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Estimates of AR15 ownership in USA?
- Thread starter Koolmoose
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JayMcB
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Welp, for me there's probably some in MA, there's maybe some in NH, there's some that are pre-ban, there's some that are pre-Healy ban, there's some in a piece of PVC, and there's a number of lowers, uppers and various parts. I guess all told there's about
of them.
Yeah, that's a blank on purpose, because MYOFB on the total number
This number includes a built and serialized FU-MA-15.
There are 30 million if there's one. They ARE in fvcking common use
of them.
Yeah, that's a blank on purpose, because MYOFB on the total number
This number includes a built and serialized FU-MA-15.
There are 30 million if there's one. They ARE in fvcking common use
greencobra
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yep, agree with you.
there's a song title that states it pretty well..."it ain't nobody's business but my own."
When I moved here from AZ I had one gun, a Springfield xD45. Still have it 10 years later. Shortly after arrival I learned, to my horror, that I would need a "Safety Class" and license and, and, and...So I took the class, and found out about all the other wonderful things that .gov didn't want me to have. So I bought them. Since then I have gone form my original Stack-On 10 gun "cabinet" to an actual SAFE from ESS. In between there has been a series of other "safes", 2 of which I still have for guns in another room and ammo. I have sold or given away or traded 3 others as I outgrew them. As to ammo, when I moved here I had a couple of hundred rounds of 45 as "backup" in case I went for an unplanned range trip and didn't have time to stock up. Now, 10+ years later I have a bit more, and if .22 were to cease production tomorrow I still have enough to last until my unborn grandchildren start shooting on their 18th birthdays. And neither teen daughter is pregnant so that may be a while. If it wasn't for MA rules and other BS, and THIS forum, I might have 2 or 3 more guns than just the original. They pushed, guess I pushed back. I mean, I've TRIED to count how many I have in my head, but I keep losing track... So I guess I have "More than a couple but less than enough..."
Oh, and @allen-1, how do you carry all that ammo in your butt?
the only gun owners I personally know that own ARs are the ones I shoot with at matches. The circle of gun owners im "in" with are all pretty much closet gun owners . Buy gun , gun goes in closet. I personally dont see many ARs at the 2 clubs I go to except when there is a CMP or NRA match.
The problem here is there could be a flip on the assault weapon ban thing. Ok ARs are common use BUT everyrhing else is not. AK,FAL, SKS, HK, ectect.
amm5061
NES Member
Let's do some basic math. There's a common number thrown out by just about everyone for the number of constitution loving gun owners who the antis would call "gun nuts," "clingers," etc. That number is 3%, right? So the population of the US is roughly 325.7 million people. 3% of that is 9,771,000. Round up to an even 10 million just to include some of the less-hardcore more Fuddy type gun owners who would still own an AR. Someone like my father.
Assume that at minimum each one owns some type of scary killy assault weapon with the shoulder thing that goes up. That's 10 million "assault weapons" minimum. Consider that most of us are the type of people that think "one is nice, but two is better, and three is obviously better than two..." and that number starts soaring.
Sure not all of those are going to be ARs, but ARs are the most popular platform in that shitty fake category. I think an estimate of 50 million is reasonable, and probably fairly conservative.
Me, personally? I lost all my guns in that boating accident last summer.
Stupid to distinguish between form factors. Semi-auto center fire with detachable magazine is common use, 20th century civilian firearm technology. It's an unconstitutiinal travesty that NFA of 1934 keeps full auto out of the hands of the People, as those firearms should be common use too.
How about just say it’s way more than anyone estimates and leave it there. Liberal antis are saying they need to have them registered in order to get an accurate count for court to determine if they indeed are in common use. You see where they will go with that.
allen-1
NES Member
I waddle.
ReluctantDecoy
NES Member
Read a 2013 Gallop poll that said 1/4 of Americans own guns. That would have been 79M in 2013. Take that with a grain of salt, as many gun owners don't talk to non-gun owners about their guns. That same poll said 3% of gun owners own 50% of the guns in America. So 9.5M Americans supposedly own 150M guns, or about an average of 15.8 guns for each person in that 3%. At the very least, I would assume that everyone who falls in that 3% owns at least 1 AR, so the base low end figure would be about 10M AR's. However, given that this 3% owns 50% of all guns, maybe double that AR ownership figure, and I'd bet that's still a conservative estimate at 20M. Then maybe add a few million on for AR owners outside of that 3% and a few million for those who just don't want to report. I'm estimating 25-30 million legal, functioning AR's, and remember, that's a very conservative low end estimate. If the 3% average AR ownership turns out to be, say 5, then you're talking 50M base without even factoring in the remaining gun owners.
Whutmeworry
NES Member
The moral of the story: Bring your kid (and his/her friends) to the range and teach him/her to shoot. TODAY.
Part of the problem with the stats is that at least at the ATF level I'm not sure there's a delineation between different specific types of guns unless thats part of their
reporting now, too. It might only be by legal type, and under Title 1 , even if you separate "rifles vs handguns vs other" that's a pretty gross delineation there
and doesn't get specific. I mean in some cases its captain obvious, like if its Colt, LMT, etc, it's likely an AR, but otherwise, who knows?
