Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Guns, Shmuns

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by

James A. Bacon
in

NYC_handguns

With all the stories I read about guns sold in Virginia making their way to criminals in New York, I figured Virginia was a haven for gun nuts. The impression was reinforced by the recent hooplah over Attorney General Mark Herring’s bid to sever reciprocity of gun rights with other states, and then the dramatic reversal of the policy after a deal cut between Governor Terry McAuliffe and General Assembly Republicans.

But it turns out that guns are less of a thing in Virginia than most other states. According to the listicle freaks at WalletHub, Virginia’s economy is less dependent upon gun manufacturing and sales than most states, gun ownership/sales are less prevalent, and the influence of the gun and anti-gun lobbies is only so-so.

Virginia ranked 39th overall out of the 50 states in WalletHub’s gun index: 35th for the contribution of the gun industry to the local economy, 35th for gun prevalence (ownership and gun sales per capita) and 27th for gun politics (as defined by political contributions for and against guns). If guns are your thing, head to Idaho or Alaska.

— JAB

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6 responses to “Guns, Shmuns”

  1. VaConsumer Avatar
    VaConsumer

    Might gun exchanges that occur without database checks not be counted and thus make Virginia appear to have less activity than it does?

  2. Andrew Moore Avatar
    Andrew Moore

    Interesting. Having been at the General Assembly Building on MLK Day (aka Gun Lobby Day), I would tend towards the same impression. One interesting thing to note is the disparity between the VA rankings of manufacturer influence/ownership (+/- 35 ) and the politics (27). It may not be all that significant of a difference, but it is interesting that the politics outstrips the rooted base of advocacy.

  3. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    “McAuliffe said, “It has been estimated that nearly 40 percent of all guns sold in America are sold by private, unlicensed sellers either online or through gun shows.”
    …
    So we rate his statement Mostly False.”

    http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2015/nov/02/terry-mcauliffe/mcauliffe-says-40-percent-gun-sales-escape-backgro/

    the politics are such that keeping statistics is thought to be a bad thing by those concerned that such stats could lead to further restrictions.

    right?

    and to me to irony is that guns – weapons are ALREADY restricted such that those that have them do not have no where near “parity” with a govt that could become “despotic”.. so this govt if it every got despotic would have no trouble crushing the “patriots”.

    At the same time – we DO have enough firepower for a wack job to kill dozens and dozens of innocent folks in a few minutes.

    sort of a lose-lose…

    now – the NEXT big thing I predict is going to be the “right” for people to own drones so they can be used to keep a potentially despotic govt under close surveillance so we know well in advance when they’re coming to take our guns!!!

    oh .. and for petes sake don’t even BREATHE the idea that some gun nut could develop a “weaponized” drone to fly into a school yard or stadium and mow people down and doing so without having to commit “suicide” afterward to escape the SWAT teams.

    Ah – technology – and … the politics… of… gun rights!!!

    😉

  4. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    I’ve told by an owner of a gun store that NoVA is one of the areas with the most people owning guns anywhere. The many active and retired military people and those involved with national security own a large number of firearms, even as there are many anti-gun people as well. A county supervisor told me that, in some of the security agency buildings, as many as 3/4 of the employees are armed everyday at work.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      interesting – the DOD facilities that I am familiar with – will rip you a new one if you try to bring a gun on base and into a building.

      Aren’t most guns actually banned on most Military bases?

      1. TooManyTaxes Avatar
        TooManyTaxes

        Larry, I can only relate what I was told and regard both sources as reliable. Concealed carry is very large in Fairfax County.

        I do think you are correct on gun bans on military bases, at least domestic ones.

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