SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
From The Washington Post:
The survey's findings support other research showing that as overall rates of gun ownership has declined, the number of firearms in circulation has skyrocketed. The implication is that there are more guns in fewer hands than ever before. The top 3 percent of American adults own, on average, 17 guns apiece, according to the survey's estimates.
Interesting. Lawyers, guns, and money! Which of these has the smallest percentage and largest absolute amount? Of course, the other major shift the survey reveals is in the rationale for owning firearms: currently, a majority of owners cite personal protection as their motivation, prior to the 1990's the majority owned guns for sport.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Three Percent own Half of America’s Guns
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 126 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, it is against the law to open a soda bottle without
the supervision of a licensed engineer.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday September 20 2016, @05:12PM
The reality of course is 17 guns takes a stack of cash and people who can obtain stacks of cash legally are exactly the same population least likely to commit crimes or unsafely store or unsafely operate their weapons.
Actually, starting out today to BUY 17 guns is expensive. (Reference the story about Smokers in England for PRICE INCREASE mechanism by which this is being accomplished).
Most people with several guns obtained them over a lifetime by spending nothing at all, or a small bit here and a bit there with an occasional splurge for an expensive gun. Lowest price I've paid: Zero for a particularly collectible piece.
I still have the shotgun I bought in my teens by saving my meager allowance. In fact I don't remember ever selling or getting rid of any gun I ever acquired.
Normal people accumulate guns over a life time of small investments at opportune times. Collectors might spend the big bucks. But Joe Buckskin has an inexpensive rifle for deer, a shotgun for birds, and maybe a handgun for plinking or a camp gun. I'm betting at least one of them was a hand-me-down from his dad.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @06:37AM
In fact I don't remember ever selling or getting rid of any gun I ever acquired.
I remember one. It was a "Saturday Night Special", some cheap knock off .38 special. It was mine because my father passed away, life-long smoker, enough said. But I heard from a non-blood relative (trustworthy, or not), that my father contemplated suicide with this exact firearm. So I took it out to the shop, laid it upon the anvil, and beat upon it with a four pound hammer until it's barrel could not pass a sheet of paper, let alone a .38 slug. Then I proceed to do the same to the cylinder, the frame, the handle. Threw what remained into the trash. I assume it was recycled. But I suggest to you that there may be situations, however rare and beyond your comprehension, where you do want to get rid of a gun. Even a gun that has never been used in a crime.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:04PM
Depending on where you live, you may have committed a crime.
Even completely crushed and useless, a pistol frame is still a "firearm" according to the BATFE rules. Some states and cities make it illegal to dispose of a "firearm" by any method other than turning it in to the police.
(Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:28PM
Sounds like you have described me except I didn't get any hand me downs from my dad as he never hunted. Started with an SKS as a starter deer rifle (very comparable in power to a .30-30 so an effective deer rifle) that I bought from a buddy who is a cop. Then a couple of years later bought a shotgun new at the year end sale at Dick's for $225 and it came with a bird barrel, 4 chokes, a slug barrel, and a 4x scope so it was a good deal. A few years later I wanted a rifle with more accuracy and a bit more punch and happened upon a really good shooting Finnish M39. Go forward a few more years and the large predators in the woods where I own property and hunt have started to take over so I decided to get a magnum class revolver capable of putting down a bear. So over the course of 14 years I went from 0 guns to 4 all with a purpose and I won't get rid of that SKS as it is just fun and cheap to shoot. The next gun I purchase will likely be for one of my kids when they are old enough and if they want to go bird hunting as the SKS still works just fine as a starter deer rifle.
T-Shirts and bumper stickers [zazzle.com] to offend someone