A surge in “quiet gun owners,” much like the so-called “silent majority” in political circles, is leading firearms analysts to believe that far more Americans own weapons than the accepted 30% cited in polls.
At the highest end, it’s possible that up to 60% of Americans own guns, especially with the pandemic-era rise in gun buying among women and minorities, especially in suburban and urban areas.
Reason Magazine’s J.D. Tuccille put part of the study in the spotlight in an early July post that began the buzz in the gun industry about the potential of far higher U.S. gun ownership.
The study from Rutgers University’s New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center is spreading like wildfire in the industry, which for years has tried to accurately estimate United States gun ownership and determine why polls show support for gun control, but then there is little follow through when legislation is proposed.
He highlighted the study’s conclusion that nearly a third of those polled might be lying when they deny having a firearm.
Tuccille wrote, “The report dealt in probabilities, with the researchers building profiles of confirmed gun owners. They then applied the profiles across their sample of 3,500 respondents to estimate who was likely fibbing about not owning guns. The results depend on the probability threshold applied, but they came up with 1,206 confirmed owners, between 1,243 and 2,059 non-owners, and between 220 and 1,036 potential but secretive owners lying about their status.”
— Paul Bedard, Washington Secrets Columnist in Boom: Up to 60% Of Americans Could Own Guns, Twice Estimate
Probably more like 80%. At least where i am in the Dirty South
Even in the north. When one generation passes and the next are clearing out the property, they discover a .38 special and a box of moldy ammo. Then they stuff it on a shelf somewhere “just in case”. They don’t have a problem with that, since they are ‘good people’. (*gag*)… 🙁
RE: “The study from Rutgers University’s New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center is spreading like wildfire in the industry, which for years has tried to accurately estimate United States gun ownership and determine why polls show support for gun control, but then there is little follow through when legislation is proposed.”
And Now for a “Study” on Gun Control…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=neLdsW7XZSM&feature=share
Easily 60 pct. or higher.
There have to be many on the Left that own guns, but don’t dare let their little fascist scum buddies *know* that they own guns, out of fear of being fired or ostracized by their own.
Call ’em closet ammosexuals…
(Ammosexuals never shoot blanks. *wink* 🙂 )
Think about it this way, how many of us on this forum would admit to a stranger on the phone that we are gun owners?
Realistically, a survey call would never get through to me anyway, since I don’t pick up calls from unknown callers. Mr. Spammer, leave a message at the beep.
The only ones I’ll acknowledge are any I have listed on my CA CCW, which is required by state law for the permit. I hardly even mention them to anyone, anyhow, and the very few people in my circle are each aware of only a few. Only the beneficiary of my estate is aware of the location(s) of the inventory list and where the items are stored, but even that person won’t be aware until such time that the Good Lord has called ‘ol Haz home. The beneficiary has been advised to bring a hefty rental truck to handle all the weight for taking them out of CA and back to his home in Free America.
All the others remain incognito at the bottom of that lake where my canoe tipped over. Somehow, all the gunz-n-ammo were in that canoe at the time. Life is funny sometimes.
Basically same boat what is on my permit, a shotgun and a rifle and only known by who is needed or trusted. Does CA require make model caliber and serial number as well?
(pulls permit out of wallet to confirm…)
Yes. Make, model, serial number, and caliber.
Well damn …..on your second card yet?…… second thought don’t answer that.
“Realistically, a survey call would never get through to me anyway, since I don’t pick up calls from unknown callers. Mr. Spammer, leave a message at the beep.”
This^^
I don’t understand, at all, how anyone places any stock in the results of a telephone survey anymore. I haven’t had a land line, anywhere but my office, for over a decade and haven’t had any phone without the ability to identify the caller in roughly two decades. If you are calling me and I or my phone don’t know who you are, you will be sent to voice mail. I do not answer any cold calls, surveys, telemarketers or spam at all. When someone claims that they have conducted a telephone survey that “represents” the nature of or opinions of the general population, they cannot possibly be correct because there is no way that it can represent me or the millions upon millions of people like me who simply will not respond.
No one with a clue does take a phone survey seriously in 2023, unless that is part of their agenda.
