Surprise: Gun ownership rises to 44% of all homes
After a steady decline in gun ownership in recent years, more homes are reporting having a weapon inside, according to a new survey.
Pew Research Center, in a poll on guns released Friday, showed that 44 percent of the country has a gun in the house. Some 51 percent don't.
To know a thing is not the same as to love or even like a thing. In fact, some take great pride in having knowledge of what they find contemptible. I can see how this might be confusing to some, however. :-)
I agree with your view, HD. I think the statistics show proof of the benefits of restrictions.
It seems Nimitz's primary concern (I welcome corrections when mistaken) is not so much the excessive incidents of murders and massacres, but the power of government against its own people as exemplified by the atrocious handling of Koresh's behaviour that led to the Waco incident - the unnecessary use of napalm against the whole group, including all the innocents. I think he has a legitimate point.
But I don't think citizens having their own arms, even powerful ones, is the right way to defend against such possible events. I do think his point deserves thinking about alternative and more effective defences.
You're in luck, Hartfire. I don't insist that everyone agree with me. Hell, I won't even judge a person's intelligence or mental health on the basis of their agreement. At least not publicly. :-)
I would suggest that any kind of discussion is currently impossible. Sides have been drawn and entrenched positions dug. No discussion on any terms will last for 30 seconds before the cry of, 'They're going to take your guns away!' goes up.
I would be surprised if attempts at voluntary schemes were not stamped on or ignored by certain states, limiting their effectiveness . So far as I can see, without government 'interference' the US is doomed to continue to suffer a lack of public safety from guns that is ironic in the extreme.
But are we thinking too much about either/or. Either we have the right (limited or not) to bear arms or we don't.
Why not think laterally? The need is self-defense. What are all the possible means of self-defense other than offensive weaponry?
To what extent could we better integrate these means into our lives?
Could we eventually become so effective at it that the perceived need for guns simply withers away?
1) That's why keeping the government out of it--especially until the disparate sides can come to some sort of concord--is critical.
2) According to the logic you've used here, ANY reduction in the number of people owning guns puts a damper on the positive feedback loop. It doesn't/wouldn't matter if all states/people didn't get on board.
Sorry, Nimitz. When I said I agreed with HD's view, I was not referring to his use of the word stupid, nor his intended target in using it.
I believe I have evidence that you're among the smartest people on this site, certainly brighter than I am.
As for mental health, a person who is insane has no sense of humour, ergo, any conclusion by others that you are not sane is unsound.
I believe the reasons behind your thoughts about our democracy are historically valid.
They might also be valid in terms of social evolution, but I'm in no position to know that.
I don't insist people agree with me either.
It's fun to throw controversial questions into the forum and see what different people's views are.
I just wish more people would share their views, rather than attacking the assumed attributes and beliefs of others. If most of us used the opportunities in the right way, we could come to understand each other much better.
Time and again I see people attacking rather than arguing their own case, and when they do, it leads me to wonder whether they themselves know why they hold the views they do.
What exactly is that?
I would suggest they do! Obama has certainly earned the title of best gun salesman since Samuel Colt.
Do you have a link showing historical statistics for gun sales?
I've had my guns for over 10 years.
Just before Obama took office, I recall going to a gun shop and the owner told me to stock up on my ammo because Obama was going to take away my guns. I've been waiting He has a little over 4 months to get cracking because nothing ever happened despite the hysterics and hyperbole from the NRA, and the right who believe that hogwash.
Obama wasn't responsible. The NRA and the gun industry are and they are reaping the profits from the suckers who bought into that narrative
1) There were some tables at the cited link. Otherwise, no. This isn't a trend I normally follow apart from noticing the irony of a sitting democratic president being a boost to gun sales. :-)
2) Time will tell if the prognostication of your gun dealer was 'hogwash,' but for me it doesn't matter. The question is whether gun enthusiasts owe Obama a debt of gratitude. I think they do--however that may have happened. His presidency has rekindled an interest in our second amendment rights, and for that I am grateful--again, however it happened.
3) True...or at least partially so. Democrats (including Obama) are partially responsible by way of their incessant rants about and obsession with 'gun control' or, as some appropriately limn it, mass disarmament.
And why is that description appropriate? Because the harder legislators make it for 'nutters' to get a gun, the harder they make it for everyone else to get a gun. There's a REASON why gun ownership has trended downward (excepting the latest 'Obama uptick') lo these many years. Guns are simply harder to get...and that has always been the objective of the left. Democrats WILL NOT STOP until the private ownership of firearms is effectively or literally banned in the United States, and by now everyone SHOULD know it.
His presidency has rekindled an interest in our second amendment rights, and for that I am grateful--again, however it happened.
With all due respect. That's totall Bull$hit.
The right began this narrative before Obama got into office. Let's be honest...
This narrative was also present when Clinton was in office. Ronald Reagan, the political Jesus of the cuckservates used the 2nd ammendment issue as a means to a way. Whether you or I feel differently, the true story is that Obama "may" have fueled the hysterics about guns being taken away, because...he's black. Yup...I said it. He's black, black, black, black...and a democrat. No one can ever convince me that many righties (or lefties for that matter) were not happy about that at all.
As for gun's being harder to get and taken away; what are you saying? That we should not make it harder or impossible for criminals, terrorists, or those who are mentally disturbed to own a firearm? What reason does the average Joe Shmoe have for a fully automatic AR15 which can shoot approximately 25 rounds in 2.5 seconds, or a 50 caliber sniper rifle???
I don't know where you live, but 25 deer is above and beyond the legal limit and shooting a rabbit or a turkey with a 50 caliber doesn't leave much meat on the bone. :)
So there is no limit on ammo? Don't they go bad like guns?
Help me out here.
1) How does having the constitutionally guaranteed (but ceaselessly threatened) right to use the same weapons which may be used against us by a criminal (or a tyrant) not equal to self defense?
2) Why shouldn't such groups be 'panicked' by the left's constant drive to disarm Americans?
3) Why is it that anyone/everyone who disagrees with leftists MUST be "poorly educated" bumpkins? Is it possible for people to disagree with you without assigning pejorative labels just like this one?
1) No one needs to 're-scare' the American people into buying more guns. Liberals are a clear enough danger as it is. They do a fine enough job of scaring those who value the right to self defense all by themselves.
2) This statement makes no sense.
3) A very rational fear if you ask me, especially given the obsession of the left to disarm the American people. No rational person believes for an instant that liberals will stop at "common sense (whatever the hell that means)" gun legislation.
4) Yes. I would strongly urge statists in both camps to quit using it. :-)
5) [The remainder of Clinton/Soros talking points don't require/deserve rebuttal.]
In a weird way, yes.
Just for the record, the AR-15 is a semi-auto, it is not"fully automatic" and I cannot pull the trigger 25 times in 2.5 seconds.
