They might blow up and I'd lose money. Gruhlkey, on the other hand, enjoys firing his guns. A residual benefit of Guffee's job as a part-time archaeologist was finding an 1858 Remington .44 used by the Army, a Civil War Starr Carbine and an 1841 Mississippi Rifle while doing excavations. There are too many different personalities. Both men lament the high cost of insurance, if you can get it, for gun collections because they are a frequent target of burglars.
Guns are very valuable right now.
Jack Adkins, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based American Shooting Sports Council, a trade organization representing major gun and ammunition manufacturers and distributors, estimates there are about 3 million gun collectors in America. I would estimate the number of gun collectors is up in the past few years because the social, political and cultural situation in this country has made guns more politically incorrect, creating an atmosphere that spurs people to buy guns in a collecting vein because they believe that, down the road, those guns may no longer be available.