2 ms·
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
by 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 agoI 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 agoI 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.