Between my wife and I, our
most current inventory before the tragic boating accident was 9 long guns (6 rifles, 3 shotguns) and 14 pistols. 23 guns total. So sad. But OF those....
- Pistols:
- 1 pistol I inherited when my dad died. No FFL involved. WW2 memento.
- 1 pistol I purchased FTF from a forum member, which he bought used FTF from someone else...no idea if that person was original owner or not, but it is a new enough model that an FFL/4473 were involved at some point.
- 1 pistol received in FTF trade from a forum member, in exchange for another pistol I purchased, involving FFL/4473. That forum member was the original buyer, and FFL/4473 was involved.
- The other 11 pistols were purchased through an FFL and a 4473 was filled out.
Rifles:
- 1 rifle I received in FTF trade from someone who built it (FFL/4473 involved for lower), in exchange for another rifle I purchased through an FFL/4473.
- 1 rifle I received as a Christmas present. The giver purchased it FTF from his employer, who bought it used (manufactured in 1943). No FFL involved at any time after initial re-import in 1960s.
- The other 4 rifles were purchased through an FFL, involving a 4473.
Shotguns:
- All 3 shotguns were purchased through an FFL, involving a 4473.
I have privately sold/traded over the years 2 revolvers, 2 semiauto pistols, 1 bolt rifle, and 2 semiauto rifles. That's over the course of maybe 20 years or so. All of
those I acquired through an FFL purchase with a 4473. In none of those "outbound" transactions was a FFL/4473 involved.
I realize that I probably owned more guns (before the boating accident) than the average gun-owner, and I believe that because of that volume, my purchasing patterns do not represent the national average. I probably have more private FTF acquisitions/sales under my belt than the national-average buyer. I suspect that people who collect, as I did before my tragic loss, probably do purchase through unrecorded transactions more frequently than others. But it is also true (I think) that the vast majority of gun owners are not "collectors." With about 300 million firearms in about 100 million households, for every person like me who owns a double figure number of guns, there are probably 10 or 20 more that own only one gun.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
#TINVOWOOT