I watch online estate auctions which during the pandemic replaced in person events. Often see ammunition, including handgun ammunition, for sale. Sometimes long guns. NEVER handguns (which in Iowa are only slightly more limited in transfer due to fed BS law). So, if grandpa had 2 or 4 calibers of handgun ammo some idiot is auctioning off, what are the chances he had a handgun that used the caliber? 95+%. Where did the gat go? Not in the trash. Some person has it. My own 55yr old sister was unarmed until we divided up my dad’s arsenal. Now she is armed.
Pollsters are agenda driven liars and morons. Slightly less honest than “journalists”
In these days of data breeches, it is good operational security to have as little information about you out there as you can possibly manage.
You know who the caller says they are but who are they really and what is the purpose of the data? Since there is no penalty for lying on a survey it makes good sense to not tell the truth or to not say anything.
And if the database isn’t stolen in a hack it is also likely to be sold to help recover costs of the survey. Once out in the wild and beyond control of the original owners it can be duplicated and spread far and wide.
TTAG, please tell me what were the bad words I used to get moderated? There were NO p0litical words used.
the appropriate response to this type of query should be “why is that any of your business?”
Agreed. Assuming I, in a moment of idiocy, answer a call from an unknown caller, would answer questions from that unknown caller — I don’t care what he or she says the name is and what organization they claim to represent, I am not about to discuss my sex life, my pet ownership, firearms ownership or what secret fetishes I have with a voice on a telephone or a written inquiry on e-mail. If I am in a good mood I will gently hang up. If I am in a foul mood my reply would likely get my phone service disconnected in much earlier times.
The assumption in this article is correct. If for the past 48 months over 1 million firearms have been sold per month it would mean that close to 200 million American Citizens own firearms exclusive of all the illegal firearms out there. We have a population of around 335 million so I think that estimate is clearly accurate. Someone else made the observation that it would be impossible to estimate the number of estimated hand me down firearms that are still functional. When parents die they often leave their firearms to their immediate families and since most states allow those transfers legally there is no real way to know the number. Furthermore, and more importantly the preponderance of those firearms, even older ones, are fully functional not necessarily just collector items. Also, it is generally acknowledged that there are enough firearms in this country for every man, woman and child plus some.
I once saw an article that estimated it would take the government 100 years to collect all of them. Most likely after enough “collectors” were disposed of by irate gun owners they would probably wise up and stop collecting them. I have two friends who are police officers and quite some time ago, even before this gun collection hysteria, and I asked them what they would do if they were ordered to collect firearms door to door. One responded he would call in sick and the other said a good many officers would be shot. So there you go, right from the horses mouth.
I personally overheard a group of four younger LAPD officers speaking among themselves near me at the gym. Three were asking questions of the fourth, who said he had just applied for S.W.A.T. When one of them asked why he wanted to go through the process so early in his new career, Mr. SWAT gleefully said – and I was there to hear this – that he’d get the chance to make a good living “being paid to kick in doors and kick ass”.
For every LEO who wants to do the right thing, there will be another who will want to simply kick our asses for the thrill.
who will want to simply kick our asses for the thrill.
Unfortunately for them, they probably never considered the “THRILL” of a chunk of searing hot metal creating a new cavity in their body at 800 to 3000 feet per second…
So, is that 60% of ALL Americans or 60% of “adult” Americans and does that include all of the gangbangers and other criminals or were they not asked? No one contacted me and if they had I would have denied owning guns, how many actual gun owners would tell a complete stranger over the phone that “oh yeah I’m a gun owner”… (never answer calls I don’t know and report mutiple offenders to FL do not call)… More flawed “estimating”, I bet the number is much higher… Approximately 260,000,000 adults (18 and over) 60% of the total population (approximately 333,000,000) would be 199,800,000… 60% of adults would only be 156,000,000… Minus convicted criminals and other “prohibited” individuals… (I’m betting closer to 80% of adults or about 208,000,000 own firearms)…
, between 1,243 and 2,059 non-owners, and between 220 and 1,036 potential but secretive owners lying about their status.”
THAT is a HUGE “guesstimate”… A spread of 800 plus is not even “ballpark” stuff…
Well I think you have left one thing out. When kids are younger than 18 they can still hunt and own a firearm in many states. My grandson is not even 18 in his state now and he has been hunting for several years in his state and has his own firearms. So in many places you don’t need to be an adult to own firearms. There are many “junior hunter” programs in this Country. Most of the people I know who grew up on farms learned to shoot quite early in life and owned their own firearms. I think the basic point is there are probably far more gun owners than they estimate because they only use what they reasonably can compute. They certainly don’t remove 1 million firearms a year to replace the new ones bought. Also, as you mentioned because of all the illegal gun owners it would be very difficult to get an accurate estimate. I think the bottom line is that there are probably far more guns out there than are counted and it is a very dangerous job in this culture to think people will give them up without a fight. One individual on here mentioned a young cop who wanted to be on swat to kick some butt. Well I have news for him not all swat operations go well and swat members do get shot and wounded or killed the same as Navy Seals, Delta Force, and other special ops type people. Being a door breaker is not always successful.
