The real number of guns in this country....

[Drummerboy2277]

Ok so in talking with my father and uncles the other night, ( all are law enforcement officials) I asked about the 300 million firearms in America number and they started laughing their asses off, when I asked why they were laughing my uncle said it was because prior to the 1968 gun control act there wasn't really any number of firearms kept, you could buy brought mail order, my father remembers going down to a surplus place in the 1950's and buying rifles and handguns for under 10.00 cash... So what they're saying and I do believe them is here are 300 million guns in circulation since we started counting in 1968. There really is more like 1-3 billion arms in the country.... And a good bit of em are from pre 1968,,,,, Now that's a scary number....

[SamKnause]

1. Guns

Just curious, does the number include guns owned or used by law enforcement, security and military ?

[Drummerboy2277]

6. Nope...

That number is just what's in private hands..... I once knew ur old mailman 20 years ago and when he died they found over 300 handguns alne just in his house.... Not counting rifles etc.... My father for instance has 6 rifles 1 shotgun and a few handguns all bought in the late 50's early 60's there's no record of those are there.... Nope.... The new revolver he bought in 1970 there's a record of though...... He'll his shotgun he bought in the 50's doesn't even have a serial number as a lot of shotguns and rifles weren't required to have serial numbers prior to 1964.... So 300 million known and I'd conservatively estimate another 500 to 700 million just sitting in the backs of closets, sock drawers! Hidden in walls, ceilings, safety deposit boxes, safes, etc and have been there for years. Decades, maybe even a century now.....

[SamKnause]

8. Guns

Thanks for the clarification about what was included in the numbers count.

You are correct many people in the U.S. own more then one gun.

I personally know many people who own multiple guns.

I started to list them and then thought that was not a good idea.

[lapfog_1]

2. sorry, doesn't pass the math test

there are 320 million people in the US, including children and the elderly.

many of us do not own a single firearm.

I would guess at most, 20 percent of the population might own a firearm... or 64 m... now to get to some number over 1.2 billion... each firearm owner would have to own around 20 weapons.

There are people that collect, some that might collect a lot... but I don't believe that 20 percent of all Americans of EVERY AGE group individually own an AVERAGE of 20 weapons.

[Jenoch]

3. I have never heard of

a figure as low as 20% used when estimating the percentage of Americans who own at least one firearm.

[lapfog_1]

40. percentage of households that own guns

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/31/politics/gun-ownership-declining

[Jenoch]

42. You need to re-read the information contained in your link.

Your source said 32% of American households had at least one gun. Meanwhile, you claimed that, at most, 20% of the TOTAL POPULATION might own a firearm. You don't seem to understand what it is you are writing or reading. You seem to be grabbing numbers out of the air, similar to what the OP may have done.

This is my opinion, but I believe that the percentage of households with at least one firearm is greater than 32%. I think that people are not responding truthfully to the questions they are getting regarding firearms ownership. If anyone asked my about the guns I owned I know I would tell the m I did not own any. (And I only own eight guns.)

[flamin lib]

4. Actually, 20 per owner sounds about right. Fewer people owning more guns

each. I'm not that avid of a collector and I own 15. Down from 17 after I had my two semi-auto pistols destroyed.

There are paranoid survivalist types who have that many AR15s plus a bunch of handguns.

Scarey, huh.

[madinmaryland]

13. That does not surprise me. A very close friend in CT where I used to live had at least 15 firearms.

That was in Connecticut. He had them until they were taken away after they was a "domestic violence" incident. No one would have known that he had that amount of an arsenal, except for the squirrels that kept getting into his house.

He is no longer living (as are a lot of squirrels).

[oldhippie]

39. I'm down to 23 myself, ......

.... and that's not as many as a lot of my friends here in Texas. But I only have 5 AR type rifles.

[doc03]

5. I have 11 myself and I don't care that much about having any. I sold several guns

and just came on 6 more when my brother passed away. I would bet there are closer to a billion than 300 million.

[rdharma]

7. 310 million PRVATELY OWNED firearms in America

That's not counting what the military and police have.

[SamKnause]

9. Guns 3

Wouldn't the 310 million count only represent guns that are registered ?

[rdharma]

11. No. That's the estimated total of privately owned firearms in the US

Alpers, Philip and Marcus Wilson. 2013. Guns in the United States: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law.Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. GunPolicy.org

[billh58]

10. According to the FBI...

"The FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US. If you add those owned by the military, law enforcement agencies and museums, there is probably about 1 gun per person in the country."

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_guns_are_in_the_united_states_of_America

There may be more relics and rusty old non-functioning guns, but I doubt seriously that there is anywhere close to a billion functioning guns on the entire North American continent.

[rdharma]

12. "about 1 gun per person in the country" sounds about right.

Way way more privately owned firearms in the US than the military and law enforcement numbers combined.

[JohnnyBoots]

14. American gun owners are

the largest army in the world. How you like them apples?

[rdharma]

15. Army? My ass!

You've been watching "Red Dawn" too much!

[JohnnyBoots]

16. My point is

That it would be much easier to round up all the gun grabbers, than it would be for the gun grabbers to round up all the guns in the nation.

[rdharma]

17. I don't think the gun owners could put up much resistance against the military.

And only crazy gun owners would even contemplate such thing. In fact, they even sound crazy when they talk about it.

[JohnnyBoots]

18. Your

side is the one advocating kicking in the doors of law abiding American citizens and seizing their property and violating their rights. Why do you assume that the millitary and police would support your side that is in violation of the Bill of Rights? Millitary and police like guns and they support the Second Amendment. Half of the gun grabbers do not even know how various firearms operate, let alone how to use them effectively. If we ever wanted to kick in your door and violate your rights, our side would be much more effective at it. You're lucky we respect the Constitution and the rule of law.

