Idaho has more gun dealers than gas stations

Very nice of the VPC to point this out to us:

State Number of Gun Dealers Number of Gas Stations State Number of Gun Dealers Number of Gas Stations
Alaska 844 229 Oregon 1,479 1,146
Idaho 682 663 Wyoming 550 401
Montana 1,017 597 U.S. Total 54,902 121,363

This isn’t so cool.  It’s just ignorance and bigotry:

The 1992 VPC publication More Gun Dealers Than Gas Stations first focused national attention on abuses by FFL holders and revealed that at the time of its release the number of Americans who possessed the Type 1 FFL outnumbered gas stations 245,000 to 210,000. The bulk of the licenses were held by illegitimate “kitchen-table” dealers who operated out of their homes or offices, an unknown percentage of which were actively involved in criminal gun trafficking. As the result of policy recommendations contained in the study that were implemented under the Clinton Administration, today only five states have more gun dealers than gas stations (see chart below). The full study contains information for all 50 states as well as policy recommendations.

“Illegitimate kitchen-table dealers”?  “Unknown percentage of which were actively involved in criminal gun trafficking”?  Are “kitchen-table” cosmetic dealers illegitmate?  I’m sure an “unknown percentage” of them are engaged criminal activities too.  By saying “unknown percentage” they only admit their ignorance and their open disregard for knowledge.  As far as the number of dealers goes, most gun owners have far more guns than cars so it’s to be expected there are more gun dealers than gas stations.  At least I live in one of the states where the gun dealers still outnumber the gas stations.  And remember the gasoline is more effective in mass murders than guns.  But the “Violence Policy Center” isn’t really interested in reducing violence, just the availability of guns.

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2 thoughts on “Idaho has more gun dealers than gas stations

  1. I wonder how many of those gas stations are also gun dealers and/or gun dealers are also gas stations?

    I’m not just thinking about all those Wal Marts out there either, but also about the large number of “General Stores” you find in rural areas that sell gas, milk, ammo, eggs, hunting license, radiator fluid, the occaisional rifle, and whatever else the local population might be in the market for.

    Good post!

  2. I want to know how many left-wing (anti-capitalist or pro-socialist) political pressure groups are also engaged in criminal activities, or that have members who are “actively involved” in criminal activities.

    Where are the cute little charts and the press releases on that?

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