Revolutionary War, but I digress.
I write this knowing that the average reader is a gun person and none of this will be new to them. However, it is my hope that someone potentially using Google to find out why a person has a gun "arsenal" might find it.
