Quote Originally Posted by schmenke
Interesting statistics here on private firearms ownership in the U.S. based on a national survey conducted in 2004:

The US gun stock: results from the 2004 national firearms survey -- Hepburn et al. 13 (1): 15 -- Injury Prevention

A few tidbits for those who can't be bothered to read the entire article:

"...38% of households and 26% of individuals reported owning at least one firearm. This corresponds to 42 million US households with firearms, and 57 million adult gun owners. ..."

"... A clear pattern that has emerged over the past several decades from these surveys is a persistent decline in household gun ownership..."

"...estimated that there were 192 million working firearms in the US in private hands. ..."

"... When respondents were asked, “What is the one most important reason that you own a handgun/long gun?” the most common response among those who owned a handgun was for self-defense (46%)..."
Yes and I personally know people who are in the industry who will contacted by such sruveys, either hang-up the phone or throw it in the garbage.