The United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We all know this. We’re also a nation that cherishes gun ownership and our Second Amendment rights guaranteed under the Constitution. Right now, as with any mass shooting, those rights are under attack by the political Left. All of these shootings are horrific, but chipping away at the rights of law-abiding citizenry for the sake of safety is unwise and dangerous. It’s always been that way. Sandy Hook was a heinous crime, but no new legislation to curtail our rights occurred. The anti-gun Left went for the Hail Mary and failed. Now, they’ve focusing on local legislative goals. The push for universal background checks is no longer a focus; it’s increasing the age for purchasing firearms. Vermont and Florida, which has Republican, pro-NRA governors, caved on this front. They’re gaining legislative wins, but while the Left’s their ultimate goal is to repeal the Second Amendment and confiscate firearms, reality might upend that grand scheme.
We all know there are over 300 million firearms owned in the U.S. To enact laws to fully take all of them would need policies seen in brutal authoritarian regimes. According to Small Arms Survey, there are over 1 billion firearms in worldwide circulation, and Americans own 393 million of them. That’s 46 percent (via Time):
There are over 1 billion firearms in the world today, including 857 million in civilian hands — with American men and women the dominant owners, according to a study released Monday.
The Small Arms Survey says 393 million of the civilian-held firearms, 46 percent, are in the United States, which is “more than those held by civilians in the other top 25 countries combined.”
“The key to the United States, of course, is its unique gun culture,” the report’s author, Aaron Karp, said at a news conference. “American civilians buy an average of 14 million new firearms every year, and that means the United States is an overwhelming presence on civilian markets.”
The report said the numbers include legal and illegal firearms in civilian hands, ranging from improvised craft weapons to factory-made handguns, rifles, shotguns and, in some countries, even machine guns.
I am disappointed in this survey: 1) We’re not the majority owner of all worldwide firearms in circulation; 2) it should have been 400 million and after we hit that number—a goal of 500 million within the next ten years. It’s not impossible. During Obama’s tenure in the Oval Office, Americans boughtover 100 million firearms.
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