Perception Poll: Who fires Guns in the US the most - hobbyists, career criminals or angry folk?

[IdaBriggs]

I will give other options, too. If you pick "combination", please explain.



REMINDER:
DU'ers, have you signed my petition to stop "open carry" at JC Penney's? If not, will you? And will you help me find other people who want to help, too?

http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-company-inc-please-post-signs-banning-open-carry-guns-in-jc-penney-stores?utm_campaign=share_button_action_box&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

3 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Time expired
	Hunters & Hobbyists for Food, Fun & Sport (deer, target, etc.)
	2 (67%)
	Career Criminals (robbers, contract killers, etc.)
	0 (0%)
	Law Enforcement / Military in the line of Duty
	0 (0%)
	Vigilant Civilians Protecting Life and/or Property
	0 (0%)
	Depressed/Suicidal or Other Mental Medical Issue
	0 (0%)
	Angry Family Members/Neighbors (not mentally ill/moment of stupid)
	0 (0%)
	Careless or Irresponsible Idiots and/or Children by Accident
	1 (33%)
	Combination (Please order in comment post)
	0 (0%)
	Other
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Recursion]

1. I think civilian hobbyists (not even hunters) would leave the other categories in the dust

Mostly because they tend to fire a lot of rounds in a given outing.

In crimes when a gun is fired, it's almost always fired once or twice.

LEO / military training would be up there, but that's a much smaller population than hobbyists.

Look at it this way: all the categories except the first are rare enough to make at least the local news.

[IdaBriggs]

2. So if they are just firing at targets, why do they need "real bullets"?

Why not use something that doesn't go through "meat"?

[Recursion]

4. Some do use that

though it tends to be less accurate. But along those lines, target/hobby weapons tend to be less powerful than hunting weapons.

[jmg257]

8. There other reasons to fire at targets besides getting the best score.

Real bullets are what makes real guns work right. And best duplicate how they would work in the real world. Accuracy, recoil, functionality, reliability, handling, etc.

"target shooting' would also include trap and skeet, which need real shotgun shells to bust those clay pigeons - 25 just for 1 round.

[HappyMe]

3. Hobbyist

on edit -
changed my mind

[Recursion]

5. I would doubt that -- fewer than 20% of gun owners hunt

And you fire relatively few rounds in a hunting outing.

Most crimes committed with firearms use one or two bullets.

A hobbyist at the range will go through hundreds of rounds in an outing.

[HappyMe]

6. It was just a guess on my part.

I don't know much at all about guns. I guess I should change the hunter thing though. Now that I think about it, friends back in WI complain that they were at the tree stand all day and didn't see a single deer.

[Recursion]

7. I haven't hunted since I was a kid, in fairness

But even if you use a semi-auto, most states highly regulate how big the magazine can be if you're hunting. From what I remember of an average outing for rabbits, I would shoot maybe 2-3 times in a day. It was more for quail, but not much.

[Dr. Strange]

9. If we're going by the bullet, I'd say cops.

[dmallind]

11. Not by orders of magnitude.

The entirety of police training from manuals and training sessions I have seen consumes about as many rounds as a reasonably enthusiastic hobby shooter uses in a couple of weeks, and there are far more of the former shooting for decades more than police training takes. Once qualified, cops shoot even less. The most common count in bullets used in duty is 0. I used to shoot at the same range cops used to qualify/requalify (they have to do so every so often) and got talking to a few. Only one veteran had ever needed to fire his gun. At, believe it or not, a dog. And this was in a major city, not Mayberry.

[littlewolf]

10. gang bangers. nt