Gun ownership in the USA

Some interesting numbers. I had posted at the beginning of December how "Black Friday" had record numbers of firearm purchases. Now it's Christmas as well -- from the UK Telegraph:

Americans buy record numbers of guns for Christmas
According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were in the six days before Christmas.

It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November.

On Dec 23 alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history.

The actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if individual customers took home more than one each.

Explanations for America's surge in gun buying include that it is a response to the stalled economy with people fearing crime waves. Another theory is that buyers are rushing to gun shops because they believe tighter firearms laws will be introduced in the future.

Heh -- I purchased a pistol a few weeks ago and have a shotgun on order. Planning to get a few more as time and cash permits.