Buy Now, or Wait a Few Months?

[gglass]

I don't forsee prices coming down till after the election. And that's if Trump is reelected. If Biden wins, I don't think you'll even find a firearm or ammunition in store or online, in stock, for months, if not years to come

Just my

^^^ The thread should end right here. ^^^

 

[frankiechi312]

I would buy now. No time like the present. Prices arent really going to go up because of the pandemic.

 

[KittySlayer]

...do you expect the price of guns to go down in the next several months as things start to normalize? (Assuming they do). They seem significantly higher than when I looked sometime back...

You're not buying a stock investment on Wall Street, you're buying a tool that you might need today, tomorrow, or hopefully never. So let's say that when you looked at what you wanted to buy "sometime back" the cost is now $125 higher due to high demand and low supply. I don't see supply going up (and prices going down) before the election which is just over 125 days away. So your hesitancy of pulling the trigger today and buying a gun is it might be $125 cheaper in November (or later).

Do you pay for life insurance on yourself and your wife in case you die? Do you pay a $1 dollar per day for that life insurance? The price difference between today's high prices and maybe November's lower price is $1 per day. If life insurance is worth $1 per day in case you die isn't a gun worth $1 per day if it might help you defend you and your wife's lives?

Buy yourself a moderately priced gun today and get trained on how to safely use it to defend yourself and those you love.

 

[Wood&Steel]

Wow, thanks for all the great responses! It seems like everyone is in agreement that I would be better off waiting, but I think I should follow my intuition and buy now.

A coulple of things I should have said in my first post for clarification:
1) I'm from a small town, so though I didn't exactly grow up with guns, I've been shooting a handful of times with several different guns, so I have a decent (not exact) idea of what I think would work best for me.
2) I live in a good neighborhood with good neighbors and have taken many steps to ensure the the safety of the homestead.
3) My parents and brother both still live in said small town and I would Nope right out of lafayette at the first sign of things going sideways.

(Points 2&3 are why I felt decently safe waiting, if that's worth anything.)

I am not at all opposed to, and might even prefer, the used market if I can get a better product for the same price as a new lower quality firearm. It seems that there are a ton of websites with used guns. Is one considered the best for buying locally? How are gun shows right now? It seems the closest one to me would be Indy over the 4th. Is that worth checking out, or should I know more going into one than I do right now?

If I buy new, are there any particular stores in Lafayette you guys would recommend? I have a friend that swears by Jerry's in Rensselaer. (Forgive me if we're not supposed to talk about specific business). Is there a particular time of day that I should go to a store to look around indecisively?

Thanks again for all the help. This seems like a very friendly and informed community, and I'm glad I found it.

 

[STEEL CORE]

I don't know, but we have classifieds here, member snuffy just sold a Glock-42 at a decent price as new in the box with a holster, and from time to time you do see a deal or two. Gunbroker.com, or ARMSLIST.com are places to check. Your local LGS may be able to order you something.

Good luck.

 

[Route 45]

What is your price range? That will guide the discussion a bit.

 

[Trapper Jim]

It appears that defense with firearms is your motivation. Like many others that have got into the gun thing, you maybe shortcoming the experience. I am a proponent of getting a gun as a sportsman first and make some fun out of learning to use it....a lot. Seek out some friendly competition locally. Test yourself and your ability often. Once you have developed the skills needed you can then apply to any purpose one might need a gun for.



good luck and stay safe

 

[DRob]

Guns are just like parachutes. If you need one and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again!

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

It seems like everyone is in agreement that I would be better off waiting, but I think I should follow my intuition and buy now.

 

[NHT3]

Nothing wrong with training for those who are able and interested, but there are lots of people who have successfully defended themselves with a firearm without ongoing training. I posted several examples of 70-90 year olds successfully using a firearm for self defense in another thread, and I'm pretty sure none of them are rolling around like John Wick and smacking steel plates on a regular basis. As long as someone is familiar with their chosen platform and shoots at least a couple times a year, they'll probably be ok in a self defense scenario.

