CBS NEWS POLL: Gun Ownership At Lowest Rate Since 1978, Purchases At Record-High Levels

Gun ownership is at a 40-year low

SUNSHINE STATE NEWS – Gun ownership is at a 40-year low in U.S. households, according to a recently-released survey.

A CBS News poll found 36 percent of American adults either own a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other kind of firearm or live with someone who does, which is the lowest percentage since 1978.

Gun ownership rates have declined by 17 percent from the highest recorded rate in 1994 and have dropped 10 percent since 2012.

The survey, which was conducted with 1,001 American adults after an Orlando nightclub shooting last month, follows a consistent trend of declining gun ownership across the country. Other national polls have also shown a downward trend of gun ownership.

A 2014 General Social Survey found guns were present in fewer than a third (32 percent) of U.S. households, a 22-point drop from the high of 54 percent in 1977.

On the other hand, gun purchases are at record-high levels. Data from FBI firearm and background checks and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has shown that gun manufacturers are producing firearms at the highest levels ever, with more guns than people in the United States.

In 2009, the number of guns manufactured, imported and exported by U.S. gunmakers exceeded 310 million, a number higher than the amount of people living in the U.S.

How is it, then, that gun ownership is at an all-time low but gun production is at an all-time high?

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