Where does YOUR state rank?

[Hasaf]

I don't even answer the phone.
Caller ID eliminated any credibility from phone polls ever had.

Right, that is why "Big Data" is frequently a much better choice. The issue is that Big Data is new. As such there isn't a lot of usage, compared to survey data. It comes down to people using what they are comfortable with, even though it may not provide the best information.

The proxy for gun ownership, as long as it is corrected for regional despair rates, that uses forms of suicide, as mentioned in the article, is probably a better test than the survey approach. They did not compare that data in the article, I think it would be an interesting way to go with this data. . . Don't steal my idea, I am thinking that I may write that article and see if I can get it published.

 

[4v50 Gary]

30 for Colorado. How embarrassing and even Californiastan rated higher.

 

[FROGO207]

My take on the typical firearms survey:
Ask a leading question----------each curse word in answer= one firearm.

Seriously it is too easy to design a survey to get the results wanted by cherry picking limited data. Never mind the actual truth folks------"Ignore the man behind the curtain".

 

[Speedo66]

Not believable. Wash. DC has more gun ownership than OH or ME? Maybe if you count all the LEO in the myriad agencies there, certainly not private ownership. Even then, I'm not buying it.

 

[murf]

I really don't see Arizona being in the middle of the pack.

californians have been migrating here for many years. we would be nipping on the heels of alaska if this poll was taken thirty years ago.

murf

 

[Scooter22]

I don't think that ranking of NY state really reflects gun ownership to other states without a huge metro area with majority of population. We have NYC and that area which is the most population and little gun owner ship. If you separated the rest of the state (up state) I'd bet we're in the middle.

 

[Dibbs]

Two things which might skew the "data" from the "poll".
I never met a person who didn't lie.
I never knew a person who didn't own a gun.

 

[AlexanderA]

Not believable. Wash. DC has more gun ownership than OH or ME? Maybe if you count all the LEO in the myriad agencies there, certainly not private ownership. Even then, I'm not buying it.

Exactly. Washington, D.C., has lots of illegal guns (belonging to the criminal element), but precious few legal, privately-held ones. In either case, no D.C. resident is going to admit owning one in a telephone survey. This alone suggests that the survey takers just made up their data.

 

[22250Rem]

I don't think that ranking of NY state really reflects gun ownership to other states without a huge metro area with majority of population. We have NYC and that area which is the most population and little gun owner ship. If you separated the rest of the state (up state) I'd bet we're in the middle.

.... My thoughts exactly. I'd bet that the NYC data was averaged into the rest of the state as a whole, when in reality I'm sure that without the NYC data; NY STATE would show up a lot higher than its current position because in terms of the rate of gun ownership, NYC may as well be a foreign country, as evidenced by the vast amount of legal bans and restrictions within the city and surrounding suburbs. NY state is restrictive enough...... NYC takes that to a whole new level. Another item I found unbelievable was the rating of Washington D.C.. IIRC they even have NYC beat when it comes to laws and ordinances that are meant to discourage gun ownership.

 

[crestoncowboy]

I can't think of any one household without a gun (most have a safe full) in my area of nc. But I agree that this is just a guess, I wouldn't even say an educated guess.
Regardless I think the only take away is that the next reboot of red dawn has to be in the north east. Or that if the walking dead had been set in new England it wouldn't have dragged on so long

 

[bgw45]

Interesting data on issued CC permits issued by state on gunstocarry.com.

 

[Hasaf]

Interesting data on issued CC permits issued by state on gunstocarry.com.

A couple of things I noticed there. The first is that Utah, where I live, makes a strong showing. However, I work in Kansas. Kansas does not require a permit. as such it shows a much lower number permits, which are being used as a proxy for a rough number of handgun carriers. It would be hard to get data on handgun carriers in states that do not require a permit.

 

[patmccoy]

1. Is 4k a statistically significant sample in a country of 300M?

According to mathematicians it is, BUT I can not get any of them to explain how they deal with refusals to take a poll (hang-ups) nor how they account for their assumption (you know what assume means) that everyone is truthful.

Never trust a poll.

Bring back the mystery in life, lie to a pollster.