And most state require that hunters under 18 be accompanied by adults… Those kids might “own” their guns but they didn’t purchase them.. My 15 yr old nephew has an AR, but I bought it for him, he calls it HIS and it is, but legally I am the owner of that rifle…
In Iowa local Sheriff is required to issue, on req, and Purchase card. Sheriff performs a fed background check and issues a “mother may I card”. After that there is no background check at purchase (still fill out a silly a 4473). Unless you are stupid enough to go to a “big box” retailer that has computer 4473 it is unknown to gov that you just bought a new or used firearm. There is transmission to fedgov any info that you just purchased one (or 100) guns.
I assume other states have similar systems. More tallied transfers.
In PA when I lived there many decades ago one could buy a rifle at age 16 with no ID, no 4473, no notifying anyone, not even one’s parents that one was acquiring such an implement. One walked into the store, pointed out what one desired, if requested, exhibited a non-photo driver’s license, paid cash, got a cash register receipt and walked out with said firearm under one’s arm.
That’s how I acquired my first .22 rifle. My parents were surprised when I walked into the house with it under my arm. They didn’t know how much I wanted a .22 rifle. I had earned the money to buy it working as a bagboy which is what they called courtesy clerks back that many years ago and if I recall correctly this many yeas ago the less than $20 came from my first week’s earnings. That .22 still works although it is more than 70 years old.
Own a GUN?!? HAY-ell no, people get hurt from them things! Wife wouldn’t have one in the house!
People get hurt from a great many things like tripping over the kids toys. She ban the kids toys as well??
H.E, Shame on her. Apparently she is extremely fearful of firearms. Is she also afraid of hammers, screwdrivers, saws, etc?
Moderated again.
I just said that I don’t pick up calls from numbers I don’t recognize. And who among us would answer the g.un question to a stranger?
Responded to you and got sent to moderation purgatory as well – stupid.
I think that is another name for w0rdpre$$
I think Electronic Pravda is a better name.
No, it’s Sig fans upset their darling company sells bad product overloading the filter.
Same here actually
Behind ever blade of grass…
I’m sure it’s atleast 60%. With all the buying, selling, and giving between the good guys and the bad. Many are passed on to the following generation by various means. Even with the high numbers of theft, so very few actually get destroyed.
Whatever the number, it really is meaningless: The Constitution is not negotiable except through the very specific amendment process.
It’s really not anyone in government’s business who exercises the rights recognized within our founding document, which also is quite clear that said rights are bestowed, not by government, but by our Creator.
Thanks for the affirmation, Rutger’s, but it’s not necessary.
Are we talking some random Dimscum© calling me? I’d either say “none yer business” or click. I have caller ID. This isn’t 1963.
Now, imagine if these same +/- probabilities apply to all polls/surveys done? Pretty much means statistics are good for . . . .yeah you know the word(s). And I am not talking just about firearm stats. Statistics / polls are good for whatever you want them to be good for. Do your own survey; ask people you work with, or at the store checkout. See what sort of answers you receive.
According to Mark Twain, there are lies, damned lies and statistics.
The Far Right can never see the forest for the trees.
Since this article first hit the news yesterday the moronic Far Right are dancing in the streets over it.
Although it is true many of the paranoid Far Right will refuse to say if they own guns all this does not amount to a hill of beans. In reality most gun owners are not part of the radical Far Right Jackbooted Stormtroopers who believe in a utopian world of zero gun control even though it arms lunatics and criminals to the teeth.
In reality most American gun owners come from all walks of life and all political persuasions. Most Americans gun owners or not know that the U.S. needs to adopt European and Asian style gun control laws because history has proven they work far better than our lack of such common sense laws.
What is needed now is:
Registration of all guns.
Universal Back Ground Checks
Severe control over weapons of war i.e. putting them on the NFA list
Safe Storage Laws
Mental competency tests for the purchase of a gun
Gun Owner I.D. cards that need renewed each year.
