[geeks] [rescue] Guns - what are they good for? - was Re: TME and Apple II and other Drive emulator questions.

[Lionel Peterson]

>From Gallup, 2011:

"A clear societal change took place regarding gun ownership in the early
1990s, when the percentage of Americans saying there was a gun in their home
or on their property dropped from the low to mid-50s into the low to mid-40s
and remained at that level for the next 15 years. Whether this reflected a
true decline in gun ownership or a cultural shift in Americans' willingness to
say they had guns is unclear. However, the new data suggest that attitudes may
again be changing. At 47%, reported gun ownership is the highest it has been
in nearly two decades -- a finding that may be related to Americans' dampened
support for gun-control laws. However, to ensure that this year's increase
reflects a meaningful rebound in reported gun ownership, it will be important
to see whether the uptick continues in future polling."

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/self-reported-gun-ownership-highest-1993.as
px

Compared with this from the New York Times:

"The gun ownership rate has fallen across a broad cross section of households
since the early 1970s, according to data from the General Social Survey, a
public opinion survey conducted every two years that asks a sample of American
adults if they have guns at home, among other questions."

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/us/rate-of-gun-ownership-is-down-survey-
shows.html

This article tries to resolve the conflicting reports linked above:

"The results of the GSS and Gallup polls differ by nine points, which could be
related to their respective polling methods. The GSS conducts all polls in
face to face interviews while Gallup uses phone based ones. People who might
already be reluctant to admit to owning a gun at all are likely to be even
more reluctant to do it in a face-to-face situation."

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/10/jim-barrett/mythbusting-gun-ownershi
p-decline-u-s/

Not sure where that leaves us, but I *believe* gun ownership is on the rise,
not decline based on what I've seen/read.

Lionel

> On May 21, 2014, at 10:45 AM, Andrew Jones <andrew at jones.ec> wrote:
>
>> On 05/21/2014 10:26 AM, Lionel Peterson wrote:
>> I think you may be mis-interpreting 'the number of households indicating
they
>> are gun owners in social surveys' - the respondents may not be admitting
gun
>> ownership for many reasons...
>
> The number has been changing over time. The reported rate is falling.
>
> Are you suggesting that deliberate mis-reporting has increased each decade
since the 70s?
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