[rdharma]

19. I'm not advocating kicking in doors or seizing any property....

Your paranoid fears are unfounded and your delusional belief that you could hold off any military or police force with your pea shooters is delusional.

Do you wonder why people think folks who voice such "Red Dawn" fantasies are nuggin futz?!! Jeesh!

[Ikonoklast]

20. Is that why members of "our side" call for violence against others?

"Second amendment remedies"?

Advocating for the political assasination of those that disagree with them?

Remember that?

Those are the type of people you are sticking up for on "my side".

You people are a threat to Democracy.

And as far as "You're lucky we respect the Constitution and the rule of law", that is just about the dumbest thing ever posted by a Gunner.

People on "my side", the so-called "law-abiding gun owners" turn violent and commit crimes or kill using with firearms every single day of the year.

[JohnnyBoots]

21. You're putting words in my mouth.

Having no repect for the Bill of Rights is a threat to Democracy. You're side does not value democracy. Your gun grabbing attempts were defeated in the Senate by a democratic process and yet you still continue to piss and moan.

Yes, it's the 'law abiding gun owners' who are the real threats, not the criminals who do not follow laws. Please tell me again how well the stringent gun laws in Mass., DC, and Chicago work. Arlington, VA should be a warzone by that logic. Passing feel good BS laws that only paint over the real issues is no solution.

[Ikonoklast]

22. Your NRA talking points are lame and stale.

No right is absolute, not one on the enumerated rights is an absolute right, the USSC tells you what your rights are.

And that interpretation is subject to change.

[Ikonoklast]

24. Without the NRA buying votes, gun control loses big in this country. Period.

And the tide of history as well as the popular sentiment is against your "side".

You display Tribalism at its' finest.

USSC will change, and then get back to me when it does...will you remain a 'law-abiding gun owner', or decide to become a criminal?

[premium]

25. I'm just curious,

what leads you to believe that the SCOTUS will revisit or re-interpret the 2A?

[Ikonoklast]

26. History. The courts reflect the values of the times, lagging by twenty years or so.

Mostly due to the entrenched attitudes of its elderly members, who then get replaced as they die off.

[premium]

27. What you say may or may not be true,

but the SCOTUS is usually loathe to reverse itself, case in point, the conservative wing of the SC has had ample time to reverse Roe v Wade, and yet, haven't done so.

I have my doubts that future justices will reverse the rulings of Heller or McDonald, they usually don't like messing with settled law, but I've been known to be wrong before.
Time will tell.

[Ikonoklast]

29. Most people fail to realize that this court is the most radical one we have had in years.

Or exactly just how anti-individual rights they actually are.

If the Right saw individual ownership of firearms as a threat to their stranglehold on political power in this country, that would be re-visited in a heartbeat.

Don't ever think it won't change.

They will use gun ownership as an issue only as long as it is useful in attaining their goals, and those that fail to see that they are being used are either politically myopic, or just fools.

[premium]

31. Trust me,

I'm not thinking it won't ever change, I'm just expressing my doubts due to the history of the SC.

I do agree with you on the RW'ers that they would throw the RKBA under the bus in a heartbeat if it threatened their hold on power.

Thanks for the reasonable answers, very refreshing.

[JohnnyBoots]

28. You have a

multi-billionaire on your side. The gun control crowd has much more money than the NRA. Using Sandy Hook parents as lobbyists is cost effective, I'll give you that. Did you ever think that the Senators did their job, by voting how their constituents wanted them to? A Frank Luntz focus group is more believable than your 90% poll.

The SCOTUS is there to do a job, not re-write policy with gun control bias. There is no gaurantee that they would revisit the 2nd after Heller. You can never count on a Justice to go one way or the other. Roberts backing the ACA? Who saw that coming? Why are you so excited to turn law abiding Americans into criminals because you disagree with them? How very tolerant of you.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Gish Gallop.

[JohnnyBoots]

32. Is

that Swedish for 'NRA Talking Point' or a fancy way of calling bullsh!t?

[Paladin]

33. Why don't you stop embarrassing yourself? (nt)

[JohnnyBoots]

34. Are you trying to shame me into

being quiet and not making points that your side has trouble answering? Seem to be a standard tactic for you lot.

[Paladin]

35. Rave on. Be my guest.

I'm used to giving good advice to pro-gun militants with the expectation that it will probably be ignored.....

[billh58]

36. You have the gall to bring

that NRA apologist, Gungeon-spewing bullshit to this Group! You and your NRA right-wing huggers-in-arms are about as lame as it gets in this country.

Now run on back to the Gungeon and brag about how you really told off those "grabbers" Bubba. Change is coming in this country whether your kind like it or not.

[ellisonz]

41. ^^^^

Blocked

[billh58]

37. And if they all

Last edited Thu Apr 25, 2013, 09:52 PM - Edit history (1)

thought and acted like you, we would be in big trouble, but fortunately Bubba they don't. Not even the majority of them. You and the "cold dead hands" NRA Gun huggers are the real menace to our society, and most sane American gun owners know that.

Now run along and go pet your precious gun, Bubba...

[billh58]

38. Except for the fact

that they are nowhere near organized, or trained, or "well-regulated." On top of that, American gun owners are not ALL fucking gun nuts, and don't advocate the overthrow of the US government because some NRA asswipe deems it "necessary."

Most American gun owners are reasonable, normal citizens, who do not run around shouting "they're coming for my gunz, so let's buy more ammunition."

World's largest army my ass. Keep on dreaming Bubba, but you and your right-wing, NRA-indoctrinated, Gungeon buddies are pretty much in the minority, and reasonable gun control regulation will happen. Deal with it.