California’s restrictive gun control laws apparently are not preventing state residents from buying guns, according to the Fresno Bee, although their choices have been limited by statutes prohibiting certain types of firearms.
The Golden State has among the most restrictive gun laws in the nation, according to the newspaper, and there are prohibitions on some types of firearms, particularly handguns and so-called “assault rifles.” However, according to the newspaper, “A quarter of Californians live in a house with a gun, according to a new survey.” It’s the California Safety and Wellbeing Survey.
The 2018 survey by UC Davis contained some interesting revelations about firearm ownership and acquisition in California. It estimated 4.2 million California adults own somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 million guns, while another 3.1 million live in a home with someone else who does. Ten percent of California gun owners own more than ten firearms, while the average number of firearms owned by a single individual is five, the survey said.
The majority of guns (55 percent) in the state are rifles and shotguns, while handguns make up about 45 percent of the guns owned, the report added. There are various reasons for firearms ownership, including protection against people and animals, along with hunting and target shooting. Long gun owners have a variety of reasons.
According to the report, most California gun owners are male (73 percent) and white (64 percent). Forty-three percent are age 60 or older. The “vast majority” of their guns were purchased at gun stores or other retail outlets.
Even with all the restrictive gun laws in California, people can still buy firearms, the report insists. They just can’t buy many models of handguns that have not been cleared for sale under parameters set by the state Department of Justice, or guns described as “assault weapons.”
According to a Small Arms Survey, a project of the Graduate Institute of the International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, that estimates more than 393 million guns are privately owned in the U.S.
“That’s more guns than there are Americans,” the newspaper noted.
