A recent PEW poll shows a majority of people support gun rights over gun control.

[flamin lib]

7. I believe that the current household ownership rate is between 35 & 40%.

The largest percentage by type are rifles and are for recreational use. The second largest type are handguns and they are owned for self defense.

There has been a recent bump in households with guns but the trend over the last 30 years is downward. The average age of gun owners in increasing, a fact not lost on the gun lobby hence the marketing of guns to children as young as 6.

Yes the loudest voices are on the fringe but the vast majority of reasonable people want restrictions on who can buy guns while protecting the right of the truly law respecting to have them.

At present the NRA and gun lobby own Washington D.C. so the current direction for the gun safety movement is to the states, bypassing the gun lobby. The NRA is responding with a similar strategy. However, in states that have referendums that go directly to the public, the gun lobby has no real power and the voices of the reasonable middle are heard.