Gun Sales Up but Ownership Down?

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22-rimfire

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And pray tell what does Patrick Egan base this on besides wishful thinking? Hell even my boss recently bought a gun (a SIG P238) and the only hobby he has been interested in until now has been golf.
 
I doubt the article. 1, it came from Huffington Post, a radically left leaning "news" establishment. And 2, I've heard of more first time gun owners than at any other time in my life. After the 2nd debate, gun sales have gone up, and this is in large part, anecdotally speaking, due to people running out and buying a gun 'while they still can.'

A lot of long time gun owners already have a lot of guns. Sure, they are still buying more, but so are a lot of people who've never owned a gun.
 
They trotted out that argument back in 1999 after Colombine as well only then they were also claiming that gun purchases were at an all time low in addition to the number of gun owners. That's a favorite stat with the anti's. Same old garbage.
 
I was pretty obsessive the summer of 99 with all things having to do with firearms and firearms ownership - to the point that I became a pretty miserable person. Anyway it was one of the things the anti's were using to justify their gun grabbing. People are saying it's different this time around, but it isn't. It was just as crazy and emotional.
 
I don't understand touting something untrue when it does not suit your cause to do so.

Does he think that espousing such nonsense will, what, make people who were planning to become gun owners reconsider?

Lies don't become truth, no matter how much they are repeated. They may be believed by more, but they are no less a lie. Maybe he cherry picked a survey to make himself feel better? That's possible, and many of them reflect nowhere near the real number. I know whenever I've been asked, I decline to answer; Does that get chalked up as a yes, as a no, or do I just get booted from the sampling and they call an alternate? I don't know, but I know I'm not the only gun owner who is less than willing to divulge it to phone surveyors.

However, I say let them think ownership is down. It'll be that much more shocking to them when confronted with reality.
 
It is an attempt to isolate the influence of gun owners claiming that they aren't a growing community but a shrinking one with the gun buying being concentrated within the far rght wacko portion of the population who already own guns.

There was no data or backup included to demonstrate Egan's claim and based on the bio, I would judge his politics as likely be very liberal. It is simply stated as a "fact". Interesting.
 
It is an attempt to isolate the influence of gun owners claiming that they aren't a growing community but a shrinking one with the gun buying being concentrated within the far rght wacko portion of the population who already own guns.
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I considered that, but as I see it, believing/claiming that your opposition is smaller than it is falls into the category of underestimation. Underestimating opposition is universally costly; Congress learned that the hard way on this very issue in 1994.
 
Lies may not become truth. But, there's a large segment of the population that falls between "Pro" and "Anti." They have a tendency to accept whatever is spoon feed to them. The "news" media is wielding that spoon and slinging that "Anti" pap.
From what they're declaring, gun people are ignorant, racist hicks, looking for a chance to shoot over a fender-bender. Or, train their kids to go shoot up a school.
Who needs the truth or even common sense, when there's popular opinion?
 
True nuff Mach.
And here's hoping they learn about it all over again in 2014.
What a circus that is going on right now in the media and political powers that be as of now.
Hard to stomach.
 
Not to be political, but for the new AWB to become a reality, they need to paint gun owners as a shrinking voice in politics. They are going after women voters! These aren't the women who listen the Rush Limbaugh either.

After all, Bloomberg basically said that the NRA's influence was vastly over rated.

I would love to see Egan's back up data, but he seems more interested in writing about another segment of the population.

My reaction to the article was "no way"... but do I have data to back up my belief?
 
And here's hoping they learn about it all over again in 2014.
Click to expand...

I just hope the lesson doesn't come from the same action. Getting them out after they've rammed legislation through does us about as much good as Lanza suiciding after he killed 27 people.
 
I saw hundreds - literally hundreds of people buying their first handgun at the gun show I attended last weekend. Over 3000 people attended on Saturday and over 1900 on a rainy Sunday. Sales were brisk to say the least.

That article is pure nonsense.
 
It actually isn't some made up statement. There actually are some poll numbers that show that the percentage of overall homes that possess a firearm is down (sometime in the 1950s compared to 2009). I read the polls -- both of them -- this morning, but I don't have them in front of me to quote.

Unfortunately, it is not a linear argument...in other words, the studies did not look at intervening years to plot a more accurate line compared to sales rates (which we know are inaccurate, anyway, as they use NICS checks to approximate).
 
This is false.

At least locally over the last few years gunshops are packed full of buyers, many of them with minimal firearm experience wanting a first gun or thier first handgun/rifle/shotgun types.
Several gunshops around have a 15+ minute wait time just to talk with a guy behind the counter if I swing by on a weekend, and they have a lot more guys behind the counter hiring many to deal with the extra load. While many of those behind the counter are actually processing 4473s not just answering curious questions most of the time as was the case before the first Obama election.


In listening to customers during that time many have not filled out a 4473 before, are asking questions that show they know little about firearms, firearm laws, or self defense. They are people that need a handgun safety certificate a lot of the time (last 5 years from last test in CA) to purchase a handgun.
These customers are not your typical guy with several firearms.
They make up the bulk of the customers who are saying much.
There is also many more female purchasers.

This fits with what I hear nationally since 2009.


I think anyone saying the opposite is doing so for a political advantage through deception. They want to paint gun owners as a shrinking segment made up of individuals buying many guns rather than a growing population. Because they cannot deny the number of sales, and so try to explain them as going to people buying many.
 
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It actually isn't some made up statement. There actually are some poll numbers that show that the percentage of overall homes that possess a firearm is down (sometime in the 1950s compared to 2009). I read the polls -- both of them -- this morning, but I don't have them in front of me to quote.
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This is a good point, but you could almost certainly make the same claim relative to households from the 1800's when the population was primarily rural.

It amounts to twisting statistics to fit the claim you want to make.
 
HACKER 15E - "It actually isn't some made up statement. There actually are some poll numbers that show that the percentage of overall homes that possess a firearm is down ..."
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I have to wonder about the answers given by homeowners to pollsters. Consider this...

Phone rings.

Mr. Jones answers. "Hello."

"Hello Mr. Jones. This is Tiffany from the non-partisan Stop-The-Violence-Now polling group. We're conducting a survey on firearms. May I ask you some questions?"

Mr. Jones : "I suppose so."

Muffin asks sweetly: "Do you own firearms and if so, how many and what kinds are they?"

Mr. Jones: "Uhhh, I don't own any guns."

Muffin: "Oh, that's nice. Thanks you." Click. Dial tone.

Mr. Jones replaces the phone receiver and goes back to his desk where he continues cleaning his Colt AR-15.

Nahhh. Just call me a natural born skeptic when it comes to phone polls regarding firearms.

L.W.
 
Well, whatever number they were using will be going up by 2 this weekend. I've been asked by 2 friends of mine to take them shooting for their first time on Saturday, with purchases to follow immediately once they decide what type they like best. I'll do my best to keep it safe, fun, and a great learning experience for them both. So take that, Huff Post! I'm doing my part to reverse your made-up trend.
 
I listen to people at the gun show tables: it's one of the main reasons I go. At the last few I attended, probably half of the buyers were asking questions that first-time buyers would typically ask: what ammo, what about storage, how often should I clean it and with what, will you show me how to take it apart? etc.

The other half, it seemed, were buying either yet another shotgun (I talked to one guy who was picking up three more 12ga Mossy 500s--at a very good price, BTW--for his "bunker") or their fourth or fifth AR upper and matching mags.

So, at least from my limited vantage point, buying has been heavy at both ends of the spectrum.
 
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