Forbes: Some more of the story on “gun approval”

Forbes recently ran an interesting article where they partially dissect a previous story from The Hill. In it columnist Frank Miniter takes what is essentially a fairly terse and anemic report and goes into more detail. For instance, part of The Hill story reads, “…guns manufactured increased by 18 percent during the George W. Bush administration, while the Clinton administration actually saw a 9 percent reduction. But under President Obama, gun production has spiked 140 percent to 10.8 million firearms in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available.”

Miniter explains further,

“…that’s only part of the story. The often-unreported truth that bewilders the mainstream media can be seen in the way American’s view guns. In 1959 some 60 percent of the American public favored handgun bans, according to Gallup, whereas in October 2013, a total of 74 percent of U.S. citizens opposed handgun bans—only 25 percent wanted handguns banned. That’s more than a complete reversal in public opinion nationally.”

This may not be news to the increasing number of us who are pro-gun — the Congressional Research Service says per capita, civilian gun stock has approximately doubled to one gun per person now (from one gun for every two persons nearly 50 years ago). The fastest growing demographic among gun owners is women (like Nicole “Ballistic Blonde” Macy, above)

Read the rest of the original article, including Miniter's take on how contemporary culture affects gun ownership, right here.

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