livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
No, Most U.S. Gun Owners Don’t Stockpile 17 Or More Guns
Newsweek recently published an article titled: ‘Was Stephen Paddock Normal? Many Gun Owners Keep 17 Firearms on Average.’ It’s based on a study that is all wrong.
By Tony Lima
October 19, 2017
Newsweek recently published an article with a provocative title: “Was Stephen Paddock Normal? Many Gun Owners Keep 17 Firearms on Average.” This article was based on a survey Northeastern and Harvard universities performed in 2015.
As an economist, I swim in the sea of data every day. The words “most” and “on average” always make me suspicious. Another warning sign was that several authors of the study are housed in schools of public health, notorious for bad statistical methods. So I went looking for sources and methods. Here are my conclusions.
The survey itself is most likely flawed. There have been several interviews and press releases, but no full study results in an academic publication. When press releases come out before the peer-reviewed study is published, caution is in order.
The results of the survey are not consistent with data from other sources, and the Newsweek article states, “The number of gun owners has declined since 1994, from around 25 percent to 22 percent of the population, according the Harvard/Northeastern survey.” This is factually incorrect. The number of gun owners has increased because the U.S. population has increased.
The “news” outlets that received press releases from the researchers are The Trace and The Guardian. Both oppose gun ownership. Further, at least a few of the researchers have expressed strong anti-gun sentiments in public. Let’s look at each of these factors in greater detail.
Is It Common for People to Stockpile Guns?
No, Most U.S. Gun Owners Don’t Stockpile 17 Or More Guns
Newsweek recently published an article titled: ‘Was Stephen Paddock Normal? Many Gun Owners Keep 17 Firearms on Average.’ It’s based on a study that is all wrong.
By Tony Lima
October 19, 2017
Newsweek recently published an article with a provocative title: “Was Stephen Paddock Normal? Many Gun Owners Keep 17 Firearms on Average.” This article was based on a survey Northeastern and Harvard universities performed in 2015.
As an economist, I swim in the sea of data every day. The words “most” and “on average” always make me suspicious. Another warning sign was that several authors of the study are housed in schools of public health, notorious for bad statistical methods. So I went looking for sources and methods. Here are my conclusions.
The survey itself is most likely flawed. There have been several interviews and press releases, but no full study results in an academic publication. When press releases come out before the peer-reviewed study is published, caution is in order.
The results of the survey are not consistent with data from other sources, and the Newsweek article states, “The number of gun owners has declined since 1994, from around 25 percent to 22 percent of the population, according the Harvard/Northeastern survey.” This is factually incorrect. The number of gun owners has increased because the U.S. population has increased.
The “news” outlets that received press releases from the researchers are The Trace and The Guardian. Both oppose gun ownership. Further, at least a few of the researchers have expressed strong anti-gun sentiments in public. Let’s look at each of these factors in greater detail.
Is It Common for People to Stockpile Guns?
No, Most U.S. Gun Owners Don’t Stockpile 17 Or More Guns
