A Gun Home is a Happy Home

Arthur Brooks recently penned a very interesting piece for the Wall St. Journal, Trigger Happy.

Brooks mined data from the General Social Survey and published some very powerful statistics:

• 34% of American homes contain guns.
• Gun owners have the same level of formal education as non owners.
• Gun owners earn 32% more per year than nonowners
• 36% of gun owners said they were “very happy,” while 9% were “not too happy.” Only 30% of non-owners were “very happy”, while 16% were “not too happy.”
• Gun-owning Republicans are more likely to be very happy (46% to 37%). Democrats with guns are slightly likelier than Democrats without guns to be very happy as well (32% to 29%).
• Gun owners are happier than non-owners, regardless of income level.
• Gun owners give money to charity than people without guns (83% to 75%).
• Gun owners were also more likely to donate blood than non owners.
• Guns owners more strongly agree that they would “endure all things” for the one they loved (45% to 37%).

President Obama criticized Americans, saying “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

It appears instead that we’re very happy with our guns, but not with Barack Obama.