How many guns is too many? What is considered an "armory"?

[seeth07]

So I've been thinking and maybe I'm starting to have a problem. My gun cabinet is completely overloaded and I'm building a brand new one with 3 times the capacity.

So first off, legally, is there a certain limit to where a person needs something special to own/possess over a certain amount of firearms and/or ammunition?

I have also come to realize with recent family members passing that there are a lot of guns out there with likely plans to end up in our household. My wife's grandpa passing lead to us receiving 3 guns. My uncle, my dad and stepdad all have well over 20 guns each (my uncle probably closer to 100) and all of those will mostly be eventually left to me.

I might need a 500 gun case in the future....I just have never sold a firearm and like to hang onto each one I get!

 

[brian flatlander]

So I've been thinking and maybe I'm starting to have a problem. My gun cabinet is completely overloaded and I'm building a brand new one with 3 times the capacity.

So first off, legally, is there a certain limit to where a person needs something special to own/possess over a certain amount of firearms and/or ammunition?

I have also come to realize with recent family members passing that there are a lot of guns out there with likely plans to end up in our household. My wife's grandpa passing lead to us receiving 3 guns. My uncle, my dad and stepdad all have well over 20 guns each (my uncle probably closer to 100) and all of those will mostly be eventually left to me.

I might need a 500 gun case in the future....I just have never sold a firearm and like to hang onto each one I get!

Just one more

 

[Ben Lamb]

King George once tried to tell us what we could have in our homes.

We kicked his ass.

I have several guns I regret selling. Some I don't. It's your collection, and 1/2 of the fun is curating it. Enjoy the multitude!

 

[mevertsen]

I am not aware of a limit per-se.

But think about this (and a constant thought I have about my parents and in-laws for when they pass).

Who is going to take care of all your crap when you die - house, cars, tools, guns, etc.

If you have someone you want to get the guns when you die, give them to those people now.

You obviously have something significant volume wise you are dealing with if you're building a new safe and still plan on taking on new guns as the inevitable happens. Talk to your heirs and people you will inherit stuff from now and see what they want, don't want, etc. If they don't want it now, they are not likely to want it when you die either or will sell it all to the lowest bidder. Maybe talk your stepdad who has 100 guns about selling them now, rather than leaving them for a family member to have to deal with.

Find a way to divest of it, let someone else enjoy it, and take the money and do something you will enjoy with it.

My biggest fear is having my children have to deal with a significant amount of my stuff when I die, which they have no real attachment to, while they are grieving and presumably trying to live their lives at the same time. It's just a recipe for bad decisions to be made, and relationships to get messed up over an inanimate object.

 

[Fire_9]

It's tough to sell them but I've gone from wanting a whole safe full to a handful of really nice guns with nice accessories. Nobody shoots them all anyways so the ones you do shoot may as well be as nice as they can be...

 

[Moserkr]

Selling guns is a sin in my family. First rule of owning guns, we dont talk about how many we own. Second rule, we dont talk about how much ammo we have.

There is no possession limit Ive ever heard of nor should there be in our country. You can only use one or two at a time. Could care less if you have a million.

 

[rjthehunter]

Just don't tell anyone how many you have. Also, make sure people who are aware of how many you have, keep their mouths shut!

 

[seeth07]

I am not aware of a limit per-se.

But think about this (and a constant thought I have about my parents and in-laws for when they pass).

Who is going to take care of all your crap when you die - house, cars, tools, guns, etc.

If you have someone you want to get the guns when you die, give them to those people now.

You obviously have something significant volume wise you are dealing with if you're building a new safe and still plan on taking on new guns as the inevitable happens. Talk to your heirs and people you will inherit stuff from now and see what they want, don't want, etc. If they don't want it now, they are not likely to want it when you die either or will sell it all to the lowest bidder. Maybe talk your stepdad who has 100 guns about selling them now, rather than leaving them for a family member to have to deal with.

Find a way to divest of it, let someone else enjoy it, and take the money and do something you will enjoy with it.

My biggest fear is having my children have to deal with a significant amount of my stuff when I die, which they have no real attachment to, while they are grieving and presumably trying to live their lives at the same time. It's just a recipe for bad decisions to be made, and relationships to get messed up over an inanimate object.

Lets not let this thread track off in this direction. Its not a thread about inheritance, its a thread about a gun collection problem.

 

[mevertsen]

Lets not let this thread track off in this direction. Its not a thread about inheritance, its a thread about a gun collection problem.

"I have also come to realize with recent family members passing that there are a lot of guns out there with likely plans to end up in our household. My wife's grandpa passing lead to us receiving 3 guns. My uncle, my dad and stepdad all have well over 20 guns each (my uncle probably closer to 100) and all of those will mostly be eventually left to me."

