Gun Control & RKBA

straw man: .. you are aware, I'm sure, that accidental shootings have fallen considerably since the 1980s, even as there are more and more guns in circulation. To what would you attribute that? Could it be ... safety training?

The large reason for the decrease in firearm shootings & gun deaths (suicides, homicides, accidents) since the 1980's (actually early 90's better said) has been a decline in gun ownership rates during the clinton years, which have remained relatively stable under gbush & obama, slight upticks.
Gee, national gun ownership rates declined ~30% during clinton & violent crime rates declined ~30%, what a correlation eh? by you must be safety training eh? Quelle surprise (what surprise) - less gun ownership rates, less gun death.
Total national gunstock has increased since early 1990's, as you say above, but the guns generally did not go to new gun owners, but rather moreso to existing gun owners.

3 reputable polls that show gun ownership RATES have fallen over the past 20 years: Gallup, Pew, & GSS (general social survey).
https://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/

1) Gallup: .. even Gallup's numbers show a decline in gun ownership since the early 1990s, from 54% of households in late 1993 to 43% as of this fall. http://www.gallup.com/poll/186236/americans-desire-stricter-gun-laws-sharply.aspx

2) General Social Survey (GSS) .. data show a substantial decline in the shares of both households and individuals with guns... 1973, 49% reported having a gun or revolver in their home or garage. In 2012, 34% said they had a gun in their home or garage.
.. personal gun ownership in 1980, 29% said a gun in their home personally belonged to them. This stands at 22% in the 2012 GSS survey. http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/
3) ... The Pew Research Center has tracked gun ownership since 1993, and our surveys largely confirm the General Social Survey trend. In our Dec 1993 survey, 45% reported having a gun in their household; in early 1994, the GSS found 44% saying they had a gun in their home. A Jan 2013 Pew Research Center survey found 33% saying they had a gun, rifle or pistol in their home, as did 34% in the 2012 wave of {GSS}.

Now you know the rest of the story. According to all 3 polls above, personal & household gun ownership rates fell dramatically during the same 8 yr time period as when violent crime & total crime rates fell dramatically, ~1992 - 2000.
National gunstock increased during that time period as well, also to now, but is demonstrably shown that a solid portion of those guns went to existing gun owners rather than creating any increase in the rate of gun owners.
The clinton crime initiative went into effect in 1994, which also had an affect on declining violent crime rates, but wouldn't've affected 1992, 93, 94.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=178997