Less than you think
If you participate in any online activities – no matter your hobby, whether it be photography or firearms, or anything in between, no doubt there are influencers telling you to buy the latest and greatest.
When it comes to guns, there is always a new model, and it’s always drastically better than the last.
Guns don’t improve dramatically
Obviously guns have gotten better over the last 20 years. Specifically when we look at size, capacity, and reliability. Guns like the Sig P365, Smith and Wesson Shield Plus, Springfield Hellcat or Glock 43x, they did improve majorly over guns of the last generation, like the Glock 26, HK P2000, Kahr cw9 etc which were thick, heavy, and still carried only 10ish bullets.
Today’s offerings have rails, optic cuts, enhanced triggers, thin profiles, and high capacities.
That being said nearly every gun that made great leaps has had numerous versions with incremental improvements, or just minor variations roll out, for example the Sig P365 has the XL, comp version, and X-Macro. The Hellcat has the RDP and Pro version. the Shield line added the Shield Plus, Shield Plus Optic Ready, and Shield X. The Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 and 2.0 compact are almost exactly the same size. The compact is like a half inch smaller in the slide and in the grip. It is easier to conceal, but it’s not a dramatic difference.
Some people have all of them, and not just from one line up but from all the line ups. People are carrying different guns based on drip. A vintage ppk for a night on the town, a wheel gun on Wednesday, and a micro 9 for the weekend. Making sure to post a photo to r/ccw or Instagram of this 4 hour block’s carry selection.
It doesn’t stop with the firearms, but endless optics, optic footprints, reticle designs and even battery optimizations from rechargeable optics, solar powered optics, and optics with side loading battery trays so that you never have to re-zero the gun again.
Then there are holsters, belts, carry systems, like the Phlster Enigma, which was the latest craze. Then everyone switched from that to the Hunter Constantine belt, and from there they added wedges, pillows etc.
The truth is, a handgun for edc serves one purpose and that purpose is to save your life on a very bad day.
Does having 50 different options serve you or harm you?
In my opinion, it’s harmful, and I’ll tell you why. Deciding which gun to carry means that you have to choose between guns you probably rarely shoot. Each gun has different ergonomics, different grips, and recoil behavior, they may even be chambered in different calibers.
Personally I’m against having a large “carry rotation”. One or two handguns for edc is probably all you really need. I have three guns that can be carried. One has high capacity, one has average capacity in 9mm and can be pocket carried, and one is chambered in .380 and is so small it can be carried pretty much anywhere. Each one serves a purpose.
The Glock has an optic and light, so if I’m going out at night to a sketchy part of town, the glock has 15 or more rounds, and is kitted out. It’s hard to conceal, and is ideally suited for a bag. this is also my bedside gun.
The Hellcat fits in jeans pockets but can be worn without a belt. It’s going to be what I carry 90% of the time.
The Bodyguard 2.0 is a backup gun, that can be taken when deep concealment is required. It can be ankle carried, pocket carried, or bag carried.
I also have two other handguns. My Kahr CW9 was purchased for my wife when compacts guns on the roster were few and far between. Neither one of us likes it, so it just sits in a safe. It’s my ideal gun of last resort. Something I can stash somewhere and get access to if I ever lose access to my other firearms.
I also have a Springfield XD, this gun was my first gun I ever purchased. It’s technically a compact, but it’s fairly large. This is one of my door guns, something I can get to in case of a breach, but not something I necessarily carry or practice excessively with. It’s just an extra gun that still serves some utility.
There Are Reasons To Buy Lots of Guns
Many guns have collectible value, and some are useful for competition shooting, or hunting. There is nothing wrong with buying a lot of guns, but the pressure to buy, buy, buy, just because a new gun hit the roster or is making the rounds on YouTube, is just noise, that we don’t have to listen to. The next version of the gun you already own isn’t going to make you a better shooter, practicing with the one you have will.