Why Record Guns Sales are Not Showing in National Gun Ownership Polls
Ammoland
QUESTION: “If a national pollster asked
you if you owned a firearm, would you determine to tell him or her the
truth or would you feel it was none of their business?”
Gallup
recently released a poll showing that gun ownership had declined from
polls they had taken in an earlier time period. That number is
inconsistent with the number of firearms that have been sold since
President Obama took residency, but the difference can be answered by
the Zogby Analytic question above. The poll indicates maintaining
anonymity is a contributing factor
- 36%
of Americans feel it is none of the pollster’s business and that
includes 35% of current gun owners 47% of Republicans and 42% of
Independents
"In those states that track the number of legal gun owners, the number of gun owners have increased dramatically in the last five years. In Massachusetts, the number of gun owners has increased 66% in the last five years; In Illinois, the number has increased about 75%, from a little over 1 million in 2010, to 1.8 million in 2015."
ReplyDelete"What are the actual numbers of individual gun owners in the United States? The number is unknown, and is likely to stay unknown. Given the results from above, it is between one third and one half of the population, or between 100 and 160 million people. Legal gun owners are potential voters. They are not felons. It is not surprising that legislation concerning guns, gun ownership, and gun use, is a potent political issue."
Well,it looks like we may have found out where all of those extra guns are going. And it's not into the gun safe of an old white guy. And the hard data is even from one state that's considered to be heavy on gun regulation.
I personally think that Illinois's reputation as a pro gun control state is tainted by Chicago. That is readily apparent by their decision to go whole hog with a shall issue permit system instead of just doing the minimum required to pass Constitutional muster like DC did when they lost in court.
The article cited for the growing numbers it Massachusetts also mentions women owning guns is on the increase. And if both total numbers and the number of women are both rising, it certainly wouldn't be surprising to see increases in ownership in different ethnic and racial groups.
That's the thing about individual rights, individuals tend to use them. I especially like how the gun control lobby has been losing a lot of their credibility investing in candidates that lose and still aren't willing to admit that it might very come down to the fact that it comes down to the voters getting what they want, that being their gun rights.
Ammoland is a very dubious source. If any poll respondent declines to provide an answer to a poll question--most reputable polling outfits understand how to control for this. Similarly, they understand a certain number of respondents may lie or be confused as to how to answer.
DeleteIn point of fact, we do have a pretty good idea how many gunowners there are--and the number's been declining for 40 years.
As to candidates losing--again, the NRA has spent nigh unto $100M trying to defeat President Obama. Hasn't worked. And unless dead bodies start turning up in HRC's car trunk--the GOP candidate will crash and burn.
"In point of fact, we do have a pretty good idea how many gunowners there are--and the number's been declining for 40 years."
DeleteWell Jade, how do you explain the rapid growth of gun owners in Illinois and Massachusetts mentioned in the article? Those numbers aren't statistical assumptions. I've used Illinois's before here, but the numbers in Massachusetts supports it. Especially since that state gets such a high "grade" from the various gun control groups.
"As to candidates losing--again, the NRA has spent nigh unto $100M trying to defeat President Obama."
The same successes have been experienced with various groups in the gun control lobby Jade. Most recently in Virginia I believe. The NRA was greatly outspent there without success.
We've also seen for about the past seven years that having a President that champions restrictions on gun rights doesn't necessarily result in success. Barring a large turnover in the legislative branch, I don't see "HRC" being any more successful.
Jade: "In point of fact, we do have a pretty good idea how many gunowners there are--and the number's been declining for 40 years."
DeleteExcept that everywhere there is licensing and we don't have to rely on polls, gun ownership is way up. Lucky, there aren't many places that do require licensing, so go ahead and write it off as an anomaly so you can get to sleep at night. All is well, Jade. All is well.
https://thewiddershins2.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/remaincalm-01.jpg
Hey Jade, can't we get your take on this bit of news?
Deletehttp://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2015/11/maryland-scraps-gun-fingerprint.html?m=1
Pardon my gloating, but I thought of you when I heard this, given how we sparred on this topic before.
Ssgmarkcr: "Well Jade, how do you explain the rapid growth of gun owners in Illinois and Massachusetts mentioned in the article?"
DeleteSince it's Jade, he would explain that as being because of all the white, conservative, racists in those states who bought guns when a black man became president.
