News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by paulie_a on Monday July 16, 2018 @03:40PM (#17544370)
Most Americans don't have guns. Gun owners are a minority with a very loud voice.
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by e12e on Monday July 16, 2018 @04:14PM (#17544697)
One in three households or thereabouts. It's certainly not "most" - but not sure "vocal minority" is accurate either?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/29/ameri...

Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by dragonwriter on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:25PM (#17545280)
Minority generally means “less than half”. In some contexts, with a non-binary trait, it may mean “smaller than the largest group”, with the largest group being a “majority” if it is greater than 50%, and a “plurality” if it is not.

33% on a binary trait (one either does or does not own at least one gun) is clearly a minority.

Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by bobwaycott on Monday July 16, 2018 @04:56PM (#17545027)
So that’s 33%—of households, not people—at best. Definitely a minority—a minority that appears to be growing even smaller if the trends continue. They’re definitely vocal.

What part of calling them a vocal minority seems inaccurate?

Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by e12e on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:18PM (#17545221)
I guess I'm not used to such a large group being seen as a "minority". Isn't the breakdown in US elections roughly 1 in 3 (or 1 in 4) Democrat, Republican and other (independent / didn't vote)?
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by paulie_a on Monday July 16, 2018 @04:55PM (#17545017)
A house hold often includes more than one person. Those other individuals are not gun owners. Gun owners are a fairly small group with a very powerful lobby that needs to be ignored.
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by e12e on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:13PM (#17545184)
This (and the sibling) strikes me as an odd interpretation - there are more guns than people in the US - most households with any guns, have more than one gun. And as I see it living in a household with guns, generally means access to guns?

So I readily read one in three households, as strictly more than one in three persons - have access to guns?

Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by dragonwriter on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:28PM (#17545309)
> So I readily read one in three households, as strictly more than one in three persons

That's a bad reading. Even if everyone in a household with a gun owner have access to guns, that would mean 33% of households implies exactly 33% of people if gun ownership is distributed among households with no bias by household size. It doesn't imply more than 33% of people unless gun owning households are larger than non-gun-owning households.

Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by imtringued on Monday July 16, 2018 @06:29PM (#17545720)
Why even care about this meaningless distinction? Households can give other households guns. What's important is if there are enough guns and ammunition for every person, not how they are distributed unless it's extremely skewed to a very specific part of the population.
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by ntsplnkv2 on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:19PM (#17545227)
Just because you don't personally own a gun doesn't mean you're also against owning guns.
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by paulie_a on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:26PM (#17545293)
And that is not relevant, either you own a gun or you don't. Americans by and large don't own one.
Re:Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Top... by ntsplnkv2 on Monday July 16, 2018 @06:12PM (#17545611)
Only if we're talking about gun ownership, which you did not do. You brought up the gun lobby. It's relevant because you equate gun owners only to the gun lobby.

There are many non-gun owners that are without a doubt for owning guns.