Posted on 01/09/2017 6:09:46 PM PST by Mariner
We Americans love our guns -- and apparently, we love them twice as much as we used to.
We first twigged to this trend in 2015, when an astounding story on The Washington Post's Wonkblog site revealed that the average number of firearms owned by a "typical gun-owning household" had roughly doubled between 1994 and 2013, to 8.1 guns per household. The trend has only gone up since.
How do we know this? A recent Harvard/Northwestern University joint study estimates that America's 319 million citizens own about 265 million guns today. And although from 1994 to 2016 the number of Americans who own guns decreased from 25% to 22% -- and has in fact been declining over the past 20 years -- FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System data show that gun sales set new records for the past 18 straight months through November.
Translation: Fewer households owning guns, but more absolute gun sales, equals an increase in the number of guns owned per gun-owning household.
(Excerpt) Read more at fool.com ...
They claim the number of gun owners is shrinking when my observation is the exact opposite. Lots of people I know have acquired guns who did not own them previously.
A friend of mine started me shooting 10 years ago, I had not been a gun owner.
Since then I have introduced at least 6 people to firearms ownership.
Wait until the baby boomers die and millennials inherit their estates, those guns will be distributed into black holes and the statistics will get even less accurate.
The rest fell out of canoes long ago.
/ “Unfortunate Boat Accident”
LOL, I have 8 Marlin 60’s!
8.1? Pikers.
I have six, but if I could afford it, I’m not sure of the higher limit...
Guess it depends on the amount of storage available...
The question is not inventory, it's use.
For knives, I have a large chef's knife, a small chef's knife, a paring knife, a tomato knife, a sandwich knife, a carving knife, a bread knife, eight steak knives, a knife sharpener, even an electric knife (semi-automatic?). Each has its purpose, and I don't arm up with multiple knives.
How many people with 8.1 guns arm themselves with all of them and then go out seeking mayhem?
-PJ
And ya’ know something? My guns, and the many guns owned by countless friends, haven’t killed anybody.
This is crazy. Who in their right mind would respond to that question.
Would you ask a southern woman how much silver flatware she has?
It’s like asking a Texan how much cattle he owns.
hehe how many “assault rifles” didn’t they count? s/
“I have 8 Marlin 60’s”
Nobody can blame you for that. Sweet they are.
Of course, I just have one decrepit old .22 single shot, and a break action shotgun.
Per household? Most folks I know, that’s what’s in the bedroom.
8.1. Posers.
“If you know how many you have, you don’t have enough. “
I mean, a man would have to go hunt all of ‘em up to know exactly how many. And even then you’re liable to miss a couple stashed somewhere. Or loaned out. Or in the trunk or somthin’.
No kidding. For a sea faring nation, we’re lousy boaters.
“...you don’t tell anybody how many guns you have.”
Very few people need to know I have any. Mrs. VanShuyten knows, and can use them all (she’s even a steadier shot than me now that I’m approaching my dotage). A few good neighbors have surmised the truth, and my three siblings know. Aside from those, there’s the people at the ranges and gun shops. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the Fairfax County Circuit Court can make a good guess, based on my CHP.
That’s about it.
Oh, and all FReepers and lurkers, too.
I agree, it’s no ones business how many guns anyone has.
I was very reluctant to buy a gun safe until now. With Trump as prez, I think the probability of a gun grab is now next to not at all. With obama or Hitlery in charge, a gun safe would amount to one stop shopping for govt thugs confiscating guns.
Preliminary online shopping shows most have digital locks. I do not want that for fear they will fail in subzero temps. Gotta keep looking until I find a old fashioned dial type combination lock gun safe.
I bought at Cannon brand safe and never looked back.
Best warranty in the business, if they’re still in business.
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