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

[Lizzie Poppet]

69. Yep.

But in the specific matter of gun ownership, it's not really possible to have a scaled response; one either does or does not own firearms. How many guns one owns is not a question that helps much to determine number of gun owners.

And yes: I strongly oppose the efforts to curb CDC research in this area. I understand the trepidation about the "public health" approach to the problem of gun violence (namely that it falls into an area more commonly regulated by the Administrative branch than the Legislative one...), but that's insufficient reason to inhibit research.

As for the specific matter of gathering reliable data on the number of gun owners and the related question of what sort of guns they have, well...that's an extremely difficult thing to research. There are so many millions of firearms in circulation for which the only post-manufacturer paper record will be the original Form 4470...which when it still exists at all, will be collecting dust in some FFL-holder's storage room in a yellowing banker's box.