Yet another mass shooting - grim

red_harrington said:
Just got back from Austin. An oasis in gun-slingin' Texas territory. At the car rental don't make the mistake I made where they upsold me a $14.99 daily fee for toll roads - there are very few toll roads and those that are just cost a dollar or two!!

Other than that I can say there are plenty of Americans who agree the gun issue is absurd, just like we do.

The only solution, which sadly won't happen, is for the American political system to change in such a way that the NRA ceases to fund the Republicans. Only then can politicians change ownership laws.
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Agree about Austin - fantastic city and proud to be different.
 
Soutra said:
It's absolutely correct. All the guns are owned by less than 30% of the population.
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Not sure when that figure is from, but I think it may be higher than that now.

Firstly, as of November, 2020:

Thirty-two percent of U.S. adults say they personally own a gun ...
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https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx

And then:

from March 2020 to March 2022, according to NORC at the University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research institution [...] one in 20 Americans purchased a gun for the first time ...
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Which means an additional 5% bought guns in that period.

A nation rocked by mass shootings goes on an extended gun-buying run

There's no reason to think that the levels of gun ownership have fallen since March 2022, especially since many different articles point to a continuing rise in sales.

So by now I reckon the number of individuals owning guns in the US must be closer to 40%.
 
Liamo said:
Not sure when that figure is from, but I think it may be higher than that now.

Firstly, as of November, 2020:


https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx

And then:



Which means an additional 5% bought guns in that period.

A nation rocked by mass shootings goes on an extended gun-buying run

There's no reason to think that the levels of gun ownership have fallen since March 2022, especially since many different articles point to a continuing rise in sales.

So by now I reckon the number of individuals owning guns in the US must be closer to 40%.
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If you look at the stats by Pew, Harvard and other research organisations, the number of individuals owning guns is declining. Some estimates reckon it's about 22% now. The number of households with access to a gun is declining, down from 40% to 36%. Those two stats tie in.

The number of guns is increasing, enormously. It's not a proportionate spread - the north east states have low gun ownership. The highest are rural states, like Montana and Wyoming, and the southern states. Some people in some states are buying more and more guns.

Most likely to be involved in gun crime are black people - either as perpetrators or victims. More than half of all shootings involve back people, although the black population is 12% of the total. Hispanic groups are next most likely to be involved, with 17% of the population and 25% of the gun incidents.

It's complex.
 
Soutra said:
If you look at the stats by Pew, Harvard and other research organisations, the number of individuals owning guns is declining. Some estimates reckon it's about 22% now. The number of households with access to a gun is declining, down from 40% to 36%. Those two stats tie in.

The number of guns is increasing, enormously. It's not a proportionate spread - the north east states have low gun ownership. The highest are rural states, like Montana and Wyoming, and the southern states. Some people in some states are buying more and more guns.

Most likely to be involved in gun crime are black people - either as perpetrators or victims. More than half of all shootings involve back people, although the black population is 12% of the total. Hispanic groups are next most likely to be involved, with 17% of the population and 25% of the gun incidents.

It's complex.
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Even at your most extreme estimates it still equates to over 100million people owning guns. Which is just insane. And provably, clearly insane given all the mass shootings.
 
SmallTown said:
Even at your most extreme estimates it still equates to over 100million people owning guns. Which is just insane. And provably, clearly insane given all the mass shootings.
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The issue isn't that people can own guns. If you live rurally it's probably sensible to have a gun. They have several wild animals that can kill you.

The issue is the lack of gun control.
 
Soutra said:
That's tosh. 70% of American adults don't own a gun.
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Who mentioned what percentage of Americans owned guns?

More gun ownership now than 20 year ago - 100% correct

Americans made up 4 percent of the world's population but owned about 46 percent of the entire global stock of 857 million civilian firearms."[9] U.S civilians own 393 million guns. American civilians own more guns "than those held by civilians in the other top 25 countries combined."[1
 
And statistically, if 30% of the entire popuation owned guns thats pretty much every single household has guns in it , or at least a ridiculously high percentage
 
SmallTown said:
Even at your most extreme estimates it still equates to over 100million people owning guns. Which is just insane. And provably, clearly insane given all the mass shootings.
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If gun ownership is 25% of the 337 million population, that would be less than 100 million gun owners by some margin. It's still too high of course.

In 25 years of living and working in the US, I was not affected by any gun incident, nor did I know anyone who was. I don't know of any friends or acquaintances who own a gun. I'm sure there are some, but guns are not the obvious feature of day to day life that you would expect from the bald stats.
 
I have lived in the US for the past 20 years and never met anyone with a gun or even seen a gun, other than in gun stores. I live in a town around size of Norton with 32 full time police officers, my daughter’s school has a designated police patrol to keep an eye on activity every day. I certainly don’t feel in anymore danger here than I would if I lived back in the UK.
 
Soutra said:
If gun ownership is 25% of the 337 million population, that would be less than 100 million gun owners by some margin. It's still too high of course.

In 25 years of living and working in the US, I was not affected by any gun incident, nor did I know anyone who was. I don't know of any friends or acquaintances who own a gun. I'm sure there are some, but guns are not the obvious feature of day to day life that you would expect from the bald stats.
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I knew lots of people who had guns when I lived in Texas but not one used other than the few I knew that used them to shoot animals.

I'm not sure what the fascination is with them but once in the wrong hands immense damage can be done, and is on a regular basis.

You hear the protection argument all of the time but I haven't heard of a lunatic gunman being shot at by anyone other than the police.
 
xboro said:
I have lived in the US for the past 20 years and never met anyone with a gun or even seen a gun, other than in gun stores. I live in a town around size of Norton with 32 full time police officers, my daughter’s school has a designated police patrol to keep an eye on activity every day. I certainly don’t feel in anymore danger here than I would if I lived back in the UK.
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Interesting point. I wonder if the Sandy Hook families felt safe before that event, I'm not sure if they had any active/armed security at the time and what difference that might have made. It took police 10 minutes to arrive after it all started.

I've visited the US many many times and never given it a thought apart from one time I was in an outside hot tub by the pool of our hotel and a young couple on spring break pulled out a gun from a hand bag - that was uncomfortable to say the least!
 
italianjob said:
Interesting point. I wonder if the Sandy Hook families felt safe before that event, I'm not sure if they had any active/armed security at the time and what difference that might have made. It took police 10 minutes to arrive after it all started.

I've visited the US many many times and never given it a thought apart from one time I was in an outside hot tub by the pool of our hotel and a young couple on spring break pulled out a gun from a hand bag - that was uncomfortable to say the least!
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The security around schools was increased significantly after Sandy Hook and of course nowhere is completely safe, but all the pupils know the officers are there to keep on eye on them and the school does feel secure.
 
Soutra said:
If gun ownership is 25% of the 337 million population, that would be less than 100 million gun owners by some margin. It's still too high of course.

In 25 years of living and working in the US, I was not affected by any gun incident, nor did I know anyone who was. I don't know of any friends or acquaintances who own a gun. I'm sure there are some, but guns are not the obvious feature of day to day life that you would expect from the bald stats.
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You think that 199 mass shootings this year are acceptable?
 
xboro said:
The security around schools was increased significantly after Sandy Hook and of course nowhere is completely safe, but all the pupils know the officers are there to keep on eye on them and the school does feel secure.
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You know what else would make a school feel secure? Knowing you could when it and not be shot with an automatic rifle
 
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