-Mike
reporting now, too. It might only be by legal type, and under Title 1 , even if you separate "rifles vs handguns vs other" that's a pretty gross delineation there
and doesn't get specific. I mean in some cases its captain obvious, like if its Colt, LMT, etc, it's likely an AR, but otherwise, who knows?
-Mike
Every gun owner I know owns at least one AR. My AR doesn't make it to the range much because the ammo is more expensive than I like to burn on my bi-weekly range trips, but its ready to rock as my primary family defense gun. My AK, now that's cheaper to run and hits the range once a month.
allen-1
NES Member
We're both members of that large group of "gun owners", but then we move in different circles. Just about everyone I shoot with down here in Georgia has at least one AR, many of the people I know have more than one. Seriously, not hyperbole. That may be because a lot of the guys I shoot with down here are active or retired military - or because it's Georgia - I'm not sure. It's a rare trip to the range when there aren't AR's on the firing line.
Yesterday I took a lunch break to check out a new load in a couple of handguns. As I drove in, there was a guy in his duty car on the 100 meter range with a suppressed AR and two others on the 100 yard range with AR's. Then a couple guys on a pistol range, then a guy in one of the tactical pits with a rifle - I didn't see what it was - but probably an AR or similar.
Up north, probably half the guys I shoot with regularly have ARs - they just don't bring them to the range as frequently. I hear a lot of conversation about worries about interactions with cops. I know for a fact that some of them weren't "declared" after Sandy Hook, so they can't come out in the light of day.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
fshalor
NES Member
Most of the people I shot with in Florida from 2001 theough 2008 had 1-3 ARs. I was the late bloomer of the bunch and only started acquiring parts along side CoastieRon when it looked like they may be banned forever from our ken.
Now I don't know how many I have. But I may be buying another lower soon to replace the NEwFeontier PolyBox thing as it doesn't really give me the warm and fuzziezes. It's still on a nice slick side upper and the SOTA arms barrel is wonderful for the money .
Wait what was I doing? OH. not talking about what I have. Yeah.
Also, someone needs to make an I Waddle bumper sticker . That should be a part of our watch cry .
Now I don't know how many I have. But I may be buying another lower soon to replace the NEwFeontier PolyBox thing as it doesn't really give me the warm and fuzziezes. It's still on a nice slick side upper and the SOTA arms barrel is wonderful for the money .
Wait what was I doing? OH. not talking about what I have. Yeah.
Also, someone needs to make an I Waddle bumper sticker . That should be a part of our watch cry .
headednorth
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Im sure this has been brought up before as Im certainly no legal scholar, but isnt the fact that guns are so heavily regulated cause them to not be in common use? IOW, if they werent regulated, they would be a lot more common so the same body who is responsible for regulating them is saying that if they arent in common use you cant have them. Sounds kind of fishy to me in a legal sense.
Sparky123
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Lowbird
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Buck F
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I bought and sold two pre Healy ARs to friends in 2018. Sold to them for the exact dollar amount I bought them for. These are guys that wished they bought before 7/20 but would never have felt comfortable going out on their own and buying private party. Spent some time and energy getting them but happy I was able to increase our numbers by a couple.
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Doesn’t matter it has no effect on our rights...if you need one ..you have one, could get one, or could fashion one out of nothing.... or obviously streal or kill to get one...so ya.....The only reason gun ownership is a right is because it’s a natural right.. and any government that denys it is destiny for failure.
greencobra
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imagine the numbers in massachusetts if everyone should have, could have and would have bought an ar before 7/20.
So- the numbers in my case in NH would also equal a big fat goose egg. No actual manufactured and transferred ARs.
No clue what production has been on 80% lowers but I’d wager that there are many that are still tucked away for a rainy day.
Mass-diver
NES Member
15-30million
Every time I see the published numbers for "AW" 's the antis or Fuddish organizations mention, I feel panic buy after panic buy the numbers never go up. When I was a kid, years before and after the AWB, AK-ish rifles for $100 to $200 were staple gun shop fare.
My feeling is like someone said back in 2018 they are counting what Colt, SW, Ruger, Remington is willing to give out and its mostly done in whole rifles, not lowers, not the small guys nobody outside of certain circles knows about like Aero, PSA, Spikes, Anderson, etc etc... I wouldn't be surprised if an AR lower doesn't even count as an AR, even if a manufacturer did provide the info.
Who knows, I don't, but if the number of functioning "AW" 's was triple the estimates it would not surprise me. I own 15 or so complete AR's and 3 of them came complete, rest started as various lowers.
My feeling is like someone said back in 2018 they are counting what Colt, SW, Ruger, Remington is willing to give out and its mostly done in whole rifles, not lowers, not the small guys nobody outside of certain circles knows about like Aero, PSA, Spikes, Anderson, etc etc... I wouldn't be surprised if an AR lower doesn't even count as an AR, even if a manufacturer did provide the info.
Who knows, I don't, but if the number of functioning "AW" 's was triple the estimates it would not surprise me. I own 15 or so complete AR's and 3 of them came complete, rest started as various lowers.
lowbuckbob
NES Member
A lot
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