Typical fascist. Control, control, control.
We badly need Nuremberg 2.0.
Really. You have something against lamp posts for morons?
dacian, the DUNDERHEAD, It is not “paranoia” when you have people out there who would try to make us victims. And according to the news, there are a lot of them out there.
The only “jackbooted Fascist stormtroopers” are you Leftists wanting to impost your version of “gun safety”.
No we do not need “gun registration”. It is the first step toward gun confiscation.
No we do not need “universal background checks”. they don’t work to begin with. Do you really think any of your self respecting criminals are going to go to a store to buy a gun? No gun owner would ever sell his firearms to any one without first doing some kind of check on the person he is selling to. And as to the mentally deficient problem? You people REFUSE to change HIPPA.
No we do not need “safe storage laws”. Again, you Lefties want to legislate common sense. All of my firearms are stored in a safe with the ammo in another safe. My GLOCK which is for self defense is ALWAYS loaded in a locked box. If I were to need the gun here in my home it would be rather stupid to have it unloaded in a safe. In spite of your protestations, it does take unnecessary time to load a handgun even with a semiauto like a GLOCK.
No we do not need Gun Owner ID cards. See how effective they are in Chicago? ROFLMAOBT!
to Walter the Beverly Hillbilly
FALSEHOODS AS USUAL.
My first gun show I attended was in 1962 and nothing has changed because people who sell their guns at shows will sell to the highest bidder (or sucker) and they do not give a damn if they just escaped from a lunatic asylum because blind greed rules at gun shows and you meet the lowest level of people at such places.
And yes we need registration because it leaves a paper trail on every gun sold. Your wild paranoia about it leading to confiscation proves your total ignorance. A government does not need registration to confiscate guns, its simply bans a particular weapon which makes it totally useless to any citizen because it then cannot be used in self-defense or sold without risk of imprisonment.
quote—-No we do not need “universal background checks”. they don’t work to begin with.——–quote
What a laughable statement. The Brady Bill stopped over 2 million sales in its first 10 years of operation and if it had included second hand gun sales it would have stopped a minimum of 4 million sales easily.
quote———. If I were to need the gun here in my home it would be rather stupid to have it unloaded in a safe.——–quote
I never made that statement that it had to be unloaded in a safe. What I did say was that it should be locked up if children were in the home.
Jerry we know better
Paper trail my a…
Your required to keep the paperwork for 10 years and I then IMMEDIATELY light the fireplace with it. I have no firearm over 10 years old…. I sold them, where did it go, who the … knows the paperwork is ashes, no laws broken.
Registration is impossible and does nothing to keep firearms out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them.
An unloaded firearm is like putting on your seatbelt when your going to have an accident. (you can quote that)
To dave
Wrong. The ATF currently demands all dealers who go out of business must turn in all their paperwork even it goes back 50 years or 100 years.
dacian the DUNDERHEAD. Not a darn thing false about anything I said. You are in fact a F A S C I S T. The roots of Fascism are in socialism as I have pointed out to your indoctrinated pea size brain. For your edification each and every gun show in this state as in MOST STATES require any sale to go through a NICS check before you can leave the show. IN this State private sales are NOT permitted in the show. You have to go though an FFL dealer. For what I understand this is true in most of the states.
For your continued education, each and every sale is ALREADY documented in the records of the seller. When AFT does a trace, the take the serial number, the make and model and contact the manufacturer, who tells them what distributor they sold the gun to. They then contact the distributor who informs ATF what FFL the gun was sold to and in turn to the FFL dealer. Gun registration as I have pointed out REPEATLEY is the prelude to gun confiscation which is your real goal. Every country that has such has used it to confiscate firearms.
AS to BRADY stopping gun sales in the first year, PROVE IT with real government stats, not some propaganda from your idiot buds. Funny how you cherry pick my statement and leave out that criminals don’t go to a gun store and the mentally deficient are not listed in NICS unless there is a COURT ORDER. Again, you cherry pick what you want to sell your control freak agenda.
As to the locking up of a gun you did make such a statement and now you change your tune because I pointed out the futility of such a stupid statement.
The joker here is you and everyone knows it. I only counter your stupid remarks because there are people who are neophytes in re guns and might (hopefully not) believe what you dribble.
