this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (6 children)

72 million gun owners seems low to me...

Here's a stat that pegs the total number of guns at around 434 million and just under 20 million AR-15s.

https://www.guns.com/news/2020/11/17/data-us-has-434-million-guns-20m-ars-150m-mags

At only 72 million gun owning homes, that would mean, on average, 6 guns per gun owner?

https://americangunfacts.com/gun-ownership-statistics/

22% of gun owners have only a single firearm. So if the 72 million number is correct, that means 15,840,000 single gun owners, and the remaining 418,160,000 guns are owned by 56,160,000, or 7.45 guns per owner.

[–] Thrashy@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Sounds about right. I grew up in central Missouri, and while relatively few of my friends had guns, the one that did had a goddamn arsenal in his bedroom. Two shotguns, three rifles, and a "big" handgun that all stayed in a gun safe, and a .22 pistol he kept under the bed "for safety." And that was just his room, as a high schooler... His brother and his mother both had other weapons of their own.

Even people who are just hobby shooters or hunters rather than 2A "mah guns" weirdos like said friend was tend to accumulate weapons over time. It's like any other hobby in that regard.

[–] Bassman1805@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, there are a lot of shades of gray for multiple gun owners.

  • Own a single handgun for self defense
  • Own a single rifle for hunting
  • Own both of the above
  • Own different rifles for hunting different animals
  • Own a Shotgun for hunting birds (plus some combination of the above)
  • Own an old/historic gun more as an art piece (but it's functional if wanted)
  • Owns a fucking arsenal

Add in the fact that some people sort of end up collecting guns the way some people collect guitars...I wouldn't be so quick to turn away from the original statistic.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It would be interesting to compare gun ownership to guitar ownership, because the analogy tracks pretty well.

Some people just wanted a guitar. They might play it often, or it might sit in a closet.

Some people have specialty guitars for different reasons. An acoustic for impromptu jam sessions, an electric for band practice, a fancy guitar to play on stage, different bodies for different sounds, etc.

And some people just like collecting guitars. They have a bunch that they have acquired over the years, some favorites, some are investments, some are projects.

I would bet the distribution curve of guns per owner tracks pretty closely with the curve of guitars per owner.

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[–] HumanPenguin@lemmy.cafe 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

LHaving met a good few gun fans. Yeah 7 to 8 guns seems like a low average.

Helped a friend move from a apartment to a new house. Over 15 guns. I say over as he also had a number of parts. I do not know enough to know if complete guns could be built. Looked like a few complete guns possible to my non gun fan eyes.

This was when I lived in GA. He was not considered unusual by most of the friends helping us.

What seems less likely to me. Is all 72m around the US siding with Texas.

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[–] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago (15 children)

This idea that the US military is just gonna bomb Houston without the people in the Air Force saying, hey, wait a minute, I've got family there, is just stupid. If you think that US Civil War Part II is going to be over quickly and easily, without the same kind of grind that we had the first time, well, I've got some bad news for you.

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[–] doctorcrimson@lemmy.today 14 points 1 year ago

72M? The fuq? Where is that number coming from? They can't even get support from more than 15 (some of the least populated) states in the USA, and as a resident of one of those states they definitely aren't unanimous for fucking Treason.

If anything, I better not catch those fuckers in the street or it'll devolve into a real good guy with a gun dilemma.

[–] graycube@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Most people I know who own guns do so because they are afraid of black people. Not because they are itching to join a rebellion.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You like to hang out with white supremacists?

I know probably a hundred gun owners since I have my own range, none of them own firearms because they're afraid of black people... considering about half of them including myself are POCs...

You're statement which is false as fuck just makes you sound like a racist.

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[–] capital@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

The US did famously well against groups with just guns and IEDs.

That stint in the Middle East was a quick 20 min adventure.

[–] commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Vietnam turned out to just be a tropical vacation.

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