[RWebb]

How about not attacking the guy for a simple question, Snipper?

Larry - In addition to the hobby responses above, for some of us, guns are family heirlooms. Like many others who grew up in southern Louisiana, as a young boy I knew I would inherit a few pieces of family silver (most goes to sisters, but some goes to boys - French heritage) and a few guns and knives. The guns go back to Grandpa and for some, much further. I heard of a few kids whose guns went back to France - before 1718 even.

Hunting is not always a hobby. We didn't have much $$ to buy meat with when I was a kid, and ate a lot of squirrel, rabbit, quail & dove 'cuz it was cheap. I know of others who do that even today and even in highly settled areas - one example was the photocopy machine operator at Indiana Univ. (Bio. Dept.). Few faculty "wasted time" by talking to her, but I did. She brought in cash, and gardened. Her husband hunted for meat. The parallels to ancient hunter-gathers are clear and the gender division is still present. There was a Sociology thesis waiting to be written right there in front of everybody...

Finally, a nice big shotgun is useful in Grizzly or Polar Bear country. Some research scientist colleagues of mine have graduate students rotate guard duty for just that reason.