 

[CapnMac]

The way this scans, it looks incredibly (suspiciously) like the "study" cbs released about 5-6 years ago which alleged to advance this same data. The flaw there was that the source for most of that data was NFA data, as if that encompassed both Title 1 and Title 2 uniformly.

Mistrust of data collection (and data collectors) is well founded--if possibly overly so. Which means you are probably going to get better "blind" surveys of illegal drug use, or smoking, or the like, than of gun ownership.

Now, we are a politically-energized cohort, and that's by necessity, one functionally mandated be 18 USC 922.

(Utter side note, if you run into a confirmed anti and feel like making their head explode--explain to them that GCA 68 is actually what gave NRA all of its political power; make legality a crucial issue in ownership, and owners will then influence lawmakers, QED.)

 

[jmorris]

MA surprisingly high (22:6 %). Considering how anti gun much of our state officials are...

They are not completely anti gun, they employ folks that have them, have and enjoy them themselves, they just don’t want you to have them.

 

[AlexanderA]

1. Is 4k a statistically significant sample in a country of 300M?

Supposedly, a sample size of about 1,000 responses will give a valid result. (That's assuming that the questions are noncontroversial enough to elicit honest answers -- something that's clearly not the case here.) But their sample of 4,000 is spread over the whole country, while they purport to give state-by-state results. They needed to have 1,000 responses per state, or a total of about 50,000. This is one more reason why the study should be disregarded.

 

[KYregular]

Data is garbage. No way that gun ownership in Hawaii is greater than Kentucky. Even the most liberal people likely own a gun. Anyways, how do they track this Data? We certainly don't register here, and I know a whole lotta people who own guns that knowbody knows about.

 

[readyeddy]

Hawaii has had mandatory registration for about the last 20 years. Based on those numbers which comes out to about 1 million guns for a population of about 1.3 million, I can see where simple math would push the rate higher. So yeah I don’t think 45% of the population in Hawaii are gun owners.

 

[Old Dog]

Any thread using a poll that causes people to post in order to defend their home state is ... garbage. Most of us are pretty aware of the the depths of our own states' gun cultures.

Smart gun owners don't need to respond to random pollsters.

I also seem to remember one H. Clinton being predicted by every mainstream poll to win election to the presidency by a landslide ...

 

[hdwhit]

Completely meaningless!

States with minimal requirements to own a gun have (generally) higer rates or gun ownership when compared to those that have more stringent requirements. States with lax gun control laws have greater percentage of gun ownership than states that regulate gun ownership.

 

[caribou]

Were behind every blade of grass........

 

[JR24]

Useless study, 34% in WI?

Even in liberal Dane County the vast majority of households have a deer rifle or shotgun, let alone all the more sane counties north of that. Heck, my dad didnt even hunt and we had a couple shotguns and a rifle growing up.

I know when I went to college at the UW there was a locked safe in our closet that would have made many of our gun hating our of stater friends run screaming for their safe spaces.

 

[RETG]

A couple of things I noticed there. The first is that Utah, where I live, makes a strong showing. However, I work in Kansas. Kansas does not require a permit. as such it shows a much lower number permits, which are being used as a proxy for a rough number of handgun carriers. It would be hard to get data on handgun carriers in states that do not require a permit.

Also UT and FL are noted for issuing a heck of a lot of non-resident permits. Everyone I ever knew who lived in CA had both a UT and a FL permit.
And you are correct about the issue of permits and the states that do not require permits. I had a talk a few months ago with my local sheriff in ID at the gun range and he told me, since the state stopped requiring permits for concealed carry; his issuance of permits was down over 60%.

But most studies on gun ownership and CCWs are incorrect or just outright misleading.
For one thing, no one I don't know can ring my phone, all unknown numbers are blacklisted thus the phone will not ring; they can leave a message that will never be returned; therefore calling me for any survey is a waste of time. If someone comes to the door and asks me if I have a gun inside and/or a CCW permit, the wind from the slamming door might knock them off the porch. I honestly do not know anyone who would answer such questions.

 

[GAF]

Most of the people I know own guns. Those that don`t often talk about buying a gun or two for protection.
One of my friends who claims to be a Socialist own`s one gun for protection. I think gun ownership is far higher
than their data suggest. IMHO

 

[Chevelle SS]

I personally know very few people that don't own a gun. Common place around here even if you are not a "gun person".