American Gun Ownership #1 in World

[joshmf]

Just came across this article: U.S. most armed country...

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL2834893820070828

We're #1! We're #1! For some reason this gives me a great amount of pride in America.

 

[skidz]

And this is a surprise to you?

 

[xmid]

I would think this would actually be something that is pretty hard to keep track of... Is it gun ownership that the government has on record somewhere? I don't doubt we are either number 1 or very close to it, but what about some 3rd world countries where every man, woman, and child has an AK stashed somewhere? How did they count those?

 

[gaijin6423]

Number one in ownership, or number one in being tracked by Big Brother?

 

[skidz]

I understand what Xmid is saying, but also consider the number of gun owners in the United States compared to the number of citizens in many third world countries.

They may have a higher ratio of guns per population, or higher percentage of gun owners, but just not the numbers that the United States has.

 

[joshmf]

The article breaks down gun ownership as both total numbers, and the ratio of firearms to people. The surprising part of the article was that although people assume high levels of gun ownership in violent Third-world countries, the data didn't support this conclusion. Except for Yemen and Iraq, all of the leading countries in terms of firearms to people are Western, industrialized nations. It's possible that many more people in Liberia or Columbia would like to own a firearm, but these countries don't have the economic means to support widescale gun ownership. Also, these figures are estimates based on government data, surveys, and media reports. They didn't attempt to find every gun in every country, so I don't think governement oversight plays too large a part.
They also tracked firearm production, and where those guns were bought. Although it's likely that some weapon production isn't being tracked, I doubt it would be in large enough numbers to heavily influence these figures.

 

[raptor10]

You can read the whole report or summaries of the report at the website of the Small Arms Survey 2007

I especially liked this conclusion in particular: Completing the Count: Civilian Firearms

The data reported here points to the need for new ways of thinking about small arms pathologies, and the need for a paradigm emphasizing civilian firearm possession as much, and maybe more, than that of the state.

 

[xmid]

The surprising part of the article was that although people assume high levels of gun ownership in violent Third-world countries, the data didn't support this conclusion.

Thats my point. How can this data possibly be conclusive? Its an estimate at best and at worst its a gross understatement. Do you think they went in to every goat herder, child soldier, serbian butcher, etc. etc.'s house and turned over every matress and tore up the walls to see if they could find a firearm? That goat herder in one of the 'stans that has an ooolllld AK that hes not even sure works stashed in some hidden cubby hole in his house just in case... is not going to tell some westerner that he owns a firearm. Like I said at best its an estimate. Think about the SF guys that go in to a village in a "peaceful" tribe and find an arms stash big enough to wage a small war. I'm not saying that the conclusions drawn are incorrect, just that they are inconlusive.

 

[FMRAM]

Thats my point. How can this data possibly be conclusive? Its an estimate at best and at worst its a gross understatement. Do you think they went in to every goat herder, child soldier, serbian butcher, etc. etc.'s house and turned over every matress and tore up the walls to see if they could find a firearm? That goat herder in one of the 'stans that has an ooolllld AK that hes not even sure works stashed in some hidden cubby hole in his house just in case... is not going to tell some westerner that he owns a firearm. Like I said at best its an estimate. Think about the SF guys that go in to a village in a "peaceful" tribe and find an arms stash big enough to wage a small war. I'm not saying that the conclusions drawn are incorrect, just that they are inconlusive.

Have you taken a Stats class before? The object is to get a sample that represents the population as a whole, not to interview "every goat herder, child soldier, serbian butcher, etc.".

 

[xmid]

Have you taken a Stats class before? The object is to get a sample that represents the population as a whole, not to interview "every goat herder, child soldier, serbian butcher, etc.".

EXACTLY, and you are proving my point. Its an estimate. Say they ask 1000 people in a certain area. First of all why the hell do they think those people were honest? If someone asked you how many guns you own in your home what would you tell them? I know they wouldn't be getting an honest answer out of me. Ask Scoob the same question... And thats in a country which believes in the fundamental right to bear arms. But say they did actually get honest answers from everyone they asked, whos to say the village 10 miles aways is actually the more violent of the two? Other than searching peoples houses in some of these countries theres no real way to get a good statistic from "hostile witnesses".

Stats were practically a second language to me when I was getting my finance degree, but sometimes you just have to admit that your results aren't conclusive.

 

[raptor10]

Although it is impossible to know where exactly weapons are,they do have a good idea of how many weapons have been built as those records are pretty good, and they can track from there...

 

[raptor10]

This link here details how they acquired the gun info from

National registration data
Independent Estimates
Extrapolation from registration data and
Correlating gun ownership from basic National indicators​

Starts on page 48​

 

[xmid]

Riiiiight... Of the billion some odd kalashnikovs that have been produced they know where they all ended up... Since the Russians have a hard time keeping records on all their nuclear weapons and where they are, I have a pretty hard time believing they did a better job with small arms...

 

[Grant]

So... statistically, I own 0.9 guns?

I can assure you that its waaaay more than that. In fact, I have yet another on order at the moment.

 

[MasterBates]

I have many. Many many many more than .9