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Just 3 percent of Americans own almost half of the country’s guns, study says

Somerville

Somerville

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It does appear the increase in gun sales in America is owing to an ever smaller number of buyers.

Just 3 percent of Americans own almost half of the country’s guns, study says

The number of American guns is growing, but more of them are being owned by comparatively fewer people, according to a new study by Harvard and Northeastern universities.

The study, released before publication to the Trace and the Guardian, estimates that nearly half of the 265 million guns now owned privately belong to just 3 percent of Americans. Though most of the country’s 55 million gun owners possess one to three guns, about 7.7 million owners have eight or more.

Read more here: Just 3 percent of Americans own almost half of the country’s guns, study says | Miami Herald
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Why are so many guns being bought and sold - and stolen, each year?

Fear of Other People Is Now the Primary Motivation for American Gun Ownership



As in every post/thread/comment about firearms in America, I can say with some certainty that there will be some not-so-nice comments. Comments which disparage the patriotism, the courage and the knowledge of those on opposing sides - Let the Games Begin.
 
Somerville said:
It does appear the increase in gun sales in America is owing to an ever smaller number of buyers.




Why are so many guns being bought and sold - and stolen, each year?

Fear of Other People Is Now the Primary Motivation for American Gun Ownership



As in every post/thread/comment about firearms in America, I can say with some certainty that there will be some not-so-nice comments. Comments which disparage the patriotism, the courage and the knowledge of those on opposing sides - Let the Games Begin.
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Firearms ownership is a hobby.
A lot of people like this hobby, that's a big part of it.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Firearms ownership is a hobby.
A lot of people like this hobby, that's a big part of it.
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I am a competitive shooter. at least weekly, I shoot in a steel league which is speed shooting-with all sorts of handguns

Stock centerfire, rimfire, rimfire revolver, revolver, unlimited, and 22 rifles. On an average league night we have about 100 shooters. While that event is going on, there are dozens of people shooting trap at the same club and another dozen or two shooting skeet. and that is one of about 9 gun clubs in my local area. clubs that once had immediate entry to those seeking memberships now have, in several cases-3-4 year waiting periods. local ranges continue to fill up CCW classes. I also practice at least 2-3 times a week at a local public indoor range, and I am constantly seeing new shooters (old shooters have a waiver card-new shooters have to fill out a waiver card after reading the range rules)

what is really funny is how gun haters keep trying to convince us that the number of gun owners is going down yet they keep braying for more and more laws designed to restrict and decrease the number of gun owners. If they really believed the crap they spew, they wouldn't be demanding more and more laws that are only intended to decrease the number of legal gun owners.
 
TurtleDude said:
I am a competitive shooter. at least weekly, I shoot in a steel league which is speed shooting-with all sorts of handguns

Stock centerfire, rimfire, rimfire revolver, revolver, unlimited, and 22 rifles. On an average league night we have about 100 shooters. While that event is going on, there are dozens of people shooting trap at the same club and another dozen or two shooting skeet. and that is one of about 9 gun clubs in my local area. clubs that once had immediate entry to those seeking memberships now have, in several cases-3-4 year waiting periods. local ranges continue to fill up CCW classes. I also practice at least 2-3 times a week at a local public indoor range, and I am constantly seeing new shooters (old shooters have a waiver card-new shooters have to fill out a waiver card after reading the range rules)

what is really funny is how gun haters keep trying to convince us that the number of gun owners is going down yet they keep braying for more and more laws designed to restrict and decrease the number of gun owners. If they really believed the crap they spew, they wouldn't be demanding more and more laws that are only intended to decrease the number of legal gun owners.
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My former boss had a firearm collection that would probably be the envy of most firearm enthusiasts on this forum, including a sharps spencer repeater.
He did own a firearm store so, the opportunities were endless for him.

It's stupid that people don't understand this, but that's the world we live in.
My hobby is ok, yours bad.

Edit add: Doh wrong brand.
 
Yeah, because there isn't a long history of people being dishonest in these kind of surveys. You gun control advocates just can't seem to understand that many people won't admit to you that they own guns.
 
Somerville said:
It does appear the increase in gun sales in America is owing to an ever smaller number of buyers.




Why are so many guns being bought and sold - and stolen, each year?