Yes the ATF gets the books…
BUT if you bought the gun over 10 years ago and sold it, the paperwork of who you sold it to is GONE. You are only required to keep the paperwork for 10 years for a private sale.
dacian, the DUNDERHEAD, The ATF can “demand” anything their little heart desires. Their demand is unlawful as there is no provision of law that covers it not to mention it is an unlawful seizure of private property and UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
@dacian
“Wrong. The ATF currently demands all dealers who go out of business must turn in all their paperwork even it goes back 50 years or 100 years.”
Wrong. FFL’s are only required to ‘turn in’ ‘paperwork’ that’s legally required as specifically defined in law to be kept for ‘records’ use.
A) You’re an ldiot.
B) As to your list:
No
No
No (Define “weapon of war.” Does my 1898 30-40 Krag count? My M1? I ask b/c those are my only weapons that were actually used in wars. Actually, come to think of it, I have a couple of bayonets, too, what is your position on those “weapons of war?” Oh, I have some Army surplus ammo cans – what regulations should be placed on those? Oh, I also have a couple of Jeeps. )
No (An agent of the state may not enter my home to check on anything without a warrant. See amendment #4.)
No (Who defines “competency?”)
No (I need no identification other than “citizen” to exercise my rights. See amendment #2)
So, in summary, NO.
It’s too bad there are not mental competency tests for coherent posts on this site. If there were, maybe we wouldn’t be subjected to the same old drivel you’ve been repeating here for years, cisco/ vlad/ dacian. Troll, be gone!
Registration of all guns.
Illegal to create a national database. How about no?
Universal Back Ground Checks
Been tried in a few states (OH and CO) failed miserably.
Severe control over weapons of war i.e. putting them on the NFA list
What IS NOT a weapon of war? If you’re talking about the scary black rifles that make you urinate yourself, that has been tried in NY and CT with nearly zero compliance to the point that they’re not even going to enforce it.
Safe Storage Laws
I determine what’s safe; not some govt. bureaucrat.
Mental competency tests for the purchase of a gun
By another bureaucrat guaranteed to find you crazy. I might could go along with this for voting. You will have to be able to correctly articulate your candidate’s stances on key issues.
Gun Owner I.D. cards that need renewed each year.
Your papers please. Wow, now, you just goose step on out of here.
You’re like a Toddler with his/her favorite toy, repeating this wornout, thoroughly Debunked mantra of UBCs, Safe Storage and whatever other quirks Potentates masturbate to when it comes to Disarming Citizens.
Can you even think for yourself?
I suspect Not.
dacian,
What you suggest is ideas of the real far right and the left.
A far left or far right tyranny is still tryanny. I accept neither of them.
Communist, Facists, Socialists, all the same, none protect the minority and create a majority by force.
Ya think, Laventry? BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In your wet dreams, pal.
And you and your Caravan of Death will sweep across the country going house-to-house, door-to-door, and room by room to search and destroy those unwoke gun owners. You eliminate gun violence by eliminating gun owners.
A couple of questions. First. Exactly what law would prevent some one with criminal intent from bringing firearms in from south of our currently porous border?
Next, exactly how would you enforce safe storage laws? Uninvited midnight visits?
Please define which firearms since the days of the matchlock have not been used as weapons of war? Exactly what are the parameters to meet that definition?
Exactly who gets to decide who is or is not mentally stable enough to own a firearm? And what are the guidelines for such subjective decisions?
Perhaps you should see about getting a visa to live in China or North Korea as you seem enamored with totalitarian control of every aspect of citizens lives.
….”control” is like an addictive drug for them…they can never get enough of it..
We need mental competency for people that VOTE!
Voting is more dangerous than a firearm.
Its probably closer to ~70%.
About 11 months ago (I think now, gotta find it, the search function here at TTAG is horrible), in reply to some of dacians ignorant claims I commented about analysis of data gathered annually by my wife and her associates for a contract for the governments NIH and a few different research org’s. Information gathered from all 50 states and research surveys by various government and private entities. It included outright purchase (e.g. via an FFL and 4473) ownership, and ownership in terms of ‘permanent’ possession (e.g. ‘borrowing’ or gifted), and ownership in terms of private person-person sales/buys, and ownership in terms of self-made. Then, it was closer to ~65% but gun ownership has increased since then so its probably closer to ~70% by now.
i remember that, and would be surprised if it was that long ago.
i’d say six months.
