Would you want that gun ?

[Absalom]

About seven years ago the Remington 700 chambered in 6mm Remington that Charles Whitman used to shoot innocent people from the University of Texas tower was auctioned off. Bidding began at $25K and pretty sure I remember it going for considerably more than that.

….. I found it strange that anyone would really find owning Whitman's rifle desirable to the extent they would actively bid on it and pay a small fortune..

Everybody is entitled to their own attitude, but this is really the best example that the "just steel and wood" attitude is not any general principle.

For many people, the gun's "historical content" matters. For good and bad and worse.

I don't know anything about whoever bought Whitman's Remington, but I am certain that person did NOT shell out 25K plus because he needed another accurate hunting rifle.

For another aspect of this, our entire "cherished heirloom brigade" here on the forum could pack it in if guns were "just steel and wood". You know, the guys among us who tell folks to never sell that old gun because Dad or Grandpa owned it. What would be the point if the gun's history, family or otherwise, didn't stick to it in people's minds?

So whether a gun's history matters to you or not is your business. But arguing it doesn't or shouldn't to anybody else either won't go anywhere.

 

[Racer X]

I collect German WWII firearms and Axis Pistols. I imagine a few of them could have been involved in some executions. It's part of history.

I have my ancestors 1858 Remington Army he carried in the Civil War. Since he made it home alive, I'm sure he used it. No stigma. The tool did its job.

 

[Farmer17]

We have a very large local gun store with an indoor range and many people have come in, rented a handgun, then went inside to the shooting range and put the gun under their chin and made big mess. The range cleans up the mess and puts the gun back for others to rent it then they eventually sell the rental guns before they are worn out. I've bought some of their used guns and over 50 other used guns in my life and don't know much if anything about their history and it doesn't bother me one way or the other.

 

[jc2721]

In general, if I see a gun I like and it's priced right I buy it. I don't like guns with obvious blood staining, so I don't buy those. To each their own.

 

[7tenz]

I am in the wouldn't bother me. Gun didn't kill anyone. The bullet did it.

Gun is just steel and wood. The time it was fired and the bullet killed it did nothing different than any other time it was fired and the bullet went though a tin can, a piece of paper, wood etc.

I deleted my post after I saw you had this covered before me.

 

[jscheck]

The agency I retired from took a somewhat dim view of deputies purchasing firearms from people who'd had them temporarily confiscated (used in suicides primarily). The only time I was truly tempted to try to purchase such a gun from a family it was taken by the victim's brother. The pistol was a Colt snake gun. Beautiful gun!

 

[bob in texas]

My experience

Years ago (15 or so) a friend came to me with a Model 36 that looked brand new wanting to sell, he told me it had been his Wife's and she had ended her life using it. I bought it and kept it for a couple of years and then I was approached by a friend who was wanting one for her bedside, I told her of the history of it, she had no issues with it and still has it today as far as I know.

Now I want to pose a question, suppose you are an avid S&W collector and up pops a Registered Magnum, Non- Registered Magnum with a history, or a KCPD 357 would you pass on it ? Or what if it a very nice used car, perfect just what you were wanting, you buy it and later learn it had caused an accident and others had died but the car was unscathed.
I know everyone is different these are just random thoughts from me.