Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: Pew Research Admits Flaw in Poll Used to Attack Strong Gun Control Laws [View all]jimmy the one
(2,708 posts)corroborated by pew res (see previous post).
http://www.researchscape.com/leisure/us_gun_ownership_over_time
Last week the National Opinion Research Center released its biennial update to the General Social Survey. This showed an increase to 34% of U.S. households owning guns in 2012, up from 32% in 2010 (sample size: 2,000 face-to-face and telephone interviews Mar to Sep, 2012). Despite this short-term upturn (too small to be statistically significant), a key trend that was picked up in reporting by The NY Times was the long-term decline in household gun ownership rates over the 40-year history of the survey. Ownership in the 1970s averaged 50% declining to 36% from 2000-2009.
Gallup is the outlier despite the fact that two of the other questions are more expansive than Gallups: the NORC asks if the gun is in the home or garage (for those living in houses), while Pew asks about guns, rifles or pistols. While Republicans are more likely to own guns than Democrats (according to the General Social Survey, 50% of Republicans own guns vs. just 22% of Democrats), and Gallup last year had a Republican house effect of 2.5 points, that would adjust Gallups estimate only down to 42%.