Tonite's CBS Evening News (sic) with Dan Rather contained the first of a two-part self-styled '...hard news report' which claimed that one of the most fanatical voter blocs... a '...single issue' bloc...is America's '...minority' of gun owners.
In an apparent effort to depict the 'average' gun owner as a fanatic with an arsenal of weapons, an owner with a 100-gun collection was interviewed; and a big-city dealer was quoted to the effect that '...80 percent of our sales are to repeat buyers.' It was clear that the intent of the report was to characterize gun owners as a lunatic fringe insignificant in size.
But CBS' contradicted itself in its own report.
We were characterized as a minority, by a guest dweeb talking-head, who said that 'Ten percent of gun owners own 80 percent of the 120 million guns in private ownership'. My limited understanding of math leads me thus to conclude that the dweeb meant that 96 million guns belonged to the 10 percent, and 24 million to the other 90 percent. If the 10-percent fraction of gun owners own as many as 100 guns each (a ridiculously high estimate) then that means that we can add 2.4 million gun owners to the 24 million single-gun owners previously mentioned, to make a total of a MINIMUM of 26.4 million gun owners in the US. THIS is a minority? But there's more.
I've always understood that in this country of nearly 300 million people, there were about 300 million guns...AND earlier in the 'report', Rather himself made the statement that there were 'nearly enough guns in circulation to provide one for every single person in the country.' So is CBS talking about 300 million guns or 120 million? Are we a 'minority' of only 24 million, or a near majority? One cannot tell from CBS' 'hard hitting' report.
Where did CBS get its figures? HCI? The Tooth Fairy?
And if there ARE only 26.4 million gun owners in the US, is CBS acting in its own best interest to lie about, vilify and antagonize even this 'minority'?
Eagerly (gack) awaiting Part TWO of this 'hard hitting report' tomorrow.
Since I am seriously math-challenged, I would welcome anyone's correction of my figures, if they are wrong!!!
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If they take our guns, I intend to let my hair grow long and acquire the jawbone of an ass.
[This message has been edited by slabsides (edited July 05, 2000).]
In an apparent effort to depict the 'average' gun owner as a fanatic with an arsenal of weapons, an owner with a 100-gun collection was interviewed; and a big-city dealer was quoted to the effect that '...80 percent of our sales are to repeat buyers.' It was clear that the intent of the report was to characterize gun owners as a lunatic fringe insignificant in size.
But CBS' contradicted itself in its own report.
We were characterized as a minority, by a guest dweeb talking-head, who said that 'Ten percent of gun owners own 80 percent of the 120 million guns in private ownership'. My limited understanding of math leads me thus to conclude that the dweeb meant that 96 million guns belonged to the 10 percent, and 24 million to the other 90 percent. If the 10-percent fraction of gun owners own as many as 100 guns each (a ridiculously high estimate) then that means that we can add 2.4 million gun owners to the 24 million single-gun owners previously mentioned, to make a total of a MINIMUM of 26.4 million gun owners in the US. THIS is a minority? But there's more.
I've always understood that in this country of nearly 300 million people, there were about 300 million guns...AND earlier in the 'report', Rather himself made the statement that there were 'nearly enough guns in circulation to provide one for every single person in the country.' So is CBS talking about 300 million guns or 120 million? Are we a 'minority' of only 24 million, or a near majority? One cannot tell from CBS' 'hard hitting' report.
Where did CBS get its figures? HCI? The Tooth Fairy?
And if there ARE only 26.4 million gun owners in the US, is CBS acting in its own best interest to lie about, vilify and antagonize even this 'minority'?
Eagerly (gack) awaiting Part TWO of this 'hard hitting report' tomorrow.
Since I am seriously math-challenged, I would welcome anyone's correction of my figures, if they are wrong!!!
------------------
If they take our guns, I intend to let my hair grow long and acquire the jawbone of an ass.
[This message has been edited by slabsides (edited July 05, 2000).]