Fear of Other People Is Now the Primary Motivation for American Gun Ownership



As in every post/thread/comment about firearms in America, I can say with some certainty that there will be some not-so-nice comments. Comments which disparage the patriotism, the courage and the knowledge of those on opposing sides - Let the Games Begin.
Click to expand...

could you tell us the credentials of Kate Masters who wrote that blog you cited? I cannot find any evidence that she has any standing in this area other than being a gun hater

what I get is this

Kate Masters is a magazine journalist and a freelance writer for The Trace.

I would note that fear that the Bannerrhoids like Clinton will try to ban guns probably is a major motivation for people buying more and more guns.

but even more importantly fear of gun owners-mainly our voting patterns-is what motivates almost all the bannerrhoid schemes and proposed laws. Fear of armed criminals might motivate the low information voters who support bannerrhoid politicians but when it comes to the leaders of the gun ban movement and those who advocate it on boards like this-its the politics of the NRA and gun owners that is the real motivation
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
My former boss had a firearm collection that would probably be the envy of most firearm enthusiasts on this forum, including a sharps repeater.
He did own a firearm store so, the opportunities were endless for him.

It's stupid that people don't understand this, but that's the world we live in.
My hobby is ok, yours bad.
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what bothers the leaders and advocates of the bannerrhoid movement is most likely their perception of your former boss's politics and whom he votes for
 
Paretian distribution, my old friend. Why are so many offended by your abnormality?
 
Somerville said:
It does appear the increase in gun sales in America is owing to an ever smaller number of buyers.

Why are so many guns being bought and sold - and stolen, each year?

Fear of Other People Is Now the Primary Motivation for American Gun Ownership



As in every post/thread/comment about firearms in America, I can say with some certainty that there will be some not-so-nice comments. Comments which disparage the patriotism, the courage and the knowledge of those on opposing sides - Let the Games Begin.
Click to expand...

This kind of inequitable distribution of basic defensive weaponry is intolerable. We need a new government entitlement to subsidize the purchase of guns by lower-income Americans. Thank you, Somerville, for bringing this important injustice to light.
 
They are called collectors and hobbyists. The 2nd amendment created what is quite possibly the most patriotic hobby there is.
 
Hello, I'm calling to ask you if you own any guns. :lol: Yeah, I going to tell them the truth for sure.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Firearms ownership is a hobby.
A lot of people like this hobby, that's a big part of it.
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That's why while I am perfectly fine with no additional gun control, I roll my eyes about the self-importance that many of my friends use while they are active in state government gun rights activism.
 
cpwill said:
This kind of inequitable distribution of basic defensive weaponry is intolerable. We need a new government entitlement to subsidize the purchase of guns by lower-income Americans. Thank you, Somerville, for bringing this important injustice to light.
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We can call it the PPAGA - the Personal Protection and Affordable Gun Act, and have the federal government (via the IRS) fine anyone that doesn't buy a gun.
 
Fiddytree said:
That's why while I am perfectly fine with no additional gun control, I roll my eyes about the self-importance that many of my friends use while they are active in state government gun rights activism.
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I used to have a customer come in weekly, an elderly man, who would trade a gun for another.
It was his hobby and what he did to get out of the house.

Never harmed a soul.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Firearms ownership is a hobby.
A lot of people like this hobby, that's a big part of it.
Click to expand...

Collecting or just having guns is a hobby. That is a big part of it. Other contributing factors might be the lower percentage of rural America where guns are a tool providing protection, and in many cases food.

My observation though is that there are a lot of new users purchasing for protection. A growing part of that group are first time woman purchasers. Something you seldom saw a few years ago. My son has 30 or more, the average woman I would guess has one. That certainly skews the numbers.

Firearms data is difficult to get. I wonder sometimes how accurate the data can be. Other than background checks on persons purchasing from dealers, the government has no real data, and BG checks are not connected to an individual firearm.
 
it has been said-for decades-if the nanny staters interpreted the second amendment like they do some of the other rights, they would demand the government give anyone on welfare at least one weapon and plenty of ammo
 
jimbo said:
Collecting or just having guns is a hobby. That is a big part of it. Other contributing factors might be the lower percentage of rural America where guns are a tool providing protection, and in many cases food.

