Remington: “10,000,000 870s sold, and still going strong”

Getting stats on gun ownership in the U.S. is a tricky business. The FBI keeps records on the number of firearms purchase-related criminal background checks (for a while) and notes which states generate same. Which weapons sold? How many of each? To what demographic? Go fish. Gun makers are less likely to surrender those stats than your right to buy their guns. I mean, bear arms. Remington Arms included. But now, thanks to that rather popular social network site commonly known as Facebook (situated on Al Gore’s Interweb), we know how many Wingmaster 870 shotguns the manufacturer has sold to civilians, military and The Department of Education. Oh wait; those were Mossbergs. And hang on; what of Canada, oh Canada? Never mind. It’s 10 million plus. A quick scan of wikipedia reveals that Remington’s been pumping-out 870’s since 1870. D’oh! 1951.The “over 10 million satisfied armed and dangerous customers” stat has been around since April 13, 2009, when “the ten millionth Model 870 was produced.” So, is Remington’s community-tweaking Facebooker saying his employer hasn’t sold any 870’s since then? Hardly. But there’s no new intelligence on offer. Just the a lot of happy customers testifyin’ about the people’s gun. Mission accomplished. So to speak.