An Expat Brit Analyzes America's Gun Culture

freelibertywriters.com ^ | 23 April, 2012 | Bruce Krafft

[Vanders9]

That may have been true in the past, but with unemployment reaching 10%+, being a good boy, being literate, trying hard and being prepared to swallow your pride and accepting low grade work as a first rung up may not be enough these days. The US is no longer the "land of opportunity". Ask all those mexicans skedadling back south.

And its going to get worse. Especially if Obama gets reelected.

[Hodar]

There is nothing to indicate that a non-gun household would be any larger, or smaller than a household with guns. Thus, if all households (gun and non-gun holder) are about the same size, and each household has 4 guns; this does not work out anywhere near 90% of the population having a gun.

The numbers are wildly different than what the author is alledging. I submit that the true number of guns per American is somewhere between 38 and 90%; probably close to the 60-75% range.

[Sudetenland]

Bull crap! Each person is responsible for how he acts. One commits an act of unwarranted violence, because he chooses to do so. There can be no justification or external "cause."

A person acts as he does, because he makes a choice; poverty is not a causal condition . . . most poor people live their entire lives without committing a violent crime.

[PeterPrinciple]

It’s not that hard.

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We all manage the past. The govt is involved in EVERYTHING now days. It is HARD.

[Vanders9]

But why do they make a choice like that?

if you are poor, and you don't like it (and who would) violence is an easy and attractive short cut option to alter the situation. If you are comfortably well off, there is no need to stick a gun in someone's face to get enough cash to buy a big mac. It's too big a risk for too small a reward. Desperate people do desperate things.

Of course, these things are relative. No one in the US is really poor, not by world standards of poverty. But then poverty comes in different shades. The real poverty is in the mind. These people's material needs are mostly met by a generous welfare system, but only at the cost of their psychological wellbeing. Because they do not earn what they spend, there is this chronic ennui, a lack of self worth, a lack of simply caring about anything. Many of them commit crime for kicks. Because they are bored. Such is the burden socialism lays upon its votaries.

[Vanders9]

The author is only using the only figures that are available. As many have pointed out, many folk will refuse to tell pollsters how many guns they have, or even whether they have any at all. Anyway, there may very well be more than four guns per household. The simple fact is we really dont know, and frankly, if you want to keep the government honest, perhaps that's the way it should be.

For what its worth, I think your ball park figure is probably more accurate.

[Hodar]

If my guess is in the ballpark (60-75%), which is simply based upon my personal experience - this also includes guns that have never been fired (collectors items) and antique guns. For example, I just spent a couple weeks re-polishing the stock on my Grandfathers Montgomery Ward’s 1938 bolt action .22 rifle. I got a little carried away, I had the trigger guard, stock butt, mounting bold and screws all plated (Bronze colored to look gold), 12 layers of Linseed oil/varnish on that.

Kinda amazing what an old walnut stock can look like with a little elbow grease and time. I didn’t touch the barrel or workings - and didn’t polish out the various dings on the stock. It’s 75 yrs old and deserves the battle scars it’s had, being the first rifle that taught 3 (going on 4)generations how to shoot safely.

There are quite a few guns out there that are old, and are kept for purely sentimental reasons. Some still shoot (like mine) while others no longer work and are just treasured momentos.

However, if SHTF and communities needed to “arm up”, I think everyone would be surprised at the number of guns that would appear out of the woodwork.