What Caused the Two-Decade Dip in Crime Rates? Not ‘Good Guys with Guns.’

[Kaleva]

64. One would have to take your ancedotal evidence with a far larger truck of salt.

You do what many do. Tend to believe without question sources (in your example, a small circle of friends) that support your belief and tend to dismiss sources that challenge one's belief.

Info about the survey:

"The General Social Survey is administered by NORC at the University of Chicago, primarily using in-person interviewing. The GSS started in 1972 and completed its 30th round in 2014. The typical sample size was 1,500 prior to 1994, but increased to 2,700-3,000 until 2008, and decreased to 2,000 for the most recent surveys. Resulting margins of error are between plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for the smaller sample sizes and plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for the larger sample sizes at the 95 percent confidence level. The 2014 survey was conducted March 31-Oct. 11, 2014, among 2,538 American adults. The GSS 1972-2014 Cumulative File was used to produce the statistics presented."

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/85c182d0976f44b0a54780b7df8633bb/major-survey-shows-gun-ownership-declining

Info you provided about your friends:

"I have to reflect on the fact that of the couple dozen or so gun owners I've broached this topic with, not one has stated they'd tell a researcher they owned guns. Not one. And fwiw, at least half of them are fellow liberals.."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7254535