How many times have we heard the nonsense about first-time gun buyers and more and more women buying guns? The obvious fact is the panicky run on guns and ammo is being done by gullible gun owners who believe the NRA nonsense - suckers, in other words.The household gun ownership rate has fallen from an average of 50 percent in the 1970s to 49 percent in the 1980s, 43 percent in the 1990s and 35 percent in the 2000s, according to the survey data, analyzed by The New York Times.In 2012, the share of American households with guns was 34 percent, according to survey results released on Thursday. Researchers said the difference compared with 2010, when the rate was 32 percent, was not statistically significant.The findings contrast with the impression left by a flurry of news reports about people rushing to buy guns and clearing shop shelves of assault rifles after the massacre last year at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.“There are all these claims that gun ownership is going through the roof,” said Daniel Webster, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. “But I suspect the increase in gun sales has been limited mostly to current gun owners. The most reputable surveys show a decline over time in the share of households with guns.”
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Even if the numbers here are correct, that's still a third of the population. But then, do you seriously imagine that when some college student hired by the survey company calls, every gun owner asked said, "Why yes, dear data collector, I do have guns"?
ReplyDeleteWe report on what we see happening around us--e.g. I know upwards of 10 people who bought their first "Assault Weapon" in the past 4 years. 2 of these were women who also bought pistols and got carry permits along with a couple of their girlfriends.
ReplyDeleteBut apparently what I have seen is all lies.
From now on, I'll just assume that anything you say is a lie too. You're not a lawyer--actually, your legal opinions offered here make more sense now that we know you're not a lawyer. I'm also going to assume you're a felon who really wants gun control so that you can break into houses without fear of getting shot. How else do we explain your constant griping that criminals should have just been allowed to take stuff and leave without getting shot.
Yes, this sounds like a wonderful recipe for productive dialog!
Yeah, I've had a number of people lie to me, too. I guess their questions about what guns, ammo, classes and ranges I'd recommend were a cover for their lies.
DeleteAnonymous trying to be slick changed the question to "first assault weapon."
DeleteWell, I guess I made a bad assumption that you were meaning that assault weapon owners were the only ones buying up assault weapons. However, since you want to talk about gun owners, I'll have to knock a few off because one or two already owned guns and a couple others I'm not sure about.
DeleteRecalculating...
One of the women's assault weapon and pistol were the first two guns she bought, and were within the period. At least three of the other women who got carry permits also bought or were gifted their first guns. One of these was a black law student who I taught to shoot along with two of her friends--so much for the old fat white men stereotype.
Two men also got their first guns in this period--one an "assault weapon," another a shotgun. Another is saving the money for his first.
I suspect others can attest to larger numbers--it's just that in my area damn near everyone has at least 1 gun, even if it's grandpappy's old .22 squirrel rifle that is never shot.
However we parse it, there's an increase. Increase in people buying their first gun. Increase in people with an unused gun taking up shooting. Increase in people buying new guns for new sports. Increase in people taking up hunting (hipsters and locavores of the non vegetarian variety have started trending toward hunting). Increase in collectors learning to shoot.
So sorry for the bad assumption, but there you go. Though, I guess I must be lying about the above, because you say it's a FACT that nobody new is getting guns. (And I guess the Hipster locavores are lying on their blogs too.)
The first-time buyers are made up for by the attrition of older gun owners dying off and those who decide to get rid of their guns. The people who are cleaning out the shelves of gun shops are already gun owners who are so gullible that they've been spooked by the NRA fear tactics.
DeleteYes, look at all those suckers who believe the NRA, the media, Fiendstein, Schumer, you, Mark Kelly, the President of the United States, the Brady Campaign, etc., that there is a serous attempt to ban "assault weapons". What gullible fools!
ReplyDeleteNote that Mark Kelly got suckered by his own PAC and went out and bought an AR-15 while he still could.
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