I have previously observed that the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey (GSS) underestimates the rate of gun ownership in the United States. This is a product both of non-response (people who do not answer the “do you own a gun question”) and denial (false negatives) among people who are actually gun owners. Iowa … Continue reading
Although I have already written more about gun ownership statistics than I care to (here and here and here and here), the questions of who owns how many guns and how we know are important. So I took note when sociologist Dan Hirschman posted today on the scatterplot blog that the data for the 2016 … Continue reading
Before I began studying American gun culture, I spent 20+ years studying American religion. So it is perfectly natural that I would try to bridge the two interests. It is also the case that people often connect religion and guns in America. This, too, makes sense because the United States today is one of the … Continue reading
As there has been considerable interest in this question, I am copying my conclusion to the heading of this post. Read what follows if you want to know how I come to my two-fold answer to the question “How many gun owners are there in America today?” (1) We don’t know with any certainty. And … Continue reading
After a month-long hiatus in August to string tennis rackets, visit family, and get the fall semester started, I am back to work examining American gun culture. At the end of October and again in November, I will be presenting research to the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the American Society of … Continue reading
