Yup. This is a common thing with you. You like to discount everything anybody says to you when you don't agree with them. As you put it, they can make up any stories they want on the internet. So you just don't have to believe them. Instead you can put your fingers in your ears and say "lalalala."
That's your choice. But that almost makes you as useless as a troll on the forum. Nothing you say has substance since it's a 1 way street with you. You can pat whoever you want on the back, and if someone has a different opinion, it's "made up."
No.
I like evidence. I disregard anecdotes.
The evidence shows that the percentage of gun owning households has declined over the past 40 years. A lot of anecdotal reasons have been given as to why the sources I posted are wrong. But nobody has yet to show any evidence that the percentage of gun owning households have increased in the past 40 years. No poll, no NRA data, nothing. We know that the number of guns owned in America has increased where there are over 90 guns for every 100 people in the country. If gun ownership were even somewhat evenly distributed, that would imply that very close to 100% of all households would own a gun. But we know that's not true.
So how does the number of guns per capita increase while the number of households owning a gun go down. As correctly pointed out there are twice as many households in the United States now as there were in the 1960s. Which logically means that there are more households with guns in total. But that wouldn't explain a per capita increase. A per capita increase can only be explained by:
1. An increasing percentage of Americans owning guns
2. Existing gun owners buying multiple firearms.
The second conclusion is backed up by an
Injury Prevention Journal article from 2007 (actually done at Harvard for real) which shows that about 65% of all guns in America are owned by 20% of Americans. The study showed that gun owners who reported owning at least four guns, on average, owned twelve. Now of course you could disregard THAT study too, which would mean you're now trashing 4 independent pieces that support the same conclusion.
So I have stated my hypothesis that increasing gun sales is likely a continuation of the trend of existing gun owners buying more guns, rather than an increase of proportion of the population that are now gun owners. I've given four pieces of evidence to support my hypothesis: The GSS Survey, Pew Research, Gallup and Injury Prevention. If you want to put my tail between my legs, please find some evidence (peer reviewed studies are good, as are statistically relevant polls) that show my hypothesis is false. Do not tell me about the time you used a gun to stop a burglar. Do not tell me 'I think all those studies are wrong.' I try never to use my personal experiences to prove a point because they are just that: personal. They only relate to my small snippet of the world's reality. AND, because it's the internet, I can always just make shit up.
DocSavageFan and I got into an interesting argument about Medicaid expansion and the effect on ER consumption. He stated that expanding Medicaid would expand ER use and I said that wasn't likely. He posted a number of journal articles that showed he was correct. I learned something new that day and I hold THAT as a good experience on these forums.