Gun statistics

[TAB]

Another impediment to your research is that many states do not regulate "Private sales" between individuals, therefore they create no paper trail or NICS call.

along that same idea, in many states, if you have a CCW, you don't need to do the NCIS check.( granted you knwo they already have atleast one fire amr)

[Tak]

Give us your abstract, and we would be able to offer better advice. Because the narrower the question, the more precise the answer is likely to be. Good advice from a prof on composing a paper, and good advice on life in general.
FQ13

Thank you for your willingness to help, but I don't have an abstract if I haven't done the statistical analysis. Besides, I don't want advice. I need information.

there are no numbers on how many americans own guns.( legally)
In fact the only thing the ATF can tell you about a given year is:
1 how many guns were made
2 how many background checks were done.( remember you can buy 10k long guns off 1 background check, but you must do a back ground check for every hand gun.)
They  can not tell you how many were sold( new guns) 
even the NRA does not release how many members they have. 
so your not going to find those numbers. 

Yeah, I figured that the numbers wouldn't tell me exactly how many people out there have guns in possession. I think I just need to check for trends.

[fightingquaker13]

TAK
I think the point that I and most folks here are trying to make, is that REAL (as in reliable and complete) data is scarce on the ground. Yes there are numbers you can use BUT if these don't reflect reality, all the statistical brilliance in the world won't help. You're basically just shrugging your shoulders with math. Just because you can do a great regression analysis and show that the answer is 47, doesn't make it so. What I was trying to say obliquely, and now will say explicitly, is that maybe a less quantatative approach might be warranted. Be driven by the question not the method. What is your thesis? Tell me that and I can point out the data you need to test it.
FQ13