The Early Years
The Army put me through college in exchange for the deed to my soul but it left a little extra cash at the end of each semester. Like Alexander or Agamemnon, I set my mind on modest conquests and then moved on once they were secured. The early ’80s were the salad days of gun collecting before gun control became a really serious thing.
I have always collected guns to fill some strange ethereal niche. As a result, my collection is broad but shallow. I know a gent who owns more than a hundred Luger pistols — it’s just his “thing.” By contrast I own three — a 1911 Erfurt, a 1916 Navy and a 1917 Lange Pistole Artillery Luger. Now I have one in each category, I can move on to the next conquest. As I said, broad but shallow.
There was the AR15 meticulously revered like the precious thing it was. I added a Chicom Type 56 folding stock AK ($325 NIB from a stack at a gun show) along with a LAW-12 shotgun (an underappreciated gem). During the era I had very little money so trading was the order of the day. Some trades were great. Most were abysmal. However, I always left with whatever I felt I couldn’t live without.
The HK VP70 (the trigger really sucked) became an FIE TZ75 (the only high-capacity 9mm with a decent trigger I could afford). The TZ75 became a .357 Magnum Desert Eagle (just too freaking cool) which eventually became a NIB Beretta 92. (I’m still a bit embarrassed by it.) Mel Gibson carried one in Lethal Weapon and he was really, really awesome. However, I found despite my amazing new wonder-nine, I was sadly still just some gooby guy