CNN: 310 million -- Total number of nonmilitary firearms in the US as of 2009
This is an interesting article just posted by CNN about 30 minutes ago. It's simply statistics and figures relating to firearms in America and some information on how views on firearms have changed over time. I just thought the numbers were interesting. I couldn't find a comprehensive cite in the article except "according to federal figures."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
60% -- Americans who supported a handgun ban in 1959
26% -- Americans who supported a handgun ban in 2011
5,400 -- licensed firearms manufacturers in the U.S. in 2011
310 million -- Total number of nonmilitary firearms in the U.S. as of 2009
I think coming to a conclusion about "what all those figures mean" is outside of the scope of the article or my OP. I don't traditionally follow gun-related news on a national level but on an international level.
As in, America is by far the largest arms exporter on the planet. (Just in case you forgot)
That's from the Arms Industry Wiki page, BTW.
We didn't get to number 1 on that list by accident: Just about everything America does foreign policy-wise involves, in ways obvious or not-so-obvious, the sales of weaponry. And while that involves tanks and airplanes it also involves a shitload of firearms. Pistols, rifles.
I think when we think about the proliferation of firearms and America, we kind of either think about them as a national issue or (if you follow international news as I do) an international issue, in which America plays a large part. But I don't think we often think of them as related, as one thing, as two sides of the same coin.
Are they? If if so, which came first, in your opinion? Was it America's love of individual firearm ownership that drove the creation of the largest arms industry in history? Or did the creation of such a large arms industry somehow help cultivate such a strong culture of gun ownership in America? Or is it an unanswerable chicken and egg question to begin with?
PB
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