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The number of Americans who live in a household with at least one gun is lower than it's ever been, according to a major American trend survey that finds the decline in gun ownership is paralleled by a reduction in the number of Americans who hunt.

The latest General Social Survey shows that 32 percent of Americans either own a firearm themselves or live with someone who does, which ties a record low set in 2010. But Gun Talk Host Tom Gresham says this survey is misleading because it only looks at percentages, not the numbers. He says the number of gun owners continues to climb and he expects those numbers to keep going up.

The General Social Survey is conducted by NORC, an independent research organization based at the University of Chicago, with money from the National Science Foundation. Because of its long-running and comprehensive set of questions about the demographics, behaviors and attitudes of the American public, it is a highly regarded source of data about social trends.

But data from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check system shows that in recent years there's actually been an increase in the number of background checks being run, suggesting the total number of firearms being purchased is going up.

But those are concentrated in fewer hands than they were in the 1980s, the General Social Survey finds. The 2014 poll finds that 22 percent of Americans own a firearm, down from a high of 31 percent who said so in 1985.

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