Well for example, say you like to try shooting steel targets at 600 yards. That’s very hard to do. You might want a setup with a longer, say 20”, barrel. The scope you choose would likely be very heavy and expensive. You might select a very heavy bipod or simply use sand bags. You probably aren’t selecting a foregrip, accessory rails and flashlight attachments. Magazine capacity is moot. You’re likely going to want an actual high-powered caliber since the normal AR15 is NOT high powered despite what the news tells you and despite what your emotions tell you when you see one. In this case .308 would be much better but then the gun is termed an AR-10 but it’s basically the same thing.

Now on the other hand you like to enter 3-gun competitions where you’re running to different positions within an obstacle course like setup. (This is essentially just video gaming without the video). In this scenario you’re going to want a very light gun, so no big heavy optics. Instead people opt for these neat little red-dot sites. You may think they’re lasers like you see in the movies but that’s not it. It’s a tube you look through and there is a virtual red dot superimposed on the scene. They’re really neat.

Then you might choose between gas operated feeding and piston driven. Cost, cleaning requirements, reliability all come into play with this choice.

The list goes on and on really. These may not sound like “needs” and you’re right they’re not. This is just a hobby where go out an most commonly shoot paper or steel targets. But it’s a need in the same way women “need” a particular new shoe, or a gamer “needs” a new video card.

Also I hope this explains why people own many guns. Because once you build one for in particular style, you then start wanting one for a different style. Again, think women and shoes. Why do women have many pairs? For precisely the same reason people have many guns.

>Again, think women and shoes. Why do women have many pairs? For precisely the same reason people have many guns.

I understand the point you are making, but I think you could make a much better and less sexist analogy.

> Also I hope this explains why people own many guns. Because once you build one for in particular style, you then start wanting one for a different style. Again, think women and shoes. Why do women have many pairs? For precisely the same reason people have many guns.

It's true that women purchase many styles of shoes, car-heads collect different types of cars, computer nerds collect various laptops tablets desktops, etc. But no one buys three toasters or lawnmowers for different uses. What separates these? I'd suggest that there is an implicit status or power conveyed through these collectibles. In particular, gun owners often see guns as a proxy for protecting their own freedom, just like a watch collector may appreciate the status conveyed by a rare luxury. However, barring the zombie apocalypse, the connection between gun ownership and freedom is false.

I’d honestly have to go count to be sure, but I would guess I own between 15 and 20 ARs in various configurations.

> But no one buys three toasters or lawnmowers for different uses.

I don’t think that’s true at all, at least not for me.

A few years ago I took at interest in fountain pens. I have over 200 of them, and regularly rotate between a couple of dozen of my favorites.

Last year ukuleles piqued my interest. I have seven of them on the walls of my office.

> I would guess I own between 15 and 20 ARs in various configurations.

>> But no one buys three toasters or lawnmowers for different uses.

> I don’t think that’s true at all, at least not for me. A few years ago I took at interest in fountain pens.

You've made my point perfectly. Fountain pens are another good example of collectibles that convey some social value. A person who collects fountain pens is often perceived as someone who values writing and literature. Someone who collects musical instruments is often perceived as being musically literate.

Similarly, owning guns signals self-reliance and power.

The problem is that all of these social signifiers are pretty much false and made up. You can own hundreds of pens and be illiterate, you can own many instruments and no know a thing about music, just as you can own many guns and still be completely controlled by your government, bank, or even employer.

These social signals may all be false, but only the guns are actually harmful to others.

Feral hogs, apparently. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/05/feral-hogs-m...

I sense an undercurrent of incredulity here. The AR-15 accessory market shares some similarities to the after market PC market. The kind of people who play dress-up with their guns remind me a lot of the people who customize their workstations. Sometimes it's for a "need", sometimes it's for a "personal aesthetic" and sometimes it's just a hobby.

One of these days I'll go through the process of getting a threaded barrel and suppressor for my AR so I can shoot on my rural land without ear protection. You need subsonic ammo to truly make it ear safe, and 5.56 is kind of a bad sub sonic round (not enough mass, has a tendency to key hole on earth), so maybe I get a .300BLK upper receiver.That means a new bolt carrier group. Maybe I'll get one of those slick nitrile ones, or the bronze coated one so it looks cooler.. I already have a 1911, so I'll probably get a .45ACP upper instead of the .300BLK. Ammo is also cheaper.

Maybe I get rich and buy a drop in auto sear so I can turn ammo into noise. Maybe I'm a weirdo nerd so I buy one of those rail mounted chainsaws to help me trim the hedges. I like the color purple so I'm probably going to get one of those acrylic transparent lower receivers. Those are cool. Giselle triggers are nice.

There's different barrel lengths for different applications. A home defense rifle might have a shorter barrel, maybe a folding stock, tactical light and a red dot sight. Do I use a holographic sight like an eotech, or do I use an aim-point? Aimpoints can last like eons on a single battery, but eotechs are really easy to use.. I could leave an aim-point ON next to my bed for 5 years and it wouldn't run out of juice. That's one less button to press if I needed to use it in the night.

I like a bipod, longer barrel, and a 2x optic if I want to use it for plinking. What style of sling do I get, if any? Single point, double point? Probably depends on my barrel length and what I've practiced with.

Maybe I need special magazines because of preferences or local ordinances. We could debate direct impingement vs. piston gas systems like you might hear two people discussing intel vs. AMD.

I've got these small boulders that have really been bugging me. I've hit them with a sledgehammer for a few hours, but they're indestructible! I could buy a rock drill, or maybe masonry disks for my angle grinder.. I'm trying to use this "problem" to justify purchasing a .50BMG upper receiver. Wholly impractical, yeah.. but I could blow up my boulders from the comfort of my deck a mile away. Kaboom!

If you're left handed/left-eye dominant you might want the ejection port on the left side and an ambidextrous safety. Once cool thing about the AR is that the charging handle is ambi by design.

I could go on, but does this add any context to what someone's "needs" might be?

Pardon my ignorance, but aren't suppressors illegal?

Suppressors are federally regulated by the NFA, but can be bought with a $200 tax stamp and some paperwork. Only a minority of states ban them.