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Is Gun Ownership on the Decline?

Is gun ownership on decline in the United States? You’d be hard pressed to make that argument to someone who has been to a gun show lately, or to someone who waded through the swarm of red bags and milk crates at SHOT Show, or even to someone that has been shopping for .22 LR ammunition online.

I mean, .22 LR ammo has become so scarce that we’re approaching pro-liberty-Democrat levels of rare – we know there’s some out there, we just can’t find it. Is there a supply problem? Most definitely. But there’s also significant demand…

In the latest video from NRA News commentator Billy Johnson, he talks about the alleged decline of gun ownership. Is it real, and more importantly, does it matter?

Last spring, the New York Times published an article that touted a four-decade-long decline in gun ownership. This article is often used by gun control advocates to argue that reasonable gun control is being blocked by a small, but vocal minority. It’s based on data from the 2012 General Social Survey that shows gun ownership in the U.S. has declined from 49 percent of households owning a gun in 1973 to 34 percent in 2012.

Watch below.

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7 Responses to Is Gun Ownership on the Decline?

  1. Brandon P. January 22, 2014 at 11:13 am #

    Billy is awesome! I appreciate his logic and ability to express the pro 2A view. I have used his arguments when talking with people who are open to hearing both sides of the debate.

  2. Hillbilly Bob January 22, 2014 at 11:16 am #

    Well I know gun ownership isn’t on a decline where I live, of course I live out in the sticks and giving guns to kids for Christmas is still alive and well around me
    I think hunting is on a decline because people have a hard time finding a place to hunt and if their family doesn’t own the land they are pretty much out of luck
    I let my kid’s friends hunt on my land but they are all older now, some have moved on and can’t find a spot to hunt and I know those kids aren’t buying guns
    As for non hunters I know quite a bit of them buy guns a few times a year

  3. dgdimick January 22, 2014 at 11:39 am #

    I no longer hunt, haven’t for 20+ years, however, I’ve bought more guns in the past 10 years then in the 20 years before; no I don’t own a Glock.

    As for the “2012 General Social Survey”, who tells people that they own guns now days? With the fear, rightfully so, of the Government keeping tabs on everything, who wants to tell them if you own a gun?

    Surveys are worthless.

  4. Geoff January 22, 2014 at 12:39 pm #

    The left is manipulating the numbers. By percentage it would appear to be declining, but it is not. The number of households owning guns is increasing, just not as fast as the total number of households.
    Actually there was no 4 decade decline, there was a gradual rise until the 2000s when it went down by about 5 million if you look at the NUMBERS as a percentage of households.
    http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005055.html
    Averaging the years posted.

    1970s – 50% = 33,630,250 (Average – 67,260,500)
    1980’s – 49% = 41,053,425 (Average – 83,782,500)
    1990s – 43% = 43,519,182 (Average – 101,207,400)
    2000s – 35% = 39,041,800 slight drop (Average – 111,548,000)
    Approximate households in 2012 = 126,000,000. Rate was about 2 million/year after ’07
    2012 – 34% = 42,840,000 Big jump since obama was elected
    Estimate 128,000,000 households for 2013.
    2013 – 39% = 49,920,000 Even bigger jump

  5. hardh8 January 22, 2014 at 3:49 pm #

    Yes I do own a glock and it’s not for hunting. At least not hunting animals. By the way, it’s not just 22 that’s hard to find. Try buying 357 magnum lately?

  6. Moon@VigiTac January 23, 2014 at 4:39 pm #

    I’d like to see the NICS checks data for the same time frame they are referring to

  7. Geoff January 26, 2014 at 11:19 pm #

    NICS Data Nov. 1998 to Dec. 2013
    http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/reports/1998_2013_monthly_yearly_totals-123113.pdf