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

[hike]

As for polling, the wording of the questions determine the response.

Many pollsters ask bloadedb questions meant to bring certain results.  I
receive a lot of polls over the phone and the pollster remains anonymous
but the first question usually reveals the survey basis.  I have
experienced 2 different surveys by 2 different companies about the same
subject and it was easy to tell the answer they wanted.  This is a
consistent problem with polls and surveysbyou can determine the answer by
the wording.

As mentioned before, people with guns have stopped answering bYes, I have a
gun at home.b  And why should they?  With the demonization of guns, the
demonization of gun owners is not so far behind.  For instance, the news
media and letters-to-the-editor-writers present the idea the gun owners are
criminals; that carry permit holders are just waiting for the opportunity
to massacre people; that all semi-automatic weapons are fully automatic
weapons; that guns that are black in color/finish are more dangerous than
guns with chrome, wood, etc.

A carry permit in my state has passed the criminal checks that a Sheriffbs
Deputy would have to take.  The carry permit holder is a demonstrated bGood
Guyb with a competent proficiency in the use of their hand gun.

The owner of a fully automatic weapon has passed local, state, and Federal
criminal checksbthe Sheriffbs check, the State Bureau of Investigation,
the
FBI and other Federal checks.  They have passed more checks than a
Sheriffbs Deputy.  The legal owner of a fully automatic weapon is a really
bGood Guyb.

The anti-gun groups portray Carry Permit holders and legal fully automatic
weapons owners as one step away from insanity and a massacre.

An anecdotal story: I was entering a gun show and another person was
leaving.  He asked the question, bHow can all of these guns be sold
illegally like this?b.  I asked him, bHow do you know these guns were
being
sold illegally?b.  He couldnbt answer my question.  My guess is that he
didnbt know the laws of the county, state, or Federal Government.  I
didnbt
either but I wasnbt making these baseless claims.  I looked around and saw
no illegal activitybthe LEOs observing didnbt seem to be worried so I
didnbt either.  (BYW, I picked up a couple of soft-sided mini brief cases.
 One that I have used over 15 years.  Gun shows have lots of cases and
stuff that work for stuff other and guns.  They can be a great resource.)


On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 11:25 AM, Lionel Peterson
<lionel4287 at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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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