The underlying point here is that a significant number of gun owners are unwilling to admit it. And that is how I define Tyranny.
Possibly tyranny but, possibly some other reasons as well. There are many things about my life that I will not discuss with strangers regardless of the subject. If someone were to call me up and ask how many children I have I would say, “none of your business.” If someone I didn’t know asked me how many cars I own I would say, “none of your business.” If a stranger asked me how big my house is I would say, “none of your business.” In general, if I don’t know you and you ask me for some personal data, you are not going to get a satisfying response.
“so hey, johnny tightlips, how’s your mother?”
“who says i got a mother?”
I may, or may not, I’ll never tell. 😉
“Sir, I’m from the Main Stream Media, how often do you beat your wife?”
I doubt there are more than a handful of houses in any given community that don’t have at least one gun in them.
I know in my community we are very diverse and have a lot of immigrants. And those folks that are here legally but are not yet citizens have 2a rights also. Many of them have legally purchased firearms.
Prohibition does not work. It just makes the criminal king.
“I know in my community we are very diverse and have a lot of immigrants.”
Immigrants are among the most armed Americans.
They know what not being allowed to own a gun means… 🙁
That’s the vibe I get from them.
“They know what not being allowed to own a gun means…”
You are correct. One of the first things my wife wanted to do after coming here from Parador, was to learn how to shoot. I was a bit leery at first, ’cause there’s likely some cannibal genetics somewhere in her background, but I’m still here after 27 years. There is some question about a couple of the neighbors, and she’s not talking, but I’m still here. 🤐
Guns?? What guns?? I don’t own any guns! Are you kidding me??
In this day and age with the DEMONcRATS running things in our cities and some of our states, it is necessary to be able to own and carry a handgun. Proper training is a necessity and prevents you from using the firearm illegally.
The word you are searching for is “prudent”. “Prevent”? Hardly likely.
There is no requirement or obligation to undertake training. Legal or moral.
neiowa You are correct. There is no requirement of obligation to take training. But it is something most of us refer to as common sense. And yea, if you don’t know about a particular tool such as a gun, it might behoove you to take the appropriate training so you don’t have a NEGLIGENT DISCHARGE.
prediction: progressives attack women as irrational and untrustworthy thanks to this data. they already attack minorities this way so that won’t change.
only men in dresses will be real women.
Even if you have the proper permits or live in a free state would you admit to a random caller that you possess an item that is highly sought after by criminals?
I wouldn’t admit to a random caller that I have a loaf of bread.
Pete,
Advancing your idea even further, how accurate are telephone surveys in the first place? And that assumes that the aforementioned research was via telephone surveys. (That may be a completely incorrect assumption.)
There are huge problems with telephone surveys which can significantly skew results:
— landlines versus cell phones
— morning versus afternoon, evening, and overnight calls
— rural versus semi-rural versus suburban versus urban areas
— different communities or regions
— who answers a landline phone when there are multiple home residents
At best real-world surveys (with typical realistic budgets) give us a vague idea of something.
Before I chime in, is the idea that possibly up to 60% of the people OR HOUSEHOLDS in the U.S. have firearms?
For starters, I don’t believe that 60% of people in the U.S. have firearms. A very sizable percentage of the people in the U.S. are either well under age or well over age and therefore do not have firearms. I would dare estimate that at least 30% of the people in the U.S. fall into that category. Thus, only 70% of the U.S. population might own firearms.
And, if 60% of the U.S. population owned firearms, that would mean that 85% of the “eligible” people (people who are not too young nor too old) would own firearms. I cannot begin to imagine that being true.
My opinion: about 40% (maybe as high as 45%) of U.S. HOUSEHOLDS have firearms. How that might translate to percentage of the population depends on your assumptions about the average number of people per household and which of those people in the household “own” firearms if there are multiple firearms and multiple people in any given household.
How old is too old to own firearms? What age should I be to expect my rights to disappear?
Mr. Lucky,
When I typed “too old”, I was referring to the advanced age when someone is no longer mentally or physically able to responsibly operate a firearm. If/when that day comes, that elderly person should not own firearms any more.
Caveat: we can argue that a person should be able to own a firearm even if they are no longer physically able to operate it responsibly. (I fall into that camp.) And that also negates any significance of that person “having a firearm” in terms of determining how many homes or people have firearms.
