Kindly define the difference, since in my book someone waving a gun around in a threatening manner, IS a thug.
ETA: Never mind. I forgot that “thug” has been redefined and only black people can be thugs.
What wonderful fucking world it would be if an argument wasn’t expected though.
Dopers, does he really want an explanation or is he just trolling?
A day without ElvisL1ves is like a day without stepping in dog shit.
I had the same question as Elvis, especially since I thought the tendency was to lie in the other direction: “We got lotsa guns here, pal. Any thugs and hos show up here, will be walking away missing body parts!”
So, Lumpy: What is the reason gun owners lie to pollsters and say they don’t have guns? Are they afraid of Obamabama the Gungrabber, that he’ll send his big man-bride over to shove the gun up your ass?
I for one find it bordering between bigotry and hate speech to define those who are overweight with hair loss issues in this light.
This is the Straight Dope. If you’re incapable of showing yourself even a modicum of respect, please do effort to show those unseen poster said respect.
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It would improve Mexico though, since they get most of their guns from the US.
Do you have an actual cite for that?
I’m aware of one claim by Obama that it’s 90% and a counterclaim by Fox that it’s 17%. Both of those numbers are bogus and just pulled out of someone’s ass. FactCheck.org
FactCheck claims there are no reliable numbers. Do you have any hard figures to contradict them?
Nothing solid, although it’s incorrect to characterize the two numbers as equally bogus (as the cite you provide suggests); Fox’s math is wrong and even using their methods the low estimate should be at least 34% while the 90% is based on guns submitted by Mexico to the ATF for tracing which is at least some kind of sample to work with.
This interview with Robert Farley of Politifactoffers more soft data:
This sitetakes a more sceptical - but still speculative - stance:
Note that they do not dispute the 90% for guns which could be traced; the uncertainty lies in guns not traced (some of which have had their serial numbers removed). (Also note that when they say “not even 50 percent of those that were submitted for tracing were ultimately found to be of U.S. origin” most of the rest couldn’t be traced at all). The rest of that article is interesting for the breakdown of types of guns; for certain categories of weapons the US is definitely the main source for legal or illegal purchases while others, like military weapons, were more likely locally-sourced or from elsewhere.
So what you think the answer is depends on how you count the population of guns that either aren’t traced or can’t be traced. If you think the traced-and-traceable population is representative, then it’s in the 87-90% range. If you assume every gun not explicitly traced to the US isn’t from the US, then it’s less than half, and possibly less than a third. And of course it depends on whether you mean all weapons or some subset of them. Take your pick.
Stripped of the snark, yes, many gun owners consider it prudent to hide whether or how many guns they own. Since you obviously didn’t even bother to read the link in my previous reply, I’ll spell it out for you in short easy words: “Tragic Boating Accident” is a cliche where a gun owner claims that he lost all his guns on a hunting trip when his boat overturned.
“Claims” to whom?
Anyone from the government who might be asking.
Does that happen often?
If so, there are a whole lot more than there used to be. Why is that?
But you’re OK with “schlub”, right? 
People like you.
Apparently Lumpy is scared of you, ElvisL1ves.
All these lawful gun owners sure go out of their way to tell how us how we should act with authorities, i.e., the police - ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU’RE TOLD - ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH - IT’S JUST STUPID TO LIE TO THE POLICE.
But it seems if the authority is kicked up a few notches and it involves one’s precious guns the opposite is the order of the day.
He’s scared of a *lot *of things. Fortunately he has his blanky made of steel to protect him.
Indeed. Can the extremist pro-gun Dopers comment? It appears some of you are comfortable with the attitudes in both of these statements:
“Darkie, you keep yer hands in the air and tail between yer leg when police is talking at you. And tell nothing but the truth, the whole truth. Don’t try any of yer thuggish lies; it might get you shot, ha ha.”
“White man, when you see a man in a suit assume he’s getting ready to grab your guns no matter how friendly he might seem. If he asks about guns, just lie like a m******k!”
What gives? Is it just that old adage “All’s fair in love and war and guns”?
You’re the one who insists that every gun owner is a threat to your personal safety. Does open-carry make you pee yourself?