Investments can come in many forms and as much as there is hype around cryptocurrencies at the moment all throughout the world, other opportunities do exist and as an investor, one should always keep diversification in mind to limit risk. Collection items have been long a hidden market that very few tap into. Whether it be art, old fashion vehicles, CryptoKitties, there are always something that has intrinsic value that people wish to collect. For me as well as many others, it turns out to be old and classic firearms.
At first thought, it can seem fairly scary possibly owning something that the media has told us frequently causes destruction and chaos but my goal is to take some of this fear away on a basic level without getting into politics and strictly speak from a financial standpoint.
Firstly, it is legal to own guns in many parts of North America and Europe. Some parts of the world allows one to buy a firearm with merely a driver’s license while skimping out on the background check***. While others like in Canada require a specific firearms license, with associated background checks performed and proof of safety knowledge shown before that is issued. Whatever the case may be, if anyone is interested in purchasing a firearm, check with your local laws and restrictions.
Now let’s get the elephant out of the room. Firearms have frequently been the subject of concern in the news with mass shootings and aggravated assaults being in the spotlight. Unfortunately, this paints a very toxic image for everyone who owns a firearm as there is consistent confirmation bias which reinforces the fear of the general public i.e. you don’t hear about responsible firearm owners merely having fun in his own backyard doing some practice shooting at inanimate objects. The truth is majority of firearm owners are responsible people with a minority of the population causing trouble. Does this general narrative principle sound familiar? I sure hope so.
There are many reasons why people own firearms. To some, it’s cool to send a tiny projectile from 0 to 2800 fps, in a matter of a blink of an eye. These people try to understand the underlying mechanisms of various firearms designs as a hobby. To others it may be doing competitive shooting with them which is very popular in European countries like Switzerland. Further, for people like me, I love the history that old military surplus firearms possess with each one telling a different story with the markings and finish. There are lots of reasons why people own firearms, besides a bloodthirsty desire to cause chaos.
Now for the reason that most of us are here for: MONEY. Yes, many firearms have high potential in returning profits with little to no risk at all. To give you some perspective of the magnitude of the price increase that certain firearms possess here is a flyer from back in the day (1950’s-60’s I think):
Now let’s take a look at what they are worth now:
Even adjusting for inflation the prices increase, it is just astonishing how much they go up just by having them around much like owning a stock or mutual fund. The best part about owning a firearm is that if you take good care of it, you can even use it yourself and have fun while your investment appreciates. Now 65 years is a long time and this price increase may not be that impressive. Unfortunately I don’t have any catalogs from more recent, however, if you trust me enough, some have been appreciating by 20-100% in a few years. I.e. Mosin Nagants were 100 bucks in the states just a few years ago, now they are pushing 200-250. I have personally profited from this myself and I must say, once I invested in this I did not look back at all. Further, this kind of investment like cryptocurrencies are tax free as this is not a recognizable form of it so that’s even more money in your pocket.
If you have been questionable about firearms, hopefully I have changed your perspective for a bit and even maybe have you thinking about getting into it. Honestly, even if investing in this isn’t your cup of it, it is definitely a fun hobby which I hope you can start accepting :)
***There is a NACS program setup in the United States for background checks, however, it is extremely inefficient and frequent people take advantage of a gun show loophole.
SOURCES COMING SOON, A LITTLE BIT TIRED RIGHT NOW