No. of legal gun owners in decline; no. of shooting victims on the rise

More proof the gun industry's traditional customer base is shrinking, leaving gun makers and dealers to rely more and more on the criminal market. According to the Boston Globe,

"The number of licensed gun owners in Massachusetts has declined by more than a quarter in the past six years....

While some law enforcement officials praise the decline, police, politicians and antigun advocates caution that there are still plenty of illegal guns on the streets, contributing to a steady pace of violence.

"Fewer firearms on the street makes life safer for everyone," said Robert F. Crowley, Quincy's police chief. "The average citizen who has a gun 24-7 I don't believe has the experience, knowledge, and training to know when and if they should use a firearm."

Many attribute the drop to a 1998 state law, the Massachusetts Gun Control Act, and subsequent changes, which dramatically changed the gun licensing landscape by increasing fees and making it more difficult for people with old legal problems to renew their license." http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/12/gun_permits_drop_25_in_bay_state/

A Violence Policy Center report, "A Shrinking Minority" speaks to the industry's "panic" over a declining legal market for guns:

"Yet, for the past decade, when talking amongst themselves in industry publications, the issue, as voiced in one gunmaker’s ad in 1998 is, “It’s not `who your customers will be in five years.’ It’s `will there be any customers left?’” This fact is openly acknowledged in gun industry publications and among the associations that act on the industry’s behalf. Discussions of the continuing decline in gun ownership, and the inability to find replacement buyers to take the place of the aging primary market of white males, are often characterized by tones of panic. http://www.vpc.org/studies/gunownership.pdf

Nancyrob