According to the VPC, gun ownership is dropping...

[redsaber75]

What have you done to spread our culture today?

Gun Ownership Drops Dramatically
by Josh Sugarmann (Director of the VPC)

READ MORE: United States, University of Chicago
Contrary to the familiar chatter of the gun industry and the gun lobby, firearms ownership has declined dramatically over the past 35 years. From 1972 to 2006, the percentage of American households that reported having any guns in the home has dropped nearly 20 percentage points: from a high of 54 percent in 1977 to 34.5 percent in 2006.


During the period 1980 to 2006, the percentage of Americans who reported personally owning a gun dropped more than nine percentage points: from a high of 30.7 percent in 1985 to a low during the survey period of 21.6 percent in 2006. Or to look at it another way, nearly two thirds of American homes are gun free, and more than three quarters of Americans do not personally own a gun. This information comes from the General Social Survey (GSS) which is conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. Except for the U.S. Census, the GSS is the most frequently analyzed source of information in the social sciences and is the only survey that has tracked the opinions of Americans over an extended period of time. A new report from NORC based on the GSS data, Public Attitudes Toward the Regulation of Firearms, concludes that "...gun ownership has been declining over the last 35 years and the 9/11 terrorist attacks did not reverse that trend."

This isn't the best news to greet the NRA as it prepares to open its annual meeting this Thursday in St. Louis, MO.
A new Violence Policy Center analysis of the NORC data, A Shrinking Minority: The Continuing Decline of Gun Ownership in America notes, "When talking to the news media, gunmakers work to present themselves as a vibrant, growing industry that is an inextricable part of American society." For example, in a June 2006 press release, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) President Doug Painter states that "...gun sales and ownership in our country continue to rise." In the release, the NSSF adds without attribution, "The number of American households with at least one firearm is now estimated at nearly 47.8 million." According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in 2005 there were an estimated 108,819,000 households in America. Using NSSF's figures, 43.9 percent of American households have a gun--more than nine percentage points higher than the most recent NORC household gun ownership figure.

The NSSF is not alone in its efforts to puff up the facts about how many Americans have guns in their homes or personally own firearms. The National Rifle Association (NRA) routinely claims that nearly half of all American households have guns and also misleadingly boasts, "The number of gun owners is also at an all-time high."

Yet, for the past decade, when talking amongst themselves in industry publications, the issue, as voiced in one gunmaker's ad in 1998 is, "It's not `who your customers will be in five years.' It's `will there be any customers left?'" This fact is openly acknowledged in gun industry publications and among the associations that act on the industry's behalf. Discussions of the continuing decline in gun ownership, and the inability to find replacement buyers to take the place of the aging primary market of white males, are often characterized by tones of panic and, at the same time, resignation.

So why--as gauged by their misleading claims on gun ownership--are the gun industry and gun lobby whistling as they walk together through the graveyard? Because the political might of both the NRA and the gun industry relies on consistently overestimating the number of Americans who own guns. To publicly acknowledge that the gun culture in America is fading away, and that they are a clear minority, undercuts their political power. Unfortunately for the NRA and the gun manufacturers, saying it doesn't make it so.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-sugarmann/gun-ownership-drops-drama_b_45485.html

 

[doubleg]

Acording to the VPC a 30-30 can shoot through an abrams tank and still retain enough energy to hit and ignite the gas tank of a bus full of nun's holding babys and bibles. Dont get too worked up..

 

[average_shooter]

...percentage of American households that reported having any guns...

...percentage of Americans who reported personally owning a gun...

(emphasis added)

Looks to me to be more likely that gun owners are just becoming less likely to tell people like the VPC about what they own.

 

[Zundfolge]

the percentage of American households that reported having any guns in the home has dropped nearly 20 percentage points: from a high of 54 percent in 1977 to 34.5 percent in 2006.

I see, so when it drops below a certain percentage its okay to do away with a fundamental right just because not enough people are taking advantage of it?

By that logic we should be able to re-enslave blacks because they only make up a paltry 13% of the population ... clearly only the majority has rights.

 

[average_shooter]

Wanted to add:

...the issue, as voiced in one gunmaker's ad in 1998 is, "It's not `who your customers will be in five years.' It's `will there be any customers left?'"

