since9
Campaign Veteran
Article.
Key points:
1. I've been reading The Motley Fool for 20+ years. They're almost always well-researched studies, not opinionated journalist pieces. Good stuff. However, read this article with a bit of skepticism.
2. "A recent National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) research report shows there is a huge influx of people coming into shooting for sport. The number of individuals participating in target shooting surged to 49.4 million people in 2016, a 44% increase from the 34.4 million that participated back in 2009."
3. "Whereas the law enforcement agency had run more than 10 million checks through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in 2006, that number had exploded to over 27.5 million investigations a decade later."
4. I'm not sure if I agree with the author's reasoning: "Along the way, tragic or chilling events would lead to a spike in sales, whether for fear of greater gun control measures being introduced, such as after the Sandy Hook shooting, or for a desire for greater personal protection, such as after the San Bernardino shooting. Yet despite these isolated attacks, the trend has always been one of greater growth -- more than can be explained away just by these occurrences."
I think continuing increases in gun sales can be explained by these "isolated" attacks, for the simple reason that while they're isolated, they're increasing in frequency. The article also noted that the number of households without guns remains just below 50%, a figure that hasn't changed. Finally, saying that they're for "sporting purposes" is a bit of a misnomer. While there may be a shift from "hunting" to "sporting," just was is "sporting," anyway? Has IDPA skyrocketed anywhere near as much as gun sales? I don't think so. I think most "sporting purposes" shooting has involved heading to an indoor or outdoor range and either randomly plinking away at human silhouettes, or running through various law enforcement and military qualifications tests.
My conclusion is that it is precisely the sorts of mass shooting and terrorist incidents that are driving gun sales through the roof.
What do you think?
Key points:
1. I've been reading The Motley Fool for 20+ years. They're almost always well-researched studies, not opinionated journalist pieces. Good stuff. However, read this article with a bit of skepticism.
2. "A recent National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) research report shows there is a huge influx of people coming into shooting for sport. The number of individuals participating in target shooting surged to 49.4 million people in 2016, a 44% increase from the 34.4 million that participated back in 2009."
3. "Whereas the law enforcement agency had run more than 10 million checks through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in 2006, that number had exploded to over 27.5 million investigations a decade later."
4. I'm not sure if I agree with the author's reasoning: "Along the way, tragic or chilling events would lead to a spike in sales, whether for fear of greater gun control measures being introduced, such as after the Sandy Hook shooting, or for a desire for greater personal protection, such as after the San Bernardino shooting. Yet despite these isolated attacks, the trend has always been one of greater growth -- more than can be explained away just by these occurrences."
I think continuing increases in gun sales can be explained by these "isolated" attacks, for the simple reason that while they're isolated, they're increasing in frequency. The article also noted that the number of households without guns remains just below 50%, a figure that hasn't changed. Finally, saying that they're for "sporting purposes" is a bit of a misnomer. While there may be a shift from "hunting" to "sporting," just was is "sporting," anyway? Has IDPA skyrocketed anywhere near as much as gun sales? I don't think so. I think most "sporting purposes" shooting has involved heading to an indoor or outdoor range and either randomly plinking away at human silhouettes, or running through various law enforcement and military qualifications tests.
My conclusion is that it is precisely the sorts of mass shooting and terrorist incidents that are driving gun sales through the roof.
What do you think?
