RED STATE – Americans purchased nearly 60 million guns between 2020 and 2022, with yearly sales running at about twice the level of 15 or 20 years ago.
A NORC survey also revealed that between March 2020 and March 2022, 18 percent of households purchased firearms.
One of the notable changes in the type of guns being purchased is the shift from rifles to handguns, particularly semiautomatic handguns, which are kept in bedside tables, glove compartments, or carried on one’s person.
This change in gun ownership reflects a growing trend towards self-defense and personal protection, especially during a time of uncertainty and fear brought about by the pandemic.
Many Americans, particularly first-time gun owners, bought guns to protect themselves and their families against the perceived threat of home invasion or other forms of violence during a time when they felt vulnerable.
This shift towards personal protection is evident in the fact that the buyers during the pandemic were more likely to be women, people of color, and renters, according to the NORC survey. The heightened crime rates that developed during the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd might have also been a contributing factor.
The Hill’s report on The Trace’s data seemed to suggest that the increase in gun ownership has contributed to the uptick in gun deaths that occurred over the same time period.
“It’s a totally different type of gun ownership now,” said John Roman, a senior fellow in the Economics, Justice and Society Group at NORC, a nonpartisan research group at the University of Chicago.
“It’s not a rifle stored away somewhere that you take out twice a year to go hunting. It’s a handgun, probably a semiautomatic handgun, that you keep in your bedside table or in your glove compartment, or that you maybe carry around with you.”
However, the article provided no evidence that the increase in legal gun purchases has contributed to the rise in gun violence. The fact that the vast majority of gun homicides are committed by individuals who illegally obtain their firearms seems to cast doubt on this contention.
This is news that would likely cause a screaming meltdown in the anti-gunner lobby, which is desperately trying to persuade Americans not to arm themselves …