I'll just leave this here. It's what you described in the OP, its a thread about inheriting a(multiple) gun collection(s), and how to manage it.

 

[Islander]

Considered an armory by whom? Could not care less.

 

[sccritterkiller]

My rule is if you know exactly how many you have you don't have enough....

 

[seeth07]

My rule is if you know exactly how many you have you don't have enough....

I could not tell you exactly how many I have. I could give you a number and I'd be within 5...

 

[2rocky]

I think We all have a Wheelhouse of gun types we like and know. Some guys it's a certain brand, certain caliber or certain action.

I'll inherit the gun I grew up learning to shoot that was originally purchased by my great grandfather. I don't see any point in keeping a caliber that is obsolete or a gun that doesn't have modern application unless the collector value is greater on the notalgia side than the financial side.

Would you keep a wrench that won't hold a nut in your toolbox if the tool box is full?

At some point my daughters will have kids and they may need a first/their own gun. That's my dispersal plan. I won't lose any sleep over if they sell my guns .

 

[seeth07]

Would you keep a wrench that won't hold a nut in your toolbox if the tool box is full?

I counter with why do people collect baseball cards? Why coins? Why do people collect anything? Lots of reasons right? Its fun, monetary value and hopefully some appreciation, nostalgia, sentimental are a few reasons that come to mind.

 

[SCliving Outdoors]

So I've been thinking and maybe I'm starting to have a problem. My gun cabinet is completely overloaded and I'm building a brand new one with 3 times the capacity.

So first off, legally, is there a certain limit to where a person needs something special to own/possess over a certain amount of firearms and/or ammunition?

I have also come to realize with recent family members passing that there are a lot of guns out there with likely plans to end up in our household. My wife's grandpa passing lead to us receiving 3 guns. My uncle, my dad and stepdad all have well over 20 guns each (my uncle probably closer to 100) and all of those will mostly be eventually left to me.

I might need a 500 gun case in the future....I just have never sold a firearm and like to hang onto each one I get!

500 is a lot, but I don't see an issue, lol.

In the words of Ariana Grande
"I see it, I like it, I want it. I got it"

 

[seeth07]

500 is a lot, but I don't see an issue, lol.

In the words of Ariana Grande
"I see it, I like it, I want it. I got it"

You are way "cooler" than me. I know who Ariana Grande is but to quote her? That is unless you are 15 years younger than me but based on your world travels I'm doubting so!

 

[SAJ-99]

So I've been thinking and maybe I'm starting to have a problem. My gun cabinet is completely overloaded and I'm building a brand new one with 3 times the capacity.

So first off, legally, is there a certain limit to where a person needs something special to own/possess over a certain amount of firearms and/or ammunition?

I have also come to realize with recent family members passing that there are a lot of guns out there with likely plans to end up in our household. My wife's grandpa passing lead to us receiving 3 guns. My uncle, my dad and stepdad all have well over 20 guns each (my uncle probably closer to 100) and all of those will mostly be eventually left to me.

I might need a 500 gun case in the future....I just have never sold a firearm and like to hang onto each one I get!

Typically, when a person starts to consider they have a problem, they have a problem. As long as you are not debating buying groceries vs. another firearm, you at least have some financial flexibility. I have to figure if you have a gun you see in the safe and say "I forgot i had that one", you should probably sell it. Or maybe if you haven't shot in 5 yrs or something? I don't see the joy in storing anything.

 

[sccritterkiller]

I could not tell you exactly how many I have. I could give you a number and I'd be within 5...

I always say I could be within 5, I probably couldnt get within 10....wife was cleaning guest bedroom the other day and found a couple cases of Golden Tiger I had squirreled away, when it was cheap, under the bed...forgot all about it.

 

[2rocky]

I counter with why do people collect baseball cards? Why coins? Why do people collect anything? Lots of reasons right? Its fun, monetary value and hopefully some appreciation, nostalgia, sentimental are a few reasons that come to mind.

See, I'm not a COLLECTOR. I'm a user, and use is more important than nostalgia and tradition.

I'm reminded of the saying "Tradition is peer pressure from dead people."

 

[seeth07]

See, I'm not a COLLECTOR. I'm a user, and use is more important than nostalgia and tradition.

I'm reminded of the saying "Tradition is peer pressure from dead people."

I'm two fold. I have a set of firearms that get used heavily. My clays shotgun cycles over 1000 rounds a year. I have three waterfowl shotguns that each get used for specific types of hunting (field, mucky marsh and then everything else). I have 3 rifles for hunting from chipmunks (22) to big game (.308). Then there is the "collection" which are all firearms that have some value - either monetary in situations where I was able to get them cheaper than what they are worth or they have grown in value or sentimental such as my grandpa's deer rifle. The rifles in the collection rarely get shot, maybe every now and then when they come out to show someone.