Posted on 09/21/2016 8:48:21 AM PDT by richardb72
The new Harvard-Northeastern survey is very disappointing. There are two points to this survey. That the percentage of the population owning guns is falling and that a very small percent of the population is buying a huge number of guns. The new book The War on Guns has a chapter showing that both of these points are inaccurate. If one looks at all the surveys on the question of changes in gun ownership, most surveys show that gun ownership rates have been constant over time (some evidence shows that gun ownership has been increasing). A brief discussion of some of the material in the new book is provided here. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at crimeresearch.org ...
Then in the early 1900’s it was labeled as progressive.
The progressives are still here, and they call themselves Democrats.
One can never have enough guns or guitars....
Actually, yes, that is enough, if those 4,000 are (1) truthful, and (2) representative. In other words, even if they polled everyone, the results would be about the same - because in the whole population many and perhaps most gun owners would either lie or refuse to answer.
Think about my (fictional) sock drawer. It's very big and has millions of pairs of socks. If I tell you that exactly half of my socks are black and the other half are white, you would expect to get fairly close to half and half if you pulled out socks one at a time at random. If after 4,000 socks you were getting something like 90% white, you wouldn't believe my claim that half of them are black. Even with a drawer of millions of socks, you are very likely to be within 1.5% of the true proportion in a sample of 4,000. The exception is if I'm peeking before you do, and I keep saying "no, you can't look at that one" when you grab a black sock [which is what gun owners do when they lie].
.
Or toilet paper, as the people of Venezuela recently discovered.
Fabian Socialists AKA Marxists AKA Nazis AKA progressives AKA Democrats AKA the Lying Left.
.
>> “Your hoarding makes all the other guns out there even more expensive!” <<
But where else would the lazy dumb-shits that failed to buy guns before they were outlawed get a gun?
This is a public service they are performing.
.
” Heard the survey sample was 4000. Is that really enough to draw any conclusion other than the propaganda point which was intended?
Actually, yes, that is enough, if those 4,000 are (1) truthful, and (2) representative. In other words, even if they polled everyone, the results would be about the same - because in the whole population many and perhaps most gun owners would either lie or refuse to answer.
Think about my (fictional) sock drawer. It’s very big and has millions of pairs of socks. If I tell you that exactly half of my socks are black and the other half are white, you would expect to get fairly close to half and half if you pulled out socks one at a time at random. If after 4,000 socks you were getting something like 90% white, you wouldn’t believe my claim that half of them are black. Even with a drawer of millions of socks, you are very likely to be within 1.5% of the true proportion in a sample of 4,000. The exception is if I’m peeking before you do, and I keep saying “no, you can’t look at that one” when you grab a black sock [which is what gun owners do when they lie]. “
Tracking with the excellent “sock drawer” analogy. Just not sure there is such a poll or survey where the sample is truthful and representative....not these days. In the main, the issue at hand is VERY controversial (for now), and frankly, among firearms owners, it is seldom appropriate to ask “...how many do you have?” If the subject weren’t contentious, say how many pets, or fishing rods, or televisions, the results from 4k folk might be closer to correct. With the subject being firearms ownership, there are doubts about bias, agenda, ultimate goals etc.
Appreciate the time spent on the reply!
KYPD
That’s like having an Easy Bake oven in your kitchen to feed your family of six! Shameful.
Fabian Socialists AKA Marxists AKA Nazis AKA progressives AKA Democrats AKA the Lying Left.
You are right, but a larger sample size will not help at all with dishonest responses or with refusal to respond.
This is the fundamental weakness of polling sensitive topics (a category that may include voting for Trump this year). In one of my favorite stupid surveys, on teen sex, the survey designers decided in the late 1970s that it was inappropriate for adults to ask teens that question, so they asked just over 1,000 parents whether their teens were having sex. Their conclusion based on the response was, of course, that very few teens were actually having sex. Sample size would not solve the problem in that survey either, of course.
Yes - the problem is that it’s a major load of tendentious bullsh*t.
Only 17 guns?
Why would someone have only 17 guns?
“Fear the man who only owns one gun, he probably knows how to use it!!!”
That’s quite an interesting essay. I wish I were at home, on a real computer and a decent internet connection, to follow up on it. BFL, hopefully I will.
If it came out of Harvard, it’s a turd...ignore it.
Actually, the snowflakes in ‘college’ are calling themselves ‘progressives’. FORWARD!
It is an interesting and timely essay.
The author connects a lot of dots re where this left wing bs comes from and from who.
I have dealt with the Ivy League back stabbers for decades, and knowing how lethal they can be to good work forces.
The essay clears up why and how these bastards do what they do to the rest of us.
Who answers a survey like that anyway?
If your sock drawer is sampled randomly, then the percentage white versus black should be even, but political polls often seem to be non random samples according to the desired conclusion, from my observations.
Permit classes and “firearms safety courses” are packed with first-time owners.
And who in their right mind would add their status to a federal database disguised as a survey?
Of course, when a drunk driver kills another, it’s the driver’s fault, not the car’s. Go figure. If gun control is needed, it starts with the politicians and judges, not the US citizen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.