Again, we see an example of them surly mis-quoting. I'm not sure about you guys, but the way I read the above ad quote it's asking if all firearms will be banned not whether or not people will want them.

 

[Mr White]

Even if the percentage of firearms owners is down, my guess is that the people who do own firearms own far greater numbers than in the past. So there may be fewer of us, but we have bigger collections.

 

[Lupinus]

could it be a few factors are being left out?

Less people are freely reporting they have a gun?

More and more good people are falling into catagories that make it illegal for them to own a firearm and therefor are either getting rid of them or keeping the fact they still have them a secret? Seriously look at the idiocy that is now a felony or a DV and it is no wonder mroe and mroe people are kept from legally owning firearms.

 

[obxned]

I wouldn't give these jerks the time of day. I don't think many people would feel safe telling them if they had guns.

And if this was true, why would so many guns be backordered??? I think the opposite is true, that more people have them, but aren't telling!

 

[Zundfolge]

Another though ... does this mean there are less gun owners or are there more but smaller households?

They aren't measuring the number of guns in private ownership, nor the number of gun owners ... they're counting the number of households that say they have guns.

Thinking back to 1977, I remember that a much larger percentage of my schoolmates had both parents in the house than by 1987 (the year I graduated from high school).

So if dad took the guns when he moved out then it would start to skew the number of "households" with guns downward.

Let me illustrate:
If you have 3 families (moms, dads and kids), and only 1 of these families owns a gun that would be 33.333% of "households" with a gun (1 in 3).

Lets say over the course of a few years there is a divorce in two of the families (and one happens to be the gun owning family), so now you'll now have 5 households with only 1 with a gun (two dads moved out of their wives homes thus creating two more "households" out of thin air).

The number of guns is constant, the number of gun owners is constant but now only 20% of households have a gun (1 in 5).


Between '77 and '06 there were several society wide trends that could decrease the size of households while increasing the number of households; increased divorce, increase in people getting married later in life, increase in number of men never marrying the mother(s) of their child(ren) (or not marrying or fathering at all).

Since men tend to be the owners of guns, by simply not living with a woman they create a situation where there are more, smaller "households" thus making it appear as though there are less gun owners if you only count them by households. A single man and a single woman are two households, a married couple are only one household.

Like Ole Samuel Clemens said; "There are white lies, damnable lies, and statistics!"

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Setting aside quantitative issues, I'd imagine there have been massive qualitiative shifts in gun ownership.

Sure, maybe the number of "got grandpa's WWI Luger sitting around somewhere in the attic" folks have gone down, but if 3 of those are replaced by 2 pople of the "got my XD in a quick-access safe, got a WASR on the top shelf of my closet" persuasion, I'd say that the overall gun vibe in America is getting stronger.

Come to think of it, did the radical political gun-nut type exist in any large numbers prior to the 1970s? I doubt that VPC can count is as a true victory if 4 "got my gun for duck huntin' " gun owners are replaced by 3 rabid ARFers.

-MV

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

I've heard of the data gathering agency, but there are no specifics as to how the numbers were generated. Fewer Americans reported owning firearms? Reported to whom? What is the agency's criteria?

This information comes from the General Social Survey (GSS) which is conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

Research generated by a branch of an institution, any institution, usually produces data that is favored by the institution. That's where the branch receives its funding.

Let's see. I wonder what a liberal university in the most gun-hostile city in the nation would like to believe. Hmmmmm.

Except for the U.S. Census, the GSS is the most frequently analyzed source of information in the social sciences and is the only survey that has tracked the opinions of Americans over an extended period of time.

See, you can't just make blanket statements like that without numbers to back it up. Where were the American "households." How many households were contacted? Did they contact, say, ten households? And of the ten, what, 3.5 said they owned guns? But were the households located in Chicago?

Data gathering like this can be seriously skewed to generate whatever results you want. I could conduct a poll where 100% of Americans believe that
laws are bad and that we should be an anarchy. Of course, my poll would be conducted in San Francisco, probably in the mission district.

I don't give much credence to this kind of misinformation.

 

[SWModel19]

And if this was true, why would so many guns be backordered???

