5 ms·

yup, and gun ownership rates are at an all-time high maybe they really are inversely correlated

cogman10 2y ago
Nope, in fact, gun ownership has been on a steady decline since the 80s. https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/gun-ownership.html https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/gun-ownership.html
- superkuh 2y ago
  Thanks for the hard data. It looks like there was a decline from 1980 to 2000 and then it's been stable since.
  - cogman10 2y ago
    Yeah, that's what I see as well. Steady decline is probably the wrong way to phrase it.
- ARandomerDude 2y ago
  Data like this has to be taken with a grain of salt, since it is largely sourced from conducting polls (as did those at RAND, whom you sourced). We can say the per-capita number of people who tell a complete stranger that they own a gun has declined since the 80s. Growth in the number of background checks (NICS) has vastly outpaced population growth, however [1, 2]. Many gun owners own more than one firearm, further complicating the picture. 1. https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_mo... 2. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange...
  - cogman10 2y ago
    I think it's fair to say that this data doesn't give you a true percentage of gun ownership. However, I'd also say it's probably fair to say this data is likely at least somewhat correlated with true gun ownership. I don't think there's any significant factors that'd make people more or less likely to lie about ownership over the years.
    - throwthrowuknow 2y ago
      I can think of several reasons why gun owners would be more likely to deny ownership when surveyed the biggest being the increased political focus on regulation.
    - tivert 2y ago
      > I don't think there's any significant factors that'd make people more or less likely to lie about ownership over the years. I think there is: political polarization. Gun ownership seems like a fact that could get you othered, which would make people less likely to talk about it with strangers.

Nope, in fact, gun ownership has been on a steady decline since the 80s. https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/gun-ownership.html https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/gun-ownership.html

superkuh 2y ago
Thanks for the hard data. It looks like there was a decline from 1980 to 2000 and then it's been stable since.
- cogman10 2y ago
  Yeah, that's what I see as well. Steady decline is probably the wrong way to phrase it.
ARandomerDude 2y ago
Data like this has to be taken with a grain of salt, since it is largely sourced from conducting polls (as did those at RAND, whom you sourced). We can say the per-capita number of people who tell a complete stranger that they own a gun has declined since the 80s. Growth in the number of background checks (NICS) has vastly outpaced population growth, however [1, 2]. Many gun owners own more than one firearm, further complicating the picture. 1. https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_mo... 2. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange...
- cogman10 2y ago
  I think it's fair to say that this data doesn't give you a true percentage of gun ownership. However, I'd also say it's probably fair to say this data is likely at least somewhat correlated with true gun ownership. I don't think there's any significant factors that'd make people more or less likely to lie about ownership over the years.
  - throwthrowuknow 2y ago
    I can think of several reasons why gun owners would be more likely to deny ownership when surveyed the biggest being the increased political focus on regulation.
  - tivert 2y ago
    > I don't think there's any significant factors that'd make people more or less likely to lie about ownership over the years. I think there is: political polarization. Gun ownership seems like a fact that could get you othered, which would make people less likely to talk about it with strangers.