nadinbrzezinski (142,057 posts)
I have been thinking on why Gun Owners are becoming increasingly defensive
again, looking at facts... sorry... I do not pull this out of thin air.
Gun owners are right now a large minority, but a minoroty nonetheless, in the United States. Most of the owners tend to be older and live in rural areas, both demographics are on the wane, so the percentage of gun owners has been trending down, and now it is around 33 percent nationally. No not me saying it, here from PEW.
Overall, about a third of all Americans with children under 18 at home have a gun in their household, including 34% of families with children younger than 12. That’s nearly identical to the share of childless adults or those with older children who have a firearm at home.
The new research also suggests a paradox: While blacks are significantly more likely than whites to be gun homicide victims, blacks are only about half as likely as whites to have a firearm in their home (41% vs. 19%). Hispanics are less likely than blacks to be gun homicide victims and half as likely as whites to have a gun at home (20%).
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/15/the-demographics-and-politics-of-gun-owning-households/
The data reveals other interesting points, More owners will live in the country side, but both rural populations and older populations are waning. There is more... the country is becoming MORE DIVERSE... so it is inevitable that this trend will continue and we will have l less and less actual gun owners. (The talking point of uncontrolled ownership is just not real). Now that does not mean that those who still have guns will not buy more. They in fact are buying more, so gun ownership is getting cncentrated... but this also means that as a GROUP the NRA is likely going to wane in their power to scare your legislator as years go by, and more regulations will be put in place. Why they are becoming more shrill and loud. They can read polls and statistics with the rest of us.
There is also a cultural change that is happening right under our noses, and has been going on for the least decade or so (my opinion it as already generational)... and it is just accelerating. This is going to become less and less acceptable to younger urban populations who's only contact with a gun, for real, is a first person shooter, or the side arm on the cop's holster. Otherwise these are strange devices that are to be feared (which gets in the way of rational policy making). With less people serving in the military that also helps with the cultural change and less acceptance of guns.
There are some tropes that the NRA uses, like the good guy with a gun... will stop crime... which is just as much a romantic view of gun ownership, as the everybody is armed and more people are buying them. The other, self defense against a violent society... well even that is starting to penetrate skulls, that we simply do not have the level of crime we used to have.
But if you are a member of a minority that is becoming less and less in numbers, I can certainly understand the thinking that they are under siege. Sooner or later, all those changes in laws and policies they are fighting, may come reality. It is a slow walk, but I might still see it.
Oh and no, I don't think the 2A will be repealed, but how the majority understands it might be far more in line with earlier eras when the individual right did not take center stage. That I can see, easy.
The bolded in red is your first mistake. You tried to reach beyond your ability much like a car attempting to run without an engine.
As for the bolded in blue check out the clip below.
The higher the green bar is the "worst" it is. Now if legal gun ownership didn't have anything to do with those stats then I suppose some other demographic is the cause. Below are the demographics of the three cities. Check them out and see if you really want to go the demographics route.
Kennesaw, Ga (per wikipedia): As of the census of 2010, there were 29,783 people, 11,413 households, and 7,375 families residing in the city. There were 12,328 housing units at an average density of 1,027.3 per square mile (396.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.9% White, 22.3% Black, 10.8% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 5.3% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), 4.7% from other Race (U.S. Census), and 3.0% Non-Hispanic Mixed of two or more races.
Griffin, Ga (per wikipedia): As of the census of 2000, there were 23,451 people, 8,876 households, and 5,955 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,615.0 people per square mile (623.6/km²). There were 9,636 housing units at an average density of 663.6 per square mile (256.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.88% African American, 46.98% White, 0.17% Native American, 0.99% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.98% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.22% of the population.
Chicago, Il (per wikipedia): As of the 2010 census, there were 2,695,598 people with 1,045,560 households living in Chicago. More than half the population of the state of Illinois lives in the Chicago metropolitan area. Chicago is one of the United States' most densely populated major cities, and the largest city in the Great Lakes Megalopolis. The racial composition of the city was:
45.0% White (31.7% non-Hispanic whites);
32.9% Black or African American;
28.9% Hispanic or Latino (of any race);
13.4% from some other race;
5.5% Asian (1.6% Chinese, 1.1% Indian, 1.1% Filipino, 0.4% Korean, 0.3% Pakistani, 0.3% Vietnamese, 0.2% Japanese, 0.1% Thai);
2.7% from two or more races;
0.5% American Indian.
