Where are you asking about? I’m in Canada, and growing up, I never even realised there were a couple of old hunting rifles in the basement until we moved one year. I didn’t know anyone with a gun, my father didn’t hunt any more, and I never owned or even handled one. I grew up in the interior of British Columbia.
When I lived in Alaska for a few years, it was a completely different situation. Every single man I dated had a gun. I don’t know if my female acquaintances had guns; I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.
Back living in Victoria, BC Canada, I’m back to a ‘non-gun’ culture. I don’t know anyone who has one in my circle of friends, co-workers, or acquaintances. But then, I also never think to ask.
From the outer suburbs of St. Louis, it depends on who you talk to. Most of my coworkers consider gun ownership “nothing special.” They also consider not owning a gun “nothing special.”
Amongst family, gun ownership is quite normal.
I have 12 of them in my house, evenly divided between handguns and long guns.
Depends upon the region. Here, most every one has hunting guns. Between deer hunting and turkey hunting, it’s very big. A lot of folks keep their long guns in a closet or special gun cabinet. Hand guns as well. My hubby has a concealed carry permit and we do take that hand gun to places like New Orleans and Memphis. It has come in right handy a time or two.
None of my close friends or family members own guns, and I would have felt nervous to have my child play at a friends house if there were guns there.
Where it would get creepy is if people talked endlessly about whether an SUV driven at 70 MPH had more stopping power than a Porsche at 120 MPH when you were trying to run someone down.
One statistic I heard a few years back (sorry, no cite but I do remember that the source sounded reputable) states that there are more gun dealers than gas stations in the US. Most gun dealers operate out of their homes, so it is not as apparent to most people. So, yes…lots of people own guns and lots of those people own multiple guns.
I’ve known just two people in my lifetime who have owned guns. At least that I know of. I’d be hard-pressed to spend a week searching out acquaintences who I knew owned guns. Apparently they are sold in supermarkets from some of the things you read here, though.
Now, yes, I don’t live in the south or midwest, so things might be different there.
I’m from Iowa originally. I wasn’t into shooting growing up, but I didn’t think anything of it particularly. We had a 20 gauge shotgun, although it hadn’t been used since my dad’s hunting “phase” in the 50s.
Kids I knew used bb guns and the older ones, .22 rifles, and my 6th grade teacher was an occasional black powder shooter. Rural families were used to clearing off rabbits, raccoons and such, and pheasant hunting was popular in season.
What we would have found worrisome, back there in 1970s Iowa, was people owning, and especially concealing, handguns. Property crime was low, and I never heard of the NRA back then (they certainly didn’t do much lobbying). Long guns were tools - handguns were “trouble.”
Going on years of past history, I think I’ll just skip past the 3 or 4 warnings on not turning this gun thread into a debate and just skip to the final step:
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates.
My Dad remarked recently that not having a gun made our household somewhat unusual (but of course, just “normal” to me) because “everybody” has a gun. But he’s prone to melodrama, so I thought I’d ask people here.
There was a letter in our local paper about gun ownership and law enforcement, and the writer dared people to post “no gun on premises” signs on the lawn. I thought, geez, is that all that’s keeping people from breaking in?
oh, dear, I thought this was just a simple poll and not a debate.
Here in Indiana they are very common. When I go out to my Mom’s house, which used to be out in the country but is now being swallowed by urban sprawl, it’s not unusual to hear gunfire. People target practicing in the woods. Indiana has to be one of the most gun friendly states in the US. I just renewed my concealed carry permit, now good for life, for $125. The state law is that they must issue you a permit unless they can show some reason you shouldn’t have it unlike many states where you have to show you need one.
Very normal to have a gun in the home here.
I am probably the least likely Doper to own a gun, but until recently I had a WWII 35 Caliber carbine, took it out once for target practice, then put it under the bed and all but forgot about it.
This year I traded it to my son in law for a brand new pellet rifle which is more my style. My Great White Hunting exploits consist of culling the squirrel population and eliminating raccoons in the neighborhood.
According to that same son in law, some town in a southern state (KY? TN?) passed a law, not long ago, that every resident had to own a shotgun, plus 10 rounds of ammo.
The violent crime rate went to zero, he said. Anyone familiar with that?
(If this issue appeared in a previous thread, please ignore.)
SUV. Besides the kinetic energy issue, it’s the high front end that really does it. Part of why you don’t see the old hood ornaments anymore, and part of why hood styles changed.
Location: Mid-NY. South of Upstate, north of the City.
Guns: Family has had them since we came over, we have several of various description. Fewer than two dozen in the immediate household.
Neighbors: Most of them have one somewhere… not really mentioned.
Shopkeepers: Most of them have a pistol somewhere, if they work in the city or somewhere down by the river in the Hudson Valley. Tend to carry when making deposits.
Untrackable guns: Probably one in four guns is completely untracable by law enforcement, due to being over fifty years old and/or something picked up in a war and brought home as a trophy, from a random survey of neighbors and my house. Maybe one in five or six, but around that.
Surprising Guns: About one in ten people who own a gun, owns something that’ll surprise the hell out of you. Police Chief is a friend of the family. Upstate New York. Went to high school with the OC Chopper guys. Refuses to carry a pistol.
… owns a number of… I forget the model, but it’s equivalent to the HK M416s.
One guy, nice guy, sailor, dentist… collects Pre-October Revolution Russian arms. Handmade, inlays, gorgeous.
Except stopping power isn’t what cars are made for. I admit it would be creepy if all car enthusiasts talked endlessly about murdering people with their cars, but it’s not relevant to a discussion about guns.
I don’t own one, but finding out someone has a gun is about as weird as finding out someone wears contacts. Notable but not exceptional.
