Please forgive me for the stereotype but why do white people love guns? My little sister asked me this the other day and I simply did not know. One of her girlfriends at work her husband and his friends are gun loving nuts that's why she asked and I'm asking y'all. please forgive me if I'm off base.
Grizz,
These are the kinds of questions we need to ask in order to better understand each other.
One of the factors that I think comes into play is how we've divided up the geography and where you see concentrations of poverty as well as minorities. Take the county I live in here in Pennsylvania. Lots of gun owners, hunters etc. York County is 95% White and 5% minority, but York City is split 50/50. Inside the city you have a large population of poor people of all races. You also have a higher crime rate in the city, with the result that some years back they banned the carrying of any fire arm inside the city limits. That didn't get rid of the guns, there are more than enough to go around, but people don't talk about them the way they might out in the country. Also, many of the guns that people have in the city are, lets say "less than legal." Bottom line is plenty of poor people (Black, Whites and Hispanics) have guns, they just don't brag about it as much(but they certainly use them, otherwise why do we have Shot Spotters in the city?) as the middle class in the city (or any economic class out in the country).
Also, if I (a middle class White guy) gets stopped with weapon in my car, I can show a carry permit and probably discuss good hunting areas with the police officer (who is also more likely to be White). But, if my middle class Black neighbor gets stopped with a weapon, the chances are good that he'll be stripped searched and carted off to jail before they even ask for his permit. So, many of my middle class Black friends don't buy guns because they simply don't want the hassle that could come from using them legally.
So, I guess what I'm saying is there are plenty of gun owners in all areas, but you won't here some talk about them because of where they live or how they might be treated if they carry them legally.
