There are a number of reasons to own a firearm.
Self Defense
The most obvious reason to own a firearm in this day and age is self defense. The ability to deploy lethal force as a way to stop lethal force from being used against you or others in your immediate vicinity. The world is a turbulent place and only getting more so.
Civil Defense
Day to day, our society functions according to laws, with ways to enforce those laws and emergency services to help those in need. Firearm ownership as a method of civil defense is about dealing with situations where emergency services, including police, are not functioning or are over-burdened. This doesn’t mean the government has collapsed; the likelihood of that is exceedingly rare. That said, there have been instances (mostly as a result of extreme weather events) where the services we take for granted break down for days, or occasionally weeks. As extreme weather events continue to increase in frequency and severity, helping your local community get through rough times should be something we all think about.
Sporting and Competition
Alright, a break from the bleak and onto the fun stuff! Firearms are tools with the capability of causing great harm, but if handled responsibly can be really, really fun. You don’t need to compete to enjoy shooting, but if you’re so inclined there are many shooting sports one can enjoy. Some examples include:
- Action Pistol Shooting: USPSA, IPSC, IDPA, Steel Challenge, Cowboy Action Shooting
- Precision Pistol Shooting: Bullseye, PPC, ISSF Pistol Disciplines
- Traditional Shotgun Sports: Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays
- Olympic Disciplines: Rapid Fire Pistol, 50 Meter Rifle, the Biathlon
- Multi-gun Action Shooting: 3-Gun, 2-Gun, Brutality Matches
- Precision Rifle Shooting: Palma Rifle, NRL, F-Class
- Field Rifle Shooting: Precision Rifle Series, NRL Hunter, T-Class
Some disciplines have an international following, so if you stick with it and get good enough, it’s possible to travel to other nations for matches.
Hunting
One of the more obvious use cases for firearm ownership is hunting. If you enjoy meat, you’re killing an animal. By buying meat from the store, all you’ve done is outsourced the violence to a slaughterhouse. What is more humane, which animal had a better life? The deer that spent its life just being a deer, doing deer things, then suddenly is shot dead, or caged livestock that spends its entire life in captivity before being slaughtered? Aside from granting the animal you’re eating a better life, wild game like venison is generally leaner, and has higher nutritional value than conventional red meet such as beef.