2021 National Firearms Survey

I'm not a statistician, how do these numbers translate to "in common use"?

Mr. Hardy, you are correct, not good news for anti-gunners, at all. Sadly, I doubt they see that as anything but a problem to be rectified. Just a bunch of deplorable oafs in the way of their utopia.

As far as Anonymous and "common use", the figures I've seen say "over 18" represents 77% of the population, or about 254 million. 100 million gun owners is roughly 40% of the adult population. 24 million AR owners is about 25% of that. Do the other math, and come to your own conclusion.
What matters is who will give them up.

Increasing gun sales and gun ownership have NOT resulted in increased support for the NRA or more opposition to gun control, in my experience. New gun owners who are very enthusiastic about synthetic-framed pocket pistols and AR clones, even those who realize the image of gun owners is distorted by the media, think the NRA is on the wrong side of all the issues. This is a major fail on the part of the current NRA administration and “pro-gun” people in the news media. Despite that more guns are meaning less crime, that is not the public perception, even among gun owners. The attack on “liberals” is failing, for obvious reasons. Blaming “liberals” is a Straw Man and a distraction. Conservative slogans and insulting liberals are also irrelevancies. The effective arguments are logical, factual, and objective. Your emotions, and mine, are also irrelevant! Get real!

...Eldon, talking logic and reason to Progressives is useless. Their belief system isn't based on those things. They base their beliefs on emotions.
...I agree that Progs buying guns is not necessarily a game changer of their beliefs. The good news is that they believe in magic and won't practice . The mere possession of a gun is enough for them. And the guns they buy are usually pistols, not rifles. Good on 'em. When the real break happens they can't hit shiff. They don't know their zero's or come-ups. They think two boxes of ammo is enough.
...The NRA grew corrupt and wasteful . it has turned into the secular equivalent of the T.V. Preacher. It needs to be reformed and rebuilt. I thought Oliver North might be the fellow to do that, but he was not.
...The NRA hasn't lead for decades, not even in their reason d'etre, marksmanship. Their magazine is but a shill for donations .

Give me a break! If everyone but us is stupid, corrupt, or simply lazy, there's no point in going on. If we give up on the NRA, might as well give up period.

On second thot, why not explain to those "progs" (Sounds like the proles" in 1984 doesn't it?) that they are repeating superstitions that existed before guns -- and that gunpowder was called the "devil's invention" etc., so their progressivism is over 600 years out of date, with the liberals and democratic philosophers opposing gun control against the royalists, aristocrats, and religiously superstition. Or is that too hard for you to do?

I have been a life member of the NRA since 1975, went to endowment around 2000.
That said I will not give money to the NRA while Wayne and his corrupt buddies are there. I do give locally and looking at some of the other National organizations.
As to why new owners may not join the NRA; A friend just got her FID and is going to purchase a hand gun for "protection". She has taken a general course but is not interested in regular practice from what I can tell. She does not see herself as one of the "people of the gun". The NRA has lost all appeal to the general population of those buying. Part of it is their own fault and part if the good sales job of vilification that has been going on.

32% is definitely the starting point for ownership. Lots of gun owners either don't want to reveal it to strangers or in many jurisdictions, confess to breaking the law.