"Well Jade, how do you explain the rapid growth of gun owners in Illinois and Massachusetts mentioned in the article? Those numbers aren't statistical assumptions. I've used Illinois's before here, but the numbers in Massachusetts supports it. Especially since that state gets such a high "grade" from the various gun control groups."
DeletePer usual, you're making the erroneous assumption that every gun sold represents a new gun owner. In point of fact, about 80% of gun purchases are to existing gunowners. IOW, the average gunowner owns more guns but the number of gunowners--per capita--has declined for the last 4 decades.
"Per usual, you're making the erroneous assumption that every gun sold represents a new gun owner."
DeleteI'm sorry Jade, you have misunderstood what I was referring to. In Massachusetts and Illinois, citizens have to get what is called a Firearm Owners ID card or FOID. In Massachusetts, its called a Firearm ID.
Each person gets one for as many guns as they wish to possess, which removes the declining number of gun owners buying multiple guns claim. So in those two states, they aren't counting the number of individual firearms, but the number of firearm owners. And as the article stated, those numbers are growing rapidly. Here is something from the source cited in the Ammoland article,
"As the debate over gun laws continues, more and more people in Massachusetts are getting their gun license. The 22News I-Team discovered the amount of licenses in the state has grown by more than 65 percent since 2010."
"When the 22News I-Team examined the numbers, we discovered the amount of women getting firearms licenses was rising."
http://wwlp.com/2015/11/10/i-team-guns-licenses-jump-by-66-in-massachusetts/
So in light of this clarification which eliminates your claim of the multiple sales by a small number of owners, how do you explain this government sourced data showing real growth in the numbers of individual gun owners?
Pay attention, Jade. We are talking about places that license gun owners. That's government tracking of gun ownership, and everyplace that does it has shown a marked increase.
DeleteAnd here is the rise in gun ownership quantified for 2015. In Massachusetts, one of those very blue states, gun ownership continued to rise,
Delete"Tens of thousands of new gun licenses were issued to Massachusetts residents in 2015, continuing a recent surge, according to state data.
There were 342,622 active Class A firearms licenses statewide, according to figures provided by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services earlier this month. That was up about 24,700, or 7.8 percent, from the same time a year ago.
A Class A license, the broadest license available under state law and by far the most popular, allows the holder to carry rifles, shotguns, or handguns. It also allows the holder to carry a concealed handgun."
"An increasing number of women are obtaining licenses, he said.
He also said people who are between their mid-20s and mid-30s have become interested in gun ownership, more than previous generations."
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/01/27/gun-licenses-rise-mass-percent-increase-seen/mru1o8yuwM9MiMuG1GRd6O/story.html?p1=Article_Recommended_ArticleText
Yup.
ReplyDeleteGun loons lie to a pollster? Not possible.
ReplyDeleteObama (and his administration) has not written, supported, or even suggested any legislation that would ban guns. or
"Obama (and his administration) has not written, supported, or even suggested any legislation that would ban guns"
DeleteUh...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6960824&page=1
Glad to see you've woken up from your long coma. It's 2015 now. A lot has happened since you've been asleep.
Glad to see you use a ban this country has already had thanks to Republicans. Then they voted out their own ban. Laughable
DeleteSay . . . how 'bout that "dying gun culture in the U.S."? Black Friday saw most federal gun background checks ever in a single day.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you'll particularly enjoy this part, Mikeb--I know I certainly did:
Every year, after all, there are more Americans — and more and more of them, it seems, are eager to enjoy the Second Amendment. Reports have noted that new entrants to the gun market include women, millennials . . .
Go ahead, Mikeb, and explain this away by claiming that it's just biased, pro-gun reporting from the Washington Post. That would be good for a hearty guffaw.
Well, it always gets down to how many of them were first time buyers. The total number of background checks is meaningless. By boasting about those numbers the Post is indeed biased and deceptive. Go ahead, guffaw away.
DeleteFine, so let's accept for the sake of argument that a record number of NICS checks is indeed "meaningless" (snicker). Did you even look at the links documenting the rise of interest in shooting among women and millennials? Is the enormous and sustained rise in the number of concealed carry permits issued to women also "meaningless"?
DeleteReally, Mikeb, you oughtta do stand-up. You'd have 'em rollin' in the aisles.