If you’re reading Bearing Arms, you not only support gun rights but you’re probably a gun owner. You’re one of those who is staunch in your defense of the right to keep and bear arms.
You’re probably like me in that you probably truly believe that the phrase “shall not be infringed” means what it says.
There’s a problem, though. We’re not the majority. Not even close.
Over at ConcealedCarry.com, there’s an interesting piece about some statistics and what that means for Second Amendment advocacy.
Let’s start by examining some of the most recent and eye-opening statistics:
- Self-reported gun ownership in America increased by 28% from 1994 to 2023.
- Estimates suggest there are 500 million civilian-owned firearms in the U.S.
- Only 6.06 million firearms are registered in the U.S., as federal law doesn’t mandate registration for all firearms.
- Approximately 82.88 million Americans own at least one firearm.
- 43% of households report having at least one firearm.
- Women’s firearm ownership has surged by 177.8% since 1993.
- Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic of gun owners, with a 33% increase in ownership from 2017 to 2023.
- Gun ownership among the 18–29 age group declined by 22% between 2017 and 2023.
- 1 out of 20 adults purchased their first firearm during the pandemic.
These figures highlight both encouraging and challenging trends for gun owners. While overall firearm ownership continues to grow, particularly among women and minority groups, the fact remains that only 32% of Americans report owning a firearm personally. That means nearly 7 out of 10 Americans don’t own a gun.
For those of us entrenched in gun culture, this is a startling reality to confront. It not only forces us to reevaluate our assumptions about the general population but also compels us to rethink how we advocate for our Second Amendment rights in a country where the majority views gun ownership as non-essential or irrelevant.
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The majority of non-gun owners in America don’t harbor a personal vendetta against firearms or the people who own them. The data suggests that there is a group of people who do not own any guns, but do support gun rights and freedoms over gun control. Research also shows that about six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) favor stricter gun laws and many of their opinions are often shaped by unfamiliarity. For them, guns might represent something they see on the news rather than something they’ve held in their hands. This lack of direct experience can profoundly shape their perspective on gun ownership negatively and push them toward gun control.
Now, let’s look at those statistics for a moment. If 32 percent report owning guns, then 68 percent don’t. That’s just simple math.
Based on the numbers, though, that means only 10 percent of people who support gun rights are non-gun owners–at least if we assume everyone who said they didn’t own a gun actually didn’t own one, which is kind of silly. And that’s also assuming that all gun owners oppose gun control, which isn’t particularly sound, either.
In short, there are a lot of people who want gun control and it’s up to us to win some hearts and minds.
The author of this piece has some ideas, and they’re a decent start, though I don’t know that there’s an idea among gun rights advocates that those who don’t exercise their rights are un-American or anything of the sort.
Still, I think there needs to be a certain degree of reasonableness in our approach. We need to hear the arguments and we can’t just reply with “shall not be infringed,” even if that’s completely true.
That doesn’t sway those who favor gun control because they’ve been told that phrase doesn’t actually mean what it says. That got hard-coded in them and we need to approach them differently.
There’s a time and a place for every approach out there, but for most of us, we probably need to take a grassroots approach and start winning hearts and minds by being good ambassadors for gun rights, by being patient with those who think differently–yes, even when we don’t want to–and by being the ideal example of responsible gun ownership.
Let’s be real here, the only way we’re going to take that ground at this point is to do it at the grassroots level. The mainstream media won’t give us a fair shake, so doing it like this may be our best approach.
Either way, this is something we need to figure out as a movement or else it’s just a matter of time before our rights are gutted because not enough people value them. The courts might help, but as we’ve seen in the past, all it takes is a handful of judges willing to let their feelings guide them rather than the law and everyone is screwed.
So let’s eliminate the threat entirely.
Read the full article here
