The 'Gun Ownership Declining' Fuss

So a recent GSS report indicates that gun ownership is declining, in terms of the net number of people who own guns, versus the number of guns owned per person.

I am watching several media outlets and "Citizen Journalists", and even NSSF, trying to run the hey-they-can't-disprove-a-negative argument that, perhaps, people are buying but not talking about it. While that is certainly possible, let's be intellectually honest and answer the question like adults.

First - lying about the numbers for our side is a bad idea.  Trying to spin too much is a bad idea.  If you think .Gov is not tracking and quantifying NICS data and counting the number of first-time buyers versus repeat-buyers, you are not being realistic.  That sort of data is crucial to Enemies of Liberty, and to think they are not secret-squirreling it away in a dark little server room for analysis is just naive.

Now use your own eyes and ears.  How many people in your own family and circle of friends are first-time gunners?  When you look at your own family, start with your grandfather's generation, compare it to yours, and the younger - how significant is the attrition rate within your own bloodlines?  I know in my family, my sister does not teach her kids, as she was taught.  (My sister is a much better shot than I ever was, for the record.)  All of my nieces and nephews are gun-free, by parental choice.  And I come from a family of gunners.  So imagine what the average family of non-gunners looks like.  Numbers can be manipulated, but trends tend to trend.

Let's not lie to ourselves.  Lying to ourselves is the worst form of self-abuse and delusion - and it will lead us to take bad decisions.  The overall number of gun owners in America is probably declining at a much faster rate that any of us would like.  Many of us have made the observation, for years, that all the anti's have to do is wait a generation or three and all their 2A woes will be over.

But - the overall number of first-time gun owners is not relevant the III Percent.

Most of us will be dead in 30 years and the world will belong to others.  III Patriots intend to leave the world a better place - so we do not need to worry about 30-50-year trend lines if we are sincere about fixing as much as we can fix before our personal expiration dates.  Let us not worry with arguing points that are immaterial to the fight for Liberty - let us not conduct ourselves worrying about "the optics" of a declining 2A pool.

Afterall, are we not the bleach that will clean that pool?

Let us worry about identifying the III Patriots we don't yet know and bringing them into our circles.

We do not need millions of Patriots who are willing to go to the Green for Liberty.  We do not need the approval of millions of fellow Countrymen who are not gunners.  We do not need permission from anyone to do our work of securing as much Liberty as possible for posterity.  Too many of our Countrymen who came before us have failed to do their civic duty of keeping Evil Men off the controls of society.  The only reason you and I should care about 30-50-year 2A ownership trends is if we intend to neglect our duty as well.

I'm not that guy.

Kerodin
III