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. I seriously doubt people with no training (two times a year is no training) are successfully defending themselves on a regular basis.
[FONT=&amp]NRA Life Member / [/FONT]Basic Pistol instructor[FONT=&amp] / RSO[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]"Under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That's why we train so hard" [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Unnamed Navy Seal[/FONT]

“Ego is the reason many men do not shoot competition. They don't want to suck in public” ….Coach

 

[russc2542]

Here's an important part of the question: How does the mrs feel about it? If she's normally against, strike while the iron's hot. If you wait till prices and society return to normal, she may also return to her previous state. I speak from experience with my wife only opening to guns after someone went through the cars in the driveway one night and almost waited too long to get our first gun. Similarly our club had a lot of inquiries about joining/training during lockdown and by the time it lifted, much of the interest had waned.

 

[Route 45]

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. I seriously doubt people with no training (two times a year is no training) are successfully defending themselves on a regular basis.
[FONT=&amp]NRA Life Member / [/FONT]Basic Pistol instructor[FONT=&amp] / RSO[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]"Under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That's why we train so hard" [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Unnamed Navy Seal[/FONT]

“Ego is the reason many men do not shoot competition. They don't want to suck in public” ….Coach

It doesn't really matter what you believe. The fact is, people successfully defend themselves with firearms every day, and I guarantee you that the vast majority have never been to a tactical class, or train on a regular basis. This includes police officers, the vast majority who never practice other than a couple of days of mandatory training per year.

Like I said, I posted 6 incidents in another thread where elderly folks defended themselves from attack just fine. With revolvers, no less. (Despite the notion in that thread that old people universally can't manage a revolver) Training is fine, and one should try to get as proficient as they can. But the majority of self defense situations are up close and dirty, and they don't involve tacticool maneuvers that one would use while training to fight a squad of Al-Qaeda at the local mall. (Or Antifa, as the times may dictate)

 

[seldon14]

While you probably won't find any amazing deals, there still seem to be plenty of reasonably priced defensive firearms available.

S&W Shields seem to still be available in the $350 range, I've seen decent prices on used/surplus model 10 and 64 revolvers, and serviceable pump shotguns can pretty much always be found.

 

[doddg]

Hi all,
I wanted to get a gun a couple years back, but was never able to get the Mrs. onboard. Well, like a lot of people now, she's come around to seeing why it might be desirable to be able to defend one's self.
I assume there are no psychics on this forum, so perhaps this is an ignorant question to ask, but do you expect the price of guns to go down in the next several months as things start to normalize? (Assuming they do). They seem significantly higher than when I looked sometime back, which is not surprising, but I'm not sure if it's inflation or demand.

I understand your circumstances & sympathize with the money aspect.
But, in the past week, I've bought an EAA Windicator .357 revolver ($265 with ammo) & a Ruger P89 semi-automatic ($300).
Both are fine home defense guns, a little "bulky" for CC, but doable.
Both guns had fair prices not reflecting increases that most guns are at this time with people trying to make a few extra dollars on their older used guns.
There are some people out there still selling guns for a fair price.

Like everyone is saying: get something now: keep looking for a deal in the Classifieds ( I do & keep finding deals).
Good luck to you!

 

[doddg]

It doesn't really matter what you believe. The fact is, people successfully defend themselves with firearms every day, and I guarantee you that the vast majority have never been to a tactical class, or train on a regular basis. This includes police officers, the vast majority who never practice other than a couple of days of mandatory training per year.

Like I said, I posted 6 incidents in another thread where elderly folks defended themselves from attack just fine. With revolvers, no less. (Despite the notion in that thread that old people universally can't manage a revolver) Training is fine, and one should try to get as proficient as they can. But the majority of self defense situations are up close and dirty, and they don't involve tacticool maneuvers that one would use while training to fight a squad of Al-Qaeda at the local mall. (Or Antifa, as the times may dictate)

Appreciate the "real world" comments!

