Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- Those who campaign for a disarmed population take comfort in persuading themselves that gun ownership is declining in the United States.
This is the primary goal, after all. If gun ownership is declining, they can claim they are “winning”.
The most commonly cited evidence that gun ownership is declining is the General Social Survey, which shows a gradually declining percentage of households in the United States that tell survey-takers they have guns in the household.
But the number of guns sold in the last decade skyrocketed. At the beginning of 2008, there were about 301 million privately owned guns in the United States.
At the end of 2017, there were about 418 million. That is an increase of 38 percent in ten years. 117 million guns were added to the private stock in the last decade.
The proponents of population disarmament explain this by claiming that fewer gun owners are buying more guns.
Gun owners are buying more guns. But substantial numbers of new gun owners are buying guns as well. In a study of California gun buyers, where all gun purchases are required to go through government approved gun dealers, the percentage of new gun owners varied from 32 percent to 40 percent when looking at periods before the Newtown (Sandy Hook) killings in December of 2012 and the San Bernadino terrorist attack in December of 2015.
From the study, annals.org:
Acquirer characteristics were also similar across the 2 periods. Ninety percent were male, and approximately 70 percent were white. First acquisitions accounted for 40 percent of all acquisitions in the year before the Newtown shootings and 32 percent in the year before the San Bernardino shootings.
A reasonable hypothesis is that new gun buyers would increase after highly publicized incidents. In another recent study, California data suggested that 59 percent of the increase in gun buyers after the Newtown (Sandy Hook) killings, the increase in buyers was mostly (59 percent) made up of new gun owners.
From the Wellesley study in Science:
Interestingly, although the NICS data do not provide any information about buyers, the California transaction records suggest that 59 percent of the additional purchases in response to Sandy Hook were made by first-time firearm buyers.
If even a third of gun purchases over the last decade were new gun owners, that would be a whopping 39 million new gun owners.
39 million new gun owners are more than enough to make up for losses as old gun owners die. It does not count the potential of gun ownership increasing by the transfer of guns through estates or gifts or private sales not recorded by NICS.
39 million new gun owners would mean that gun ownership has increased significantly, but gun owners are unwilling to tell survey-takers that they have guns in their house.
California is different from the rest of the United States. Gun regulations are much more restrictive there than in most states.
The California data may not be representative of the United States as a whole. but the number of new gun owners found in the California data is another indication that gun ownership rates in the United States are increasing, not declining.
2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
If someone came to my door claiming to be doing a survey on gun ownership and asking if I owned guns I would tell them no. Not even the one hidden by my front door locked and loaded. I suspect others would do the same which would flaw your numbers.
EXACTLY! People are tired of being screamed at and told they’re horrible human beings because they dare to disagree with so called “progressive” opinion.
This is the same reason so many of the self righteous “I’m With Her” voters were so shocked after election day. Because they were such self righteous bigots about it with everyone around them, lots of folks who disagreed with them just kept quiet, and went in and voted for Trump.
No guns in Australia, they are buying drugs ! What it is about Britain’s laws as nothing but “total control” system and attempting two faced return to outdated monarchical rank while pretending to fulfill human rights resolutions of the UN to the face of the world at face value (note: the UN countries are 95 percent monarchy or fascist) Come to Australia and be “traitored” by the AKA stable democracy as you call it. Mass shooting is 4 people or more. But to add to what guns “prevent” by individuals having a firearm of sufficient power as a hand gun… Read more »
Congress really should split California into two states because it is all but ungovernable. A small number of counties containing big cities filled with radical socialists and illegal aliens control a whole state full of decent people.
I’m so glad that the sleeper cells of non gun owners has come to the realization that their safety begins when they become the first responders. You can’t rely on the wasteful unproductive gun laws that somehow claim to prevent crimes. Itdoesjust the opposite law abiding citizens now become potential felons and will probably do time in prison. While Governor Brown and all of his cronies are for early release of violent criminals and making the state a sanctuary state for unvetted illegal aliens. Do go out train and train frequently apply for your CCW and carry extreme responsibility. Stay… Read more »