Poll: Households with firearms spike to 39%
The Washington Examiner reports that a Economist/YouGov poll says that the number of households with guns rose from 34% in 2012 to 39% in 2013.
The rebound comes as many are rushing to buy guns before states put more limits on ownership. It also reveals a gun-buying trend that started last year when President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Democrats and Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, pushed for widespread gun control, new background checks and the elimination of sales of semi-automatic rifles, the most popular style of rifle sold.
The Economist/YouGov survey revealed a partisan split among gun owners. Some 30 percent of households with guns are Democrat and 49 percent are Republican.
I’m guessing that it’s a little low, because if someone calls me on the telephone and asks if I own firearms, my immediate answer would be ‘nope, not a one, wouldn’t have one in my house, thank you, goodbye’. You’ll notice in the article that they track gun ownership over the last 40 years and the number of people who admit gun ownership drops off when the government started cracking down with gun control legislation from 50% in the 70s to 34% in 2012. I think they’re reading their polling wrong.
Category: Guns
Yeah, it’s very low, considering, like you said, people aren’t going to readily give up that information, especially over the phone, because you don’t know if it’s a bad guy attempting to find their next victim or a government busybody trying to poke their nose in your business. That’s why whenever someone would call to sell me an alarm system, I always say I already have one. When they ask what kind I have, I say Great Dane. They usually hang up immediately.
I read something about guns that I do not know to be true. It said that America is 3rd in the world for murders. But if you take, New York, Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans out of the equation, America drops to 4th from the bottom. I know this is a little off topic but if anyone can tell me the truth of this “statistic” please let me know. If it is true it is surprising considering those cities have the some of the strongest anti-gun laws.
On topic, I am glad Americans are waking up to the fact that if they don’t buy a weapon now, it may be too late later. I wish every legal citizen of right mind and clean record owned a weapon.
It is insane for law-abiding American families NOT to own firearm these days; at the same time, it is insane for law-abiding American families to actually admit in a public poll that they do…
Old Trooper, I’m the same way except my reply is Rottweiler.
Sparks – there is a very strong correlation between strong anti-gun laws and gun crime. Apparently criminals fail to observe the law… go figure.
Actually, David, “strong correlation” is overstating the case. In fact, there’s practically no correlation between state firearm murder rate and the restrictiveness of state firearms laws (as measured by Brady Score). But as you note, restrictive firearms laws do appear to be associated, albeit weakly, with increased firearm murder rates.
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=30444
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=37822
Even Harvard has published info recently showing little if any connection between the prevalence of firearms and a nation’s murder rate.
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=37307
I do not own a single firearm. That statement is 100% true and I will not say it any other way. However, for Christmas, I got my wife a cute pink glock and she got me a set of pearl grips for a 1911 and a customization kit to turn a Mauser C96 into a Han Solo blaster without sacrificing the functionality of the pistol.
But, I will say again. I do not own a single firearm nor is there a single firearm in my house.
@4 – we have two vicious mini dachshunds. Our male dog WILL rip out your Achilles tendon.
@8: Mine will take the tendon and everything it’s attached to 🙂
As I have stated many times before; if a bad guy isn’t fazed by the barking and decides getting in is worth them having to deal with the dog; dispatch them immediately upon entry, because they are there to do you harm.
Old Trooper,
I loved my old Dane (RIP) Nicest dog but VERY protective! He wouldn’t take out an Achilles tendon but he would probably remove someone’s head!
@8,9; I usually add anti-social before I say Rottweiler. I’d post a pic of him but I can’t on here.
@10: Yep, mine is a Harlequin (sp?), also. He’s the same way; big dumb puppy, until someone uninvited shows up, then it’s 170 lbs. of teeth and attitude.
lol VA primary care doctors asks if you own firearms, because that’s a healthcare question now.
What scumbags.
The editorial comments, aka use of adjectives, is always curious. 5% is an astronomical increase when it is something they are against (typical margin of error being plus or minus 3%, but often more), but they manipulate the unemployment rate to NEVER be an alarming increase no matter what.