NO KIDDING. Go to galleryofguns.com (Davidsons) and look at the number of popular guns that are "allocated" because the demand exceeds the supply! No one has ever surveyed me asked me about guns, and of course, I'm gonna say NO because for all I know they're friggin "surveying" my house for a burglary! Someone needs to remind VPC about these little factoids.:banghead:

 

[Robert Hairless]

They've won, so there's no need for gun control.

Good. Since the percentage of American gun owners has dropped so dramatically there is no need for gun control laws or the VPC.

Wait a few years and all the problems that distress the VPC, the Brady Campaign, Michael Bloomberg, Carolyn McCarthy, and their friends will have disappeared naturally because by then there will be no American gun owners.

Best of all, it won't have cost the taxpayers a cent.

So it's now time for the VPC and its friends to pack up shop, turn out the lights, and go find real jobs. I congratulate them on their victory. It was a hard fight but they won. Cheers. And bye.

That article is the best argument I've ever seen for the futulity of gun control organizations. No need for them since it's happening without them.

 

[illspirit]

In the blog and press release, Sugarman says this:

gun ownership has been declining over the last 35 years and the 9/11 terrorist attacks did not reverse that trend.

But then in the full report, they say this:

except for a small bulge in handgun applications in September-October, 2001 which had already started to subside by November, there was no increase in firearm purchases in response to the 9/11 attacks.

So, okay, which is it? Did it "bulge" up or go down? It can't go up and down at the same time.

Even better, the numbers and graphs in their report show the number of households with guns increasing until 2004, and the number of personal firearms increasing until 2002 (they didn't ask in '03..), both of which are generally considered after November 2001.

Are they that desperate for propaganda they can't even keep their stories straight for one full page anymore?

 

[TexasRifleman]

Well then why can't I get a Sig556 delivered?

Yeah, no one is buying this stuff at all are they.

FN cranking up production for the FS2000.... CMP gonna sell out of Carbines in short order.... Online gun sales through the roof.

Yeah, keep telling that story VPC.

Like Ole Samuel Clemens said; "There are white lies, damnable lies, and statistics!"

Amen and pass the ammunition.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

It isn't due to my families households, I can assure you of that.

Heck, we're doing our best to make up the difference!

 

[DogBonz]

well.... here's your problem

the percentage of Americans who reported personally owning a gun

A lot of gun owners don't like telling strangers, government bodies, or institutions that they do own guns. In 1970 there was no stigma attached to guns. Today depending on where you are, there can be a great deal of flack that one would catch from admitting to being a gun owner. Gun sales have increased, but owners have decreased? This does not make much sense. I think that what is going on is that gun owners are not standing up and saying, “yes, I own a firearm”.

 

[Deanimator]

Newsflash: VPC LIES... a LOT.

 

[K-Romulus]

more info on the NORC study

http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/528797/

Quote:
Newswise — Terrorism Worries Increase American Support to Regulate Firearms Concern over terrorism has further increased Americans’ support for firearm regulation according to a report from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

“Some have speculated that the 9/11 terrorist attacks undermined support for regulating firearms, arguing that fear of terrorism increased the public desire for firearms for self-defense,” said Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey (GSS) at NORC, which conducted the study and found an opposite perspective.

Support for including criminal background checks for all gun sales, including those involving private sales between individuals, rose to 80 percent in 2006 from 77.5 percent in 2001, Smith said.

“When asked directly whether ‘gun control laws should be stricter, making it harder for people to purchase firearms’ as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 76.5 percent backed this idea and only 16 percent endorsed less strict gun controls,” said Smith. The findings are in “Public Attitudes Toward the Regulation of Firearms,” a study funded by Chicago’s Joyce Foundation as part of the 2006 GSS survey.

Among the other findings in the study are:

• Gun ownership in the United States has declined in the past 30 years. It has gone from a high of about 55 percent in the mid-1970s to 35 percent in the most recent GSS survey.

• People support tight regulation of firearms: 91 percent support making it illegal to use guns while under the influence of alcohol; 85 percent want the sale of 50-caliber rifles limited, and 82 percent want the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons limited.