 

[El Conquistador]

It doesn't really matter what you believe. The fact is, people successfully defend themselves with firearms every day, and I guarantee you that the vast majority have never been to a tactical class, or train on a regular basis. This includes police officers, the vast majority who never practice other than a couple of days of mandatory training per year.

Like I said, I posted 6 incidents in another thread where elderly folks defended themselves from attack just fine. With revolvers, no less. (Despite the notion in that thread that old people universally can't manage a revolver) Training is fine, and one should try to get as proficient as they can. But the majority of self defense situations are up close and dirty, and they don't involve tacticool maneuvers that one would use while training to fight a squad of Al-Qaeda at the local mall. (Or Antifa, as the times may dictate)

Agreed

 

[Phase2]

He's a newbie. I doubt he has heard about purple.

Wood&Steel- Sarcasm doesn't translate well on a chat board. It is generally a good idea to use a smiley or to color your text purple to let people know not to take the statement seriously.

 

[Trapper Jim]

It doesn't really matter what you believe. The fact is, people successfully defend themselves with firearms every day, and I guarantee you that the vast majority have never been to a tactical class, or train on a regular basis. This includes police officers, the vast majority who never practice other than a couple of days of mandatory training per year.

Like I said, I posted 6 incidents in another thread where elderly folks defended themselves from attack just fine. With revolvers, no less. (Despite the notion in that thread that old people universally can't manage a revolver) Training is fine, and one should try to get as proficient as they can. But the majority of self defense situations are up close and dirty, and they don't involve tacticool maneuvers that one would use while training to fight a squad of Al-Qaeda at the local mall. (Or Antifa, as the times may dictate)

just because there have been some lucky survivors does not mean we should not push training and push it hard to gun owners. Yet to find one that does not benefit from training and practice schedule.

 

[Route 45]

just because there have been some lucky survivors does not mean we should not push training and push it hard to gun owners. Yet to find one that does not benefit from training and practice schedule.

Everybody who survives a lethal force encounter is lucky. Because although training can help even up the odds and shore up basic gun handling skills, mindset and luck play a huge part as well. Otherwise, we would never have a highly trained US soldier killed by a half-literate goat herder with a Mosin.

I never said that training shouldn't be encouraged, but if someone can't manage anything more than basic familiarity and range visits a few times a year, they'll probably be ok. As long as one has basic proficiency, situational awareness is the more important factor for survival than ringing a steel target 1000 times on a one-way range.

 

[NHT3]

It doesn't really matter what you believe. The fact is, people successfully defend themselves with firearms every day, and I guarantee you that the vast majority have never been to a tactical class, or train on a regular basis. This includes police officers, the vast majority who never practice other than a couple of days of mandatory training per year.

Like I said, I posted 6 incidents in another thread where elderly folks defended themselves from attack just fine. With revolvers, no less. (Despite the notion in that thread that old people universally can't manage a revolver) Training is fine, and one should try to get as proficient as they can. But the majority of self defense situations are up close and dirty, and they don't involve tacticool maneuvers that one would use while training to fight a squad of Al-Qaeda at the local mall. (Or Antifa, as the times may dictate)

I guess we can agree to disagree, I don't have a problem with that. You may have some incidents where unprepared people have prevailed but leading people to believe they are prepared when they aren't is not a good idea. I've made this offer before but I'll put it out there again.. Anyone that hasn't shot in the Carry gun match and wants to demonstrate their skills, if you finish in the top half of the field I'll pay your entry fee. PM me and let me know you're coming, next match is 7-15. No pressure other than a hot range, timer running, 25 people watching and strict safety protocols. Nothing like having someone threaten your life. No tacticool, just drawing from concealment and hitting cardboard. I would be sincerely happy to see some new faces finish ahead of me in the match results and see some more revolvers in the mix.

[FONT=&amp]NRA Life Member / [/FONT]Basic Pistol instructor[FONT=&amp] / RSO[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]"Under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That's why we train so hard" [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Unnamed Navy Seal[/FONT]

“Ego is the reason many men do not shoot competition. They don't want to suck in public” ….Coach