re: #55 Shiplord Kirel, live from behind wingnut lines

Think there’s a relationship here that should be explored.

A very small minority of Americans own the overwhelming majority of guns.

3% of Americans own 50% of America’s guns. 78% of Americans don’t own a gun.
It might be worth monitoring the 3%. https://t.co/N8ZYODFcLm

— James Melville (@JamesMelville) October 4, 2017

Despite all the NRA efforts, the actual ownership among all Americans has declined. Sales continue to climb so more guns are flowing to fewer people.

And why are those people buying guns? It’s not for hunting or sport. It’s because they claim they’re worried about crime and want to protect themselves, even though crime has dropped to historically low levels.

“When I look at our survey, what I see is a population that is living in fear,” Deb Azrael, a Harvard researcher and one of the study’s lead authors, told the nonprofit news organization the Trace. “They are buying handguns to protect themselves against bad guys, they store their guns ready-to-use because of bad guys, and they believe that their guns make them safer.”

This shows a significant shift from the 1990s, when most gun owners said they owned firearms primarily for hunting and target shooting.