One of the ongoing myths in the gun debate is that more and more households in the U.S. are rushing out to purchase firearms, fearing that President Obama and Congress are planning to “take away our guns” in the near future. But the latest General Social Survey, a public opinion survey conducted every two years since in 1973, shows just the opposite is happening.

The household gun ownership rate has actually fallen from an average of 50% in the 1970s to 34% in 2012, continuing a downward trend that began in the 1980s.

So what about all the headlines and data claiming that gun sales are skyrocketing?

Researchers believe that increased gun sales have been limited primarily to current gun owners.

The downward trend in household gun ownership coincides with the decline of hunting and a significant drop in violent crime. According to the 2012 survey, only 25% of men said they hunted, compared to 40% of men in 1977. Urbanization also has contributed to the decline. Only 17% of the population now lives in rural areas, which traditionally have the highest gun ownership, compared to 27% in the 1970s.

The rate has dropped in cities and the suburbs as well, and in households with and without children, households that attend church and those who don’t, and for those who say they are happy and for those who say they are not. In other words, the decline in gun ownership is broad based.

The survey might help explain recent polling data that show the majority of households support closing the gun show loophole by requiring universal mandatory background checks, banning the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines, and prohibiting high-risk individuals from having guns, including those with mental illnesses, those convicted of a serious crime as a juvenile, and those who violate a domestic-violence restraining order.

Whether Congