How many gun owners are there???\
NOT ENOUGH!!!!

"How many gun owners are there?"

More than they will ever know!

I will bet there are more guns in possession of the American people from long before they ever thought about registering them.

I specifically bought several inexpensive and easy to use rifles to make them available to my neighbors in case of need. In case of need, I may be as effective as 5 or 10.

when they asked the Japanese Generals why they did not invade the west coast after Pear Harbor, they referred to the millions of guns in the U.S as the primary factor in staying away...

More than anyone knows. Just as people were less than forthcoming about their alcohol during prohibition, so too, people will avoid disclosure of any controversial material in their possession.

Okay, I went to the article and actually read it (most of it), and some of their numbers are correct, or at least in the right ballpark. For example, they claim the total population of the USA is 319 million. I have heard elsewhere that 320 million is close, so I agree with 319. Of course, with all the illegals streaming into this country, that number is a snapshot in time; its continually increasing. They then claim that the percentage of Americans owning firearms has decreased from 25% to 22%. This figure is TOTAL FAKE NEWS! Multiplying 319 x 0.22 = 70.18. When I was in grade school (back in the 1960s), I remember hearing that there were 63 million gun owners in the country. But, back then, the total population was only around 200 million. As the years went by, that 63 million gun owners figure steadily increased (right along with the overall population). Back in the 1990s, the NRA claimed that there were over 90 million gun owners, and with all the NEW first-time gun owners who have entered the market (in response to gun control scares from both Clinton and Obama), the number of gun owners has increased to well over 100 million. Of course, we really don't know that number all that well precisely because we have no "universal" gun registration, at least that is uniform over the whole country. New Jersey probably has a better handle on how many people own guns than does the state of Alaska. Its also hard to define how many gun owners there are. For example, if a married man has a gun in his house, is his wife considered a gun owner too? Even though she may never have fired it? If they were victim of a home invasion and the husband is killed by the creep, will the wife take the gun and kill the intruder? And, of course, there are tens of millions of children (under 18) included in that 319 million Americans (how many? - 30-40 million?). Yes, some gun owners have "many" guns. Some have only 1. In any large population, there is a distribution. What numbers do I believe? I'll admit to 320 million citizens, out of which there are 30 million under 18. So, 100 million gun owners divided by (320-30=290) million adults, gives a percentage of 34%. I have also heard there are around 300 million privately-owned firearms in the country. That would imply an average number of guns per gun owner of 3 (not the 8 or so claimed in the article). The political spin of this article wants its readers to believe that sure, gun sales are way up, but its only the same gun owners who are buying ever more guns because they're paranoid over the liberal gun control agenda. The truth is that there really are many new gun owners in this country. The whole "gun community" (and industry) knows this. Firearms safety instruction, concealed-carry classes, etc., are seeing a tremendous upsurge in first-time buyers who want to train in the use of their new firearms. The "gun industry" (like any other business), wants to grow, and they have recently (in the last 10-15 years or so) discovered - WOMEN! Twenty years ago, you would NEVER see pink camo and pink gun stocks! But, girls like pink, and a lot of women have discovered that they enjoy the shooting sports (and even hunting!) just like their husbands, fathers, brothers, etc. The fact that there are many new gun owners is also supported by the recent ammunition shortages in sporting goods stores. Long-time gun owners already know how to shoot, and don't go out shooting as much. New gun owners are enthusiastic about learning to shoot for the first time, and so the demand for ammo is expanding faster than the makers can keep up.

Perhaps the people that do the research are big city folks. I moved to a more rural area a year ago and can't even find anyone that doesn't own several. Many carry for the protection against wildlife, or so they say. In all honesty, I did meet one person that told me he didn't own one, but wanted a recommendation on what to buy.

Most states have a restriction that a gun dealer can only sell to the owner-to-be and must collect information from that person. It is prohibited to sell a gun as a gift at this point in time. A gift card is suggested by most gun dealers. If the buyer states that it will be gifted, they can be fined.

78% of US Citizens are going to be in real trouble when they need it. 78% of the citizens also will have a problem if someone breaks in. It also means there are an awful lot of people who have a lot of guns. Good for them.

I have no idea where or how they arrived at this 22% quanity. Just on it's face, that seems very low and considering the source, suspect.

The only solid percentage I can assign to that number is that 100% of my personal friends and family who can legally own guns, do own guns. The exceptions being a uncle who was involved in a moonshine problem 40 years ago and most of the kids under 12 of age.

In America, enough to make the corrupt Govt, and world, shit themselves.

Why do they think the numbers matter? They are worried about gun crime. But it seems obvious that the criminal with gun in hand does not decide to commit violence because other citizens have too many guns in their possession.

Yeah, I thinking that number is a bit under the actual number. I would garner an estimate of closer to 550 plus million guns. And Gun ownership did NOT decrease in 2016. I myself added a few more to my collection. I guess I would be one of those super-owners. Of course that nagging question of how many more guns can they afford to buy? Well, all I WANT! In fact Saturday I get to go pick out two new Glocks.

We DO NOT like answering surveys and I find the type of people that do, usually do not tell the truth anyway.

The answer to your question of as far as need goes, I don't need this many I just like guns. According to Fortune, the average "super-owner" owns 17 guns already, and here you have to ask yourself "why?" BECAUSE WE CAN and yes I have more than 17....DUH!! Heck, take my employees, alone I know that each one of them have at least 10 or more and my business is not gun related. I know in Oregon alone well over 200k were sold in 2015.

I know for a fact in my little town that a LOT of people that have never owned a gun bought more than one in 2016. Surveys, got to hate them...

Indeterminate.

Fuzzy Factor #1 - How many guns are there in the US. The have squishy numbers on how many were sold in America. Squishy because that does not mean they stayed here for 1, no good numbers on guns destroyed or lost for 2, and imports from outside are not and never will be fully documented.

Fuzzy Effect 1 - increases possible ceiling of gun owners.

Fuzzy Factor #2 - How many gun owners have more than 1 gun. What is the norm or average count for their guns.

Fuzzy Effect #2 - Decreases total of gun owners

22%? About as accurate as Obamas performance numbers. http://www.starznbarz.com/Photography...

I don't know, but I once heard that every time you hear a bell ring (in the sporting goods store), a citizen gets his gun (or was it, an angel get its wings?).

I doubt the veracity of this article. What really matters is that there are citizens buying guns and ammo.So long the industry is doing well with introducing new firearms and ammo to the market place everything is fine. Out there right now are 10mm handguns and 6mm bore rifles. Also, copper composite bullets, and other varieties of new style ammo. The industry is far from quiescent. I, myself am looking to purchase a Rough Rider western style revolver, a derringer, some type of rifle. I already have a variety of different handguns.

I don't have reason to doubt these findings. I for one have 36 guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. Most of the gun owners I know have many guns. I live in the extremely red state of Oklahoma, so maybe our numbers skew from other parts of the country, but from my experience, it seems to fall in line with these findings.

When I realized that the evil hag will not be Tyrant-In-Chief, me dino decided that I have more than enough of those bang-bang machines.
Gonna keep them all, though. Don't know what awaits down the road.

I cannot dispute their numbers. But, where I live, we would definitely have to have more than our share of guns and owners, making up for liberal population centers elsewhere. I am certain that this 22% will be more than willing to share with like-minded folk if they deem the cause to be worthy.

Gun sales have absolutely slowed down....I was in WalMart last week and for the first time in years they had .22 LR ammo. I have been in there when the shelves were literally bare. There was even .22 Short ammo....this has been extremely hard to find in the last 4 years. I would absolutely dump firearms stocks and prepare to by them back in 2 years, should the Democrats make any big gains in congressional elections.

I would not be surprised to find out that only 22% of Americans "Actively" own guns.....By actively I mean...I am discounting the ones that have an old shotgun in the attic. Active gun owners would be those who actually shoot at least once per year.

BS. They have no idea of the numbers of gun owners or guns. The real question is where are they trying to take the conversation by estimating such low numbers.

Well, the key to this article is the Harvard/Northwestern study. If that study is inaccurate, there are correspondingly more or less guns and/or gun owners.

I suspect that, like Heinleinian anarchists there are 'big mouthed gun owners' and 'small mouthed gun owners' (not sure if I am paraphrasing Heinlein accurately - corrections welcome); it is going to be a lot easier to count the former than the latter.

Jan

imo, most of the firearm innovation comes from smaller companies that sell more expensive and custom weapons. A downturn in the fear of confiscation under Trump will affect the big weapon companies more than the small innovators where most R & D is done.
(Just my opinion.)