Need a complete non-shocker for today? Apparently the Violence Policy Center have released a definitive survey which shows gun ownership rates are down:
Almost one-third of U.S. households report having any guns in the home — the lowest level ever since the survey began in the 1970s, a survey indicates.
The report by the Violence Policy Center is an analysis of data from the General Social Survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The report says household gun ownership peaked in 1977, with 54 percent of households reported having any guns.
What this actually means is the rate of people willing to tell those idiots at the Violence Policy Center that they own firearms has gone down. A good chunk of gun owners are very private people and we’ve become more private about what we own as politicians have been trying to take those possessions away from us. If somebody contacts me and asks if I own firearms I don’t even respond but simply hang up. What I own is my business and the business of those whom I’m willing to inform.
I’m sure the National Rifle Association (NRA) could do a similar survey and get completely opposite results. Surveys are just quick methods of getting whatever results you desire, nothing more. In order to create an authoritative piece of research you need to be able to verify your results with something more than what somebody answered on a questionnaire.
What is even more interesting is the fact that the rate of National Instant Criminal Background Checks (NICS) have been quite high leading to the fact that the number of people buying firearms from federally licensed dealers has been increasing.