My observation though is that there are a lot of new users purchasing for protection. A growing part of that group are first time woman purchasers. Something you seldom saw a few years ago. My son has 30 or more, the average woman I would guess has one. That certainly skews the numbers.

Firearms data is difficult to get. I wonder sometimes how accurate the data can be. Other than background checks on persons purchasing from dealers, the government has no real data, and BG checks are not connected to an individual firearm.
Click to expand...

BG checks do connect with the individual weapon, but they don't track the weapon.
Honestly, not a huge deal.

I'm not a fan of trading a cultural item of Americana for perceived safety.
 
Beaudreaux said:
We can call it the PPAGA - the Personal Protection and Affordable Gun Act, and have the federal government (via the IRS) fine anyone that doesn't buy a gun.
Click to expand...

Within the normal restrictions (no felons, mental patients, people with restraining orders, etc), I think that you are right.

The Second Amendment is a right. The Founders wanted every male of military age to be armed. We don't want to deny poor people their rights, do we?
 
Beaudreaux said:
We can call it the PPAGA - the Personal Protection and Affordable Gun Act, and have the federal government (via the IRS) fine anyone that doesn't buy a gun.
Click to expand...

Since bills are always the opposite of what the title says the bills name needs to be changed to the the Assault and Unaffordable Gun Act. ;)
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
BG checks do connect with the individual weapon, but they don't track the weapon.
Honestly, not a huge deal.

I'm not a fan of trading a cultural item of Americana for perceived safety.
Click to expand...

No they don't. At least not in Virginia and North Carolina. The background check is only to verify the eligibility of the purchaser. The dealer keeps the purchase record. With that check you can buy 1 or a hundred and the feds have no idea. There is no mention of the weapon on the BG check.

That's Virginia. My son tells me that in NC, you can get the check at the sheriffs office and obtain permits for several then go shopping. Also he says that a CCW permit is sufficient to purchase. I have not verified that.
 
jimbo said:
No they don't. At least not in Virginia and North Carolina. The background check is only to verify the eligibility of the purchaser. The dealer keeps the purchase record. With that check you can buy 1 or a hundred and the feds have no idea. There is no mention of the weapon on the BG check.

That's Virginia. My son tells me that in NC, you can get the check at the sheriffs office and obtain permits for several then go shopping. Also he says that a CCW permit is sufficient to purchase. I have not verified that.
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The form you fill out has all the information applied to it from the BG check, iirc.
It's been about 12 years or so, but that's how I remember processing them.

In a lot of states, if you have a CC, you don't have to have a BG check.
Just have to fill the form out.
 
cpwill said:
Within the normal restrictions (no felons, mental patients, people with restraining orders, etc), I think that you are right.
Click to expand...
Of course, and thank you.

cpwill said:
The Second Amendment is a right. The Founders wanted every male of military age to be armed. We don't want to deny poor people their rights, do we?
Click to expand...
We as a nation would be failing in our duty as a social justice minded nation if we were not to ensure that the least among us have every thing that the top one percent of the top one percent have (in the case of the Miami Herald article, the 3%) with the federal government ensuring redistribution of the ability to self defend so that not only the super rich are able to preserve their own life and property. We as a communal government culture must ensure that everyone has a gun (equal outcome) since it's obvious that simply having the Constitutional right (equal opportunity) is not enough to motivate everyone to own a gun - we must, as a progressive peoples, ensure that there's a gun in every pot, and a chicken in every home... or something like that.
 
Somerville said:
It does appear the increase in gun sales in America is owing to an ever smaller number of buyers.




Why are so many guns being bought and sold - and stolen, each year?

Fear of Other People Is Now the Primary Motivation for American Gun Ownership



As in every post/thread/comment about firearms in America, I can say with some certainty that there will be some not-so-nice comments. Comments which disparage the patriotism, the courage and the knowledge of those on opposing sides - Let the Games Begin.
Click to expand...

Breaking news. Beer enthusiasts have more than one brand of beer in their fridge...more at 11.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
I used to have a customer come in weekly, an elderly man, who would trade a gun for another.
It was his hobby and what he did to get out of the house.

Never harmed a soul.
Click to expand...

Precisely.

That being said, whenever I hear about the need for self-defense, I roll my eyes and say, "John [of course, I don't really have a friend of the sort named John], you're just wanting to buy a historical rifle to shoot at the range. Don't make it more than it is."
 
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