On the topic of guns, Ownership has fallen over the last 10 years

[tyroneweaver]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/u...is-down-survey-shows.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&


Which I can believe I see fewer and fewer people who have taken up the age old craft of shooting varmints. And the long range competitive shooters I know are almost all in their 60s

 

[boedicca]

Did you even bother to read the article?

But by the mid-2000s, the federal government stopped asking the questions, leaving researchers to rely on much smaller surveys, like the General Social Survey, which is conducted by NORC, a research center at the University of Chicago.

Measuring the level of gun ownership can be a vexing problem, with various recent national polls reporting rates between 35 percent and 52 percent. Responses can vary because the survey designs and the wording of questions differ.

But researchers say the survey done by the center at the University of Chicago is crucial because it has consistently tracked gun ownership since 1973, asking if respondents “happen to have in your home (or garage) any guns or revolvers.”

The center’s 2012 survey, conducted mostly in person but also by phone, involved interviews with about 2,000 people from March to September and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points....

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/u...is-down-survey-shows.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2&


I don't exactly trust that the University of Chicago's 2,000 person sample was properly designed. It is also Quite Plausible, given the hysteria in the media attacking gun owership, that some gun owners may not provide truthful answers.

 

[Darkwind]

Did you even bother to read the article?

But by the mid-2000s, the federal government stopped asking the questions, leaving researchers to rely on much smaller surveys, like the General Social Survey, which is conducted by NORC, a research center at the University of Chicago.

Measuring the level of gun ownership can be a vexing problem, with various recent national polls reporting rates between 35 percent and 52 percent. Responses can vary because the survey designs and the wording of questions differ.

But researchers say the survey done by the center at the University of Chicago is crucial because it has consistently tracked gun ownership since 1973, asking if respondents “happen to have in your home (or garage) any guns or revolvers.”

The center’s 2012 survey, conducted mostly in person but also by phone, involved interviews with about 2,000 people from March to September and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points....

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/u...is-down-survey-shows.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2&


I don't exactly trust that the University of Chicago's 2,000 person sample was properly designed. It is also Quite Plausible that, given the hysteria in the media attacking gun owership, that some gun owners may not provide truthful answers.

By visiting many sites on the internet and talking with friends I have in three states, none of them are willing to divulge to anyone, the number of weapons they own.

I'd say that the latter statement made is the most accurate. I would place gun ownership in this country around 40 to 60%.....but that's based on anecdotal evidence and reading many, many gun sites and publications.

 

[JoeB131]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/u...is-down-survey-shows.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&


Which I can believe I see fewer and fewer people who have taken up the age old craft of shooting varmints. And the long range competitive shooters I know are almost all in their 60s

I guess the thing is, attitudes have changed. "Shooting varmits" is seen as being cruel now, especially since for the most part, you don't need these animals for meat and the meat is kind of gamy, anyway.

The Gun Industry realizes this, too, which is why they are marketting their product towards the Nancy Lanzas of the world.

 

[Jarlaxle]

No, you're stupid again. But you always have been, why change now.

 

[JoeB131]

No, you're stupid again. But you always have been, why change now.

No, not really. My dad hunted. He liked hunting.

I don't. My brothers don't. They like fishing, I'm really indifferent to it.

True, we all still eat meat, we just don't like to look it in the eye.