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Pizza Bob

Where Do Our Guns Come From?

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There is no doubt that the Internet has changed the lives of collectors of anything, by placing at their fingertips items that they may have otherwise never encountered. The sheer volume of available objects allows collectors to be more selective and have more focused collections. I know that some people are wary of purchasing firearms via the Internet, but they are denying themselves the benefits listed above. You do have to be careful and not let your enthusiasm override your good judgement - I let that happen once and it was an $800 lesson in being more circumspect - but it has only happened once out of many, many Internet transactions.

How many? I started to look at my spread sheet to determine the origin of my total collection - both handguns and longarms. I divided sources into three categories: 1) Inherited 2) Purchased Face-to-Face 3) Purchased over the Internet.

It was interesting to see that Internet purchases barely eeked out a win over FTF. Here are the stats...

18.3% of my collection was inherited (my father was a shooter, but not quite as prolific a collector - he never owned a computer and he was disabled for the last 20 years of his life)

40.4% of my collection was purchased FTF

41.3% of my collection was purchased via the Internet

I hope to widen that gap a little further this weekend.

Where did the majority of your guns come from?

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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I should know better than to post a serious question on this board. My point was that there are multiple sources for the acquisition of firearms and to let the plethora of new gun owners/shooters know that just because their LGS has no inventory it doesn't have to mean the end of your new Firearm adventure.

Instead all I get is a bunch of tired cliches that we've all heard a thousand times before. I purposely couched my question so that nobody has to give-up how many or what type of firearms they have.

What a waste of bandwidth. Moderators, please lock this thread.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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@Pizza Bob - your point is well-taken but let's try to leave it open just a bit more, OK? I removed comments from the peanut gallery. :facepalm:

As for the REST of you... I know you all like to have your fun, but Bob's point is a fair one - we DO have a lot of new gun owners right now. Sharing some relevant information that let's them know their (legal) purchase options is a good thing. So, try to save the bulk of your fun for the humor thread and your snark for the 1A Lounge, OK?.

Frankly, as I've said before, I feel really bad for these brand-new gun owners - they're coming in at an incredibly difficult time. The spiking ammo prices (and shortages) alone had made things awfully unpleasant. 

As to Bob's original question, I bought my first gun on Gunbroker.com - and my next 2 at my local FFL. I used Jim Flynn's Truck Repair in Glen Gardner - Jim is a fantastic guy btw, so I'll give him a little plug at the same time! I think he's very fair in his pricing and he's just a pleasure to deal with. The first time I purchased from him, it was just a little counter - nothing at all displayed - in his truck repair business. By the 2nd purchase - he had built a 2nd building on his lot just for the FFL services... which is a nicer experience, because now he has glass gun display cases, and holsters, etc. on the walls... so just a few things around to look at when you're waiting.  I have to say, I do enjoy dealing with a local FFL - it's a friendlier process. That said, my first purchase (over the Internet but with a local FFL doing the transfer) was a bloody HORRIBLE experience - due to the FFL - that makes me angry to this day (that FFL has changed hands so I won't even mention their name, it wouldn't be fair). So, to people who are new to this... I would remind them that firearms dealers are like any other occupation... you will find some that are very knowledgeable and have great customer service...but others, not so much. You can and should shop around. You can use feedback on NJGF as a good resource, too. Get someone you like and trust would be my advice. Besides, even if you ultimately buy another gun (and there's always another gun!) on the Internet, at least you'll already have an FFL lined up to handle your transfer.

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Without doing an actual analysis, I'd say most were a direct buy from LGS/FFL. Followed by something found online, but a F2F transaction at a FFL (no shipping involved and I saw/touched what I was buying before paying). I've only paid for something I did not see first twice. Those were consignment sales posted on a LGS fb page. One turned out great, the other I regret. 

 

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I have bought zero guns via the internet “brokers”.

I have bought a few from members here that I did not previously know - that may count as “internet” to some, but it was really more of a face to face type.

66% were bought at a gun shop from their stock

33% were personal transactions. Of those I’d say 75% of which were with close friends or family.
 

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I think it comes out to 50/50 for me between internet sales and in-store. I don't really buy used guns.

I'm not counting using the vendor tool here as an online sales, as that's how I ended up buying my Walther PPQ 9 years ago.

Otherwise I've used Kulak Arms for both transfers and some "in-store" purchases. I use quotes because I'm very specific with my purchases and he's ordered a number for me.

My AR build is kinda a weird one, though. As I bought the lower from Kulak (Aero M4E1) but then, due to my aforementioned specificity, sourced the remaining parts from various internet vendors. So the part that is arbitrarily considered the firearm was obtained locally, but for all intents and purposes it's basically an internet frankenstein gun.

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Agreed. AR’s are different that way. Of all my AR type carbines, only 2 were bought as complete rifles. The rest were all bought as stripped lowers from brick and mortar shops that I then built up to fit my needs buying parts (uppers, barrels, BCG, parts kits, accessories, etc...) from online retailers.

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Bob,

People are apprehensive to even admit they own firearms in NJ. With NJ's unconstitutional red flag laws I don't blame them. 

I'm going to say 70% brick & mortar 15% internet and 15% ftf (from members here). This was all pre-boating accident of course. 

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39 minutes ago, ChrisJM981 said:

Bob,

People are apprehensive to even admit they own firearms in NJ. With NJ's unconstitutional red flag laws I don't blame them. 

I'm going to say 70% brick & mortar 15% internet and 15% ftf (from members here). This was all pre-boating accident of course. 

 

 

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18 hours ago, NJSigfan said:

Looks like I’m in the minority when it comes to firearm purchases

5% online

90% via LGS

5% via FTF sales

now, accessories, that’s another story.

I'm close to that:

10% online in the early years

90% via LGS

I prefer LGS now, both to support the local suppliers plus to have a place to go back to if issues arise.

And accessories, mostly online.

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