(The civilian disarmament industrial complex equates homes/people with firearms with danger to society/government goons–and the more homes/people with firearms, the more danger they can claim exists and therefore justification to disarm everyone. Thus, using their own justification against them, WE can say that someone who is not physically capable of operating a firearm is not a danger to their Utopia and should not count in their number of homes/people with firearms.)
At what age (I really don’t care) would you accept me giving my kids firearms of their own?
Too Old? My dad had firearms (prohibited in his Church owned independent living complex) on the day he died. Most he couldn’t have physically picked up on that day. Dang shame it was located on a deep lake.
neiowa,
See my expanded explanation of “too old” above.
As for “too young”, that means children who are too young to own and operate firearms responsibly. When are children finally old enough to be responsible? It varies obviously. I have known a very responsible and mature 10 year-old who would be good to go. And I have known a very irresponsible and immature 15 year-old who would NOT be good to go.
Study Reveals There Are MANY More American Gun Owners Than Previously Thought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAOz45I1hkw
why the heck is going on with moderation? A comment I made hours ago still hasn’t shown up.
you guys need to fix this moderation thing.
my comment finally appeared…but you guys need to fix this moderation thing.
Electronic Pravda is working overtime.
I suspect 60% a low estimate. Probably closer to 70 -75%.
Example, my next door neighbor almost has double the number of Firearms I own. Not a single one was ever purchased through a 4473 Form. He purchased all of them before the State banned Private Purchases.
He, doesn’t engage in 2A Activism, so his name isn’t on anyone’s list.
I suspect, there’s more people like him than researchers allowed for.
That’s a cool story and great to know. Hope there are more like them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bemused Berserker,
See my comments above where I explain that firearm ownership rates are nowhere near that high. Your 70% to 75% number would mean that nearly everyone who was over the age of 16 and less than some advanced age (where they are either in assisted living, nursing home, or still at home but gave away their firearms) have firearms. I just don’t see that being realistic.
As I said in my comment above, I think we can safely say that about 30% of the population is “too young” or “too old” (as I explain in my earlier comments above) to own firearms. Then the question is very simple, how many of the remaining 70% of the population have firearms? I would be surprised if it is half of them, which would mean that only 35% of the population would have firearms. Remember, there are huge populations of very Progressive Democrats and even a sizable number of Christian Conservatives who most certainly do NOT own firearms. (There is a non-trivial percentage of Christian Conservatives who espouse the notion that “God will take care of me” means that they don’t have to have the means to protect themselves from violent attackers.)
Even if I had never purchased a firearm, I would still be a gun-owner because I had a grandfather. He taught me to shoot, gave me my first rifle and I inherited the rest of his guns. (My Dad didn’t want them) I am pretty sure that I am not the only person around with that story or one like it.
Because I used to have an FFL dealers and smith license, and still have an C&R license, the various government types already know I have firearms. Just a fact of my life.
A substantial portion of my collection are antiques and collectables I acquired because I enjoy the engineering and design aspect of many of these old firearms. Just look at the intricate design of a wheel lock or the stark simplicity of a flintlock.
Should some rando call out of the blue and start asking questions about what or numbers of firearms I own, I would not bother to answer. Or would have some fun with them by giving a messed up an answer as I could think up at the moment. Preferably in an Arabic or Slavic accent.
Thing is, with a couple exceptions, all of the firearms I currently own are in working, usable, firing condition. The few not in working condition are more valuable in original condition than they would be if I repaired them. And 2 are Damascus barrel shotguns. Yes, in working condition, but I don’t like the idea of a face full of iron spaghetti, so set aside as unusable.
Something seldom thought of by government types, or idiots like a couple of our resident trolls. Many of those firearms dating from the early self contained cartridge days to Dec. 31 1899 are not considered as modern, firearms. Ignoring the fact many are still in working, firing condition. Maybe not up to heavy +P or heavy commercial loads, but can be used with lighter factory loads. And just as deadly today as they were when new. My 1858 Remington conversion works just as well today as it did when converted from cap and ball to cartridge.
Primed cartridge was invented around 1870 and many firearms since then can fire modern (with care) ammo. I like you appreciate antiques.
My wife never told me I couldn’t buy another firearm, she did tell me no more safes, I probably have more large safes then most even have firearms. My answer is that I don’t own any firearms over 10 years old, prove otherwise.
A Remington Army seemed to be a favorite for Clint Eastwood, can’t miss the wedge 😉
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