(Quoting Bellesiles)
> Sweeney and Smith have found
> a clear class bias in probate inventories, with the wealthiest being
> most likely to be inventoried. ...
> In terms of this
> particular study, then, those most likely to own guns and books are
> most often inventoried....
No kidding! Anyone who works with these records knows this. It's so elementary that you ordinarily scarcely need mention it, let alone underline it.
Yoshie says:
> As one of Bellesiles's primary historical sources for evidence of the
> scarcity of guns in pre-Civil-War America is probate records, it is
> possible that gun ownership was even less widespread than _Arming
> America_ suggests.
I say, quite probably right. The fact that he needs to belabor the obvious about the limitations of his primary source material also suggests bad faith and tendentiousness on the part of his critics.
Jacob Conrad