Shortly before the 2016 elections, gun sales soared. Fears of a Democratic landslide stoked the demand, and gun companies responding by scaling up production. Gun sales in the era of President Trump have continued to remain strong, and some new figures provide an interesting context for gun ownership in America.
“Stephen Gutowski of The Washington Free Beacon also touched upon the Small Arms Survey,” Townhall writes, “which showed that Americans own 393 million of the one billion-plus firearms in worldwide circulation.”
Gutowski noted that Americans, in the last April and May, bought more guns then the U.S. military has in its arsenal.
This, of course, makes is by far the #1 in civilian gun ownership in the world with the next closest being India at about 70 million. There are more civilian-owned guns in the US than their are people Most people, I think, understand that but don't really grasp what it means.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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Many gun owners own more than one firearm. This number also includes many collectors.
Every law enforcement agency in America combined have about 1 million firearms in their inventory. That means American civilians have about 400 TIMES as many firearms as American police.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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Considering the number of law enforcement officers in the country, that 400 to 1 number seems low.
In May alone, American civilians bought somewhere around 2 million firearms. That's twice as many firearms as every police department in America combined IN A SINGLE MONTH.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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Those sales, in no small part, have been driven by the demonstrations that emerged after the Parkland shooting in February.
Similarly, the American military is estimated to hold about 4.5 million firearms. That means American civilians have 100 TIMES as many firearms as every branch of the American military COMBINED.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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This may be the most surprising number, but not becasue of civilian ownership. Instead, it points to the relatively low number of guns on hand in the American military.
If you combine May and April's gun-related background check numbers you get 4.7 million. That means the American public bought more guns IN JUST THE LAST TWO MONTHS than the entire American military has on hand.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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These are, for the most part, very different kinds of guns.
Furthermore, the Small Arms Survey estimates all the world's law enforcement agencies combined hold about 22.7 million guns. In 2017 alone, the FBI processed 25.2 million gun checks. The American public bought more guns in 2017 than every police agency in the world combined.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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The Small Arms Survey itself is controversial. While proponents of tighter restrictions on guns are using the numbers for their shock value, the supporters of the Second Amendment see the survey itself as an intrusion into their private lives.
Between 2012 and 2017, the FBI did more than 135 million civilian gun checks. That's more than the estimated 133 million guns held by ALL THE WORLD'S MILITARIES COMBINED.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
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This, though, references the uniformed groups, and not the militias.
Statistics don’t paint the complete picture. The numbers are, by all measures, large. They’re so large that it is difficult for many people to contextualize anything other than their sheer enormity.
The comparisons to police officers, though, only count the officers’ service weapons. Yet all law enforcement officers in the U.S. are also civilians. Many of them carry personal weapons (often two) in addition to their service weapons. Many of these men and women also own other sporting and defensive firearms. So pulling them from these overall views would be all but impossible.
One thing seems certain, though. Support for Second Amendment rights remains strong. This is heartening for those of us who value the freedoms it provides. Though our opposition may be visible and highly vocal, Americans continue to make use of their constitutionally protected rights.
Source: The Tribunist