• People also strongly support requiring a police permit before a gun could be purchased, with support around 80 percent since the early 1990s.

Like support for requiring police permits in order to purchase guns, support for regulation has remained strong or has increased in recent years, Smith said. . Backing for making the penalty for illegally selling guns tougher than illegal-drug sales remained steady at about 55 percent in each survey.

A 2001 GSS survey on firearm regulation showed strong support for gun-safety courses, mandatory registration of firearms, as well as for requirements that handguns be personalized (equipped with devices so non-owners cannot fire them). The survey also showed strong support for a mandatory five-day waiting period to buy a handgun. People also showed strong support for regular re-registration of handguns.

“In brief, strong majorities of the public back a wide range of measures to regulate firearms and stricter punishments for those who violate gun laws,” Smith said. “Support has been high for decades and is as high or higher today for individual restrictions than it has been in the past.”

The General Social Survey, supported by the National Science Foundation, has been conducted since 1972, and is based on face-to-face interviews of randomly selected people who represent a scientifically accurate cross section of Americans. Unlike opinion polls, which ask people about topics related to current events, the GSS captures changes in opinion about issues that remain of enduring importance in society.

The linked webpage includes a short video of the researcher who "discusses why American gun ownership has declined and why people support firearm regulation."

 

[Mr White]

Newsflash: VPC LIES... a LOT.

Whaddaya mean, they lie??? They have a website and their study results are right there in black and white on the web, so how could it be a lie???

We all know the truth, but for the masses clueles sheeple that the VPC 'studies' are aimed at, the above comment pretty much sums up the thought process. Its hard to fight ignorance, even when the facts support you.

 

[K-Romulus]

re:Sugarmann

So what? Most people aren't gay, yet support the right to be gay. Most people don't get abortions, but support the right to choose an abortion.

 

[redneckdan]

I think I might actually be a statistic in the study this relates to. I was called one afternoon by some study group and asked to take a survey about hunting, I figured what the heck and went for it. First question, how many firearms do you own? First answer: F*%K you, and I hung up.

 

[DonP]

You couldn't tell from my daughter and her friends

My daughter and a bunch of the other girl type people she hangs out with, firefighters, wives of cops, schoolteachers, nurses and Med Students want to learn to shoot. But not from their husbands.

I got the e-mail below yesterday from my 30 year old daughter, the Chicago school teacher.

She was taught the basics of shooting years ago, just like I taught her to fish. Then, for a long time, what Dad did was "not cool" so she ignored shooting and fishing for years.

Now she has a kid of her own and wants me to re-teach her and her friends. Of course I said yes and offered a "kitchen table" familiarization session with some different hand guns as a good starting point.

Maybe Sarah and her "tuned in to the trends staff" hasn't heard of these folks or the Scout troop that was at the indoor range last week learning to shoot bolt action, single shot .22's and having a ball.

<snip>
Dad --

So all the ladies who are interested in learning to shoot/practicing shooting are congealing as the "Chicago-All-Girls'-Gun-Club". I think we're doing our first outing once everybody has a FOID and a bit more time. I know Jack is gonna be one of our 'guest instructors'; would you be interested?

What *I* would like to do, rather than play around with a dozen different kinds of guns, is learn really well on ONE, and then go from there. What would you recommend?

I've fired your 9mm and, I believe, a .380. And to THAT end, while I have no problem with the concept of buying my own gun, is there one I can borrow from you until I figure out what I'd like best? If it's a handgun I end up working with, that's no problem; Tom lives 5 minutes away in handgun-allowable DesPlaines, and I'm sure he and Erika would store it securely for me between outings.

Love,
The Daughter

 

[CajunBass]

I think I might actually be a statistic in the study this relates to. I was called one afternoon by some study group and asked to take a survey about hunting, I figured what the heck and went for it. First question, how many firearms do you own? First answer: F*%K you, and I hung up.

(Buzzzzzzz) Hello? Hello? Excuse me sir? Would that be a yes or a no? Hello? (Buzzzzzz)

 

[El Tejon]

More precatory studies from VPC.

So, VPC, who's buying those millions of guns that are being made and imported every year?

Telling strangers how many guns you own or how handsome you are is always very reliable over the phone.