Are you a "Super Gun Owner"?

[The Heretic]

I think there is a little bit of truth hidden in there. I do think that there is a minority of gun owners who individually own a lot more guns than the majority of gun owners. Not sure if they own the majority of all guns/etc., that is a leap to conclusions IMO. But so what if some own a lot or even the majority?

So what?

It is an attempt to portray some gun owners as a minority. Divide and conquer.

Obviously (to me anyway) this study is a start at an attempt to open (re-open) a conversation on creating the perception that "super owners" are greater "risks" to themselves and others. It is an attempt to put some mild language and "authoritative" data behind the concept of "dangerous gun nuts" without coming out and calling us that.

Also obvious is the fact that those in power are threatened more by those gun owners who own more than a few firearms - they know that those owners are a lot adamant about not wanting "reasonable" gun control laws than someone who just has a .22 rifle or a handgun stashed away for protection - the latter much more likely to be among the group that says "I am a gun owner but I think we should have reasonable gun control laws".

 

[d2the3]

So do I need 8 or more or 17 or more to qualify?

 

[IronMonster]

It seems pretty clear to me.

One guy with one gun is kind of dangerous to the state.

One guy who can outfit and supply 50 of his neighbors is a lot dangerous to the state.

Neither one is a danger to his neighbors.

 

[The Heretic]

Also, I don't have a problem with the assumed conflict between the number of gun owners going up and the percentage going down - I think that is true, or at least that is my personal perception when I talk to people and the subject of guns comes up; as a percentage fewer people seem to own guns today than in the past.

Think about it.

It is possible for a greater absolute number of people to own guns, but because the population of the USA grows, the percentage of that population who owns guns grows smaller because the increase in the absolute number of gun owners doesn't keep up with the increase in the population.

E.G., just pulling numbers out of the air as an example; if ten years there were 300 million people in USA and a 100 million were gun owners, then the percentage is 33%. It this year there are 330 M people in the USA and 105 M are gun owners, then the percentage is 31%, a decrease of 2% but an increase of 5M. That is what the article said, a smaller percentage of people own guns.

That is a problem for gun owners politically; we are becoming a smaller minority even as our absolute numbers grow.

 

[The Heretic]

So do I need 8 or more or 17 or more to qualify?

I think we need to pass out NWFA merit badges to those of us who are "super gun owners".

You know - like the "supporter" badges?

 

[Larrytpdx]

 

[The Heretic]

Conversely, I do think that there is an increasing percentage of gun owners who won't admit to owning firearms, especially to a stranger conducting a survey - even if they are paid to take the survey (as they were in this survey if I understand the article correctly).

In general, I don't admit to owning firearms - even here I generally don't say how many I own and I usually don't talk about what firearms I have unless they are recent purchases that have gone through the de-facto registration (BGC) system and therefore the gov. knows I have them and can prove it in court.

So I think that can account for some amount of the drop in percentage reporting they own firearms, but I don't think that accounts for all of it. I think much of the drop is due to at least several factors:

1) The movement of people from rural areas to urban areas.
2) Increasing demonization of gun ownership
3) Movement from conservative to liberal political views.

 

[nammac]

I personally like the line about gun ownership continuing to increase while gun violence continues to decrease...

If gun violence continues to decrease, what is the need for more common sense gun laws? They're wasting time regulating something that's appearantly in a natural decline...

 

[Brutus57]

I was an aspiring super owner then there was that boating accident, in salt water no less!

Brutus Out

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Only 17?

 

[Raidingtime]

View attachment 313172

Larry did you watch the video that was embedded into the article? The video plays with the narrative that gun owners are irresponsible rednecks judging by the people they interview that are pro gun. They further play on peoples fear and loss by bringing up mass shootings.

My question is why not display how gun control worked to stop mass shootings in France or Norway or how disillusioned and uninformed most, if not all, people are whom support gun control. Most of all, how did that conclude that guns are the problem when they clearly displayed evidence that more gun ownership leads to a lower prevalence of crime? How did these people become "Public Health Experts"?

 

[NWGlockgal]

I personally like the line about gun ownership continuing to increase while gun violence continues to decrease...

That's because the bad guys have been using these:

 

[Medic!]

In general, I don't admit to owning firearms - even here I generally don't say how many I own and I usually don't talk about what firearms I have unless they are recent purchases that have gone through the de-facto registration (BGC) system and therefore the gov. knows I have them and can prove it in court.

Three men can keep a secret.

As long as two of them are dead.

 

[Larrytpdx]

Larry did you watch the video that was embedded into the article?

Yes.

The video plays with the narrative that gun owners are irresponsible rednecks judging by the people they interview that are pro gun. They further play on peoples fear and loss by bringing up mass shootings.

My point exactly.

 

[The Heretic]

I was an aspiring super owner then there was that boating accident, in salt water no less!

Brutus Out

ATF Agent: I Lost My Gun in A Boating Accident - The Truth About Guns

 

[Quartermaster]

Would the money I have set aside for another gun be considered a superfund project?

If it pushes you over the 17 guns mark.

 

[tac]

Weeeeel now, I've got nineteen guns, but I live someplace else, so I guess that doesn't count, right?

Anyhow, I'm proud to be thought of as a redneck, me. I stopped wearing a necktie, shiny footwear and pants with a crease down the front on August 28th, 2000, the same day that the Queen grudgingly stopped writing my pay-cheque.

tac

 

[Pandaz3]

My wife rejects "Her" LCR 38, DDM4, another AR, her Mossberg 930, her Hawk 981 and some other gun. She will only claim about eleven guns... Try as I might I just can't get her to seventeen.

I however am there!

 

[etrain16]

I have to question this "super gun owner" tag. Seems to me we're talking about "regular" gun owners - everyone else is just playing catch-up. How about "normal" gun owners and "slackers"???

 

[OutlawHoss]

Wow, what grab bag of sloppy conclusions and contradictions. It seems the author/editors can't even get their propaganda right. My guess is they couldn't reconcile the finding

"Even as the US has grown dramatically safer and gun violence rates have plummeted"​

so they had some guy totally call into question reality in order to discredit their own finding

"The desire to own a gun for protection – there's a disconnect between that and the decreasing rates of lethal violence in this country. It isn't a response to actuarial reality."​

Talk about a bunch of double speak: in the face of actual facts, just throw out reality!