Thread by @erinscafe

I’ve had a few really good conversations about gun control with gun owners lately, and they’ve reminded me of a few points that I don’t think we talk about enough. So, a short thread.

There are an estimated 55-70 million gun owners in this country. There are a lot more of us who don’t own guns than do. Of gun owners, about half only own one or two guns.

There are an estimated 265-300 million guns in the United States. So...how is that possible?

133 million of these guns belong to 3% of American adults. Members of this group own *on average* 17 guns each.

As the number of gun owners is slightly decreasing, the number of guns continues to increase.

One demographic where gun ownership is increasing? Women.

Women are buying handguns for personal safety. As violent crime has decreased, the NRA has amped up their fearmongering.

As the NRA continues to push narratives equating gun ownership with personal safety, they also vehemently oppose any actual legislative steps toward making gun ownership safer.

When Republican Atty. Gen. J. B. Van Hollen tried to require four hours of training for gun permits, the NRA was having none of it. The requirement eventually became any training involving gun tips, even if you never hold a gun.

The NRA is trying to put an end to that as well.

Anywhere from 230,000 to 400,000 guns are stolen per year.

Instead of helping Americans secure their firearms, the NRA promotes insurance to cover stolen firearms, or hey, YOUR LEGAL FEES IF YOU KILL SOMEBODY.

The NRA makes about 10% if it’s revenue selling advertising to gun manufacturers and other industry retailers. The gun industry gives directly to the NRA through their Ring of Freedom program. And some companies actually donate a percentage of gun sales *directly* to the NRA.

The NRA claims they have 5 million dues-paying members. Even if that were accurate (it’s not), that means that 90% of American gun owners are not NRA members.

90%.

The NRA does not represent gun owners in America. They represent gun manufacturers and gun retailers.

90% of Americans support universal background checks on gun sales.

90%.

We need to stop letting the NRA tell us what gun owners think and believe and want. The NRA does not represent gun owners.

THE NRA DOES NOT REPRESENT GUN OWNERS.

Don’t let them tell you otherwise.