What a bunch of hypocritical fools.
It’s a funny coincidence; I was out in a canoe with three of my buddies in Saguaro Lake with our firearms in the boat when it tipped. All of our weapons went to the bottom. It’s like 60 feet deep there, with terrible visibility at the bottom. Sad, but no theft was involved, so no police reports were filed. Just a cry in shame, all those firearms rusting away down there in the muck.
Hondo – I think you over-read what I said, since in your succeeding statements you essentially agreed with it. Typically most of the jurisdictions with the highest murder rates have more restrictive gun laws – that is not saying ALL do, it is not saying there is a cause and effect linkage (although many claim that) nor is there a solid correlation between loosening the laws and lowering the gun crime rate. But it is notable that for years the “murder capitals” of the country also had extremely strongly anti-gun laws.
@2 Sparks — nope, but a very interesting question. Some of you may be bored by all of this junk, others may find it “data-rich”. I am showing my work in order to avoid the accusation of “lying with statistics”. I am trying to bold stuff so it is easier to skip the junk. Original question from Sparks “I read something about guns that I do not know to be true. It said that America is 3rd in the world for murders. But if you take, New York, Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans out of the equation, America drops to 4th from the bottom. I know this is a little off topic but if anyone can tell me the truth of this “statistic” please let me know. If it is true it is surprising considering those cities have the some of the strongest anti-gun laws.” Procedure Open this table on the FBI UCR site. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/1tabledatadecoverviewpdf/table_1_crime_in_the_united_states_by_volume_and_rate_per_100000_inhabitants_1993-2012.xls It shows crime in the United States since 1993. In 2012, the total number of murders and non-negligent manslaughter events is 14,827. The total population was 313,914,040. Please note, these are “murders” and NOT “murders by firearm”. The gun-death number normally tossed around by the anti-gun crowd is around 30,000. That includes suicides. I may do that as well but it is a different project. Open this table. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/2tabledatadecoverviewpdf It shows the number of murders and non-negligent manslaughter events in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), cities outside MSAs, and Non-Metropolitan Counties. Please note that the MSA population account for 85% of the country. Cities outside MSAs account for 6.0% of the population Non-metro counties account for 8.9% of the population. In MSAs, the murder rates is 4.9 per 100,000, the count is 13,157 (total actually reporting) In cities outside MSAs, the murder rate is 3.8 per 100,000, the count is 668 (total actually reporting) In non-metro counties, the murder rate is 3.3 per 100,000, the count is 881 (total actually reporting) Open this table. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/6tabledatadecpdf This is every MSA city. For 2012, here are the stats for murder and non-negligent manslaughter for the cities that Sparks… Read more »
Richard. My eyes didn’t completely glaze over, so that’s something. I’m thinking, however, that if you and Hondo ever get together in one of these threads, there may be a spike in one of those CDC categories.
@18 2/17 – fair enough 🙂 But just like junior high algebra, I did show my work so y’all can look at the same pages and draw your own conclusions.
An author named Michael Siegel wrote a paper titled, “The Relationship Between Gun Ownership and Firearm
Homicide Rates in the United States, 1981–2010”. He created a computer model to predict the number of households where there are guns. His study says that as the rate of gun-owning households increases, the murder rate increases. I am reviewing it and trying to understand his math.
@19: If his computer model is as accurate as the global warming computer models, we will never know the true math. As for his conclusion of more guns = more murders, simple historical numbers can probably show it better than his computer model, since we have seen gun ownership go up and murders go down, which goes against his hypothesis.
As for “legal intervention”; that could include those turning their lives around in the home or business of someone else.
Excellent research, Richard! Very well documented and explained! That’d be an A+ in any of my books. Hooah.
😉
Didn’t see your comment before making mine, Old Trooper. Correct- Legal intervention as defined by CDC, does include those turning their lives around in homes and/or businesses of someone else.