The title of this blog is intended to be ironic.
People in the gun community and the pro gun community are fully aware of the strong correlation between the number of guns and gun related crimes, state-by-state. The correlation is negative meaning more guns less gun related crime. There are many reasons given for this negative correlation by anti-gun spokespeople.
What I am pointing out, for those outside the gun community, is that many political entities pass anti-gun legislation and the consequence is rapid purchases of guns in nearby jurisdictions that don't have anti-gun legislation. That was the essence of a U.S. District court judge in Illinois this month for objecting to gun control laws based on geography.
Finding data on gun sales is not easy. The data is usually several years old, for legal reasons. The main source of gun sales data is the stock market for gun manufacturer listings. If that is reliable, we would be stunned to see that the sales of Strum Ruger (RGR) stock, which is similar to other gun manufacturers, has risen from $10 in the year 2005 to $85 this month.
Gallup polling data shows women gun owners increased from 13% in 2005 to 23% 2012 and Democratic households with firearms in their homes rose from 30% in 2009 to 40% in 2012.
The data from the Bureau of ATF shows in increase in pistol manufacture and sale from 1.1 million to over 3.2 million from the year 2005 until 2011. Rifle sales grew from 2.1 million to 3.3 million in 2011.
That is a large increase in gun sales, a particularly rapid increase in pistol sales that far exceeds the growth in US population.
It does appear that increased anti-gun legislation results in increased gun sales. That is certainly what the New York Times and others find when talking to stores that sell guns to the public.
For those who are determined to make guns illegal in the United States I offer the advice of Catherine Campbell, a leading lawyer in prison and crime related issues and a strong Leftist: change the second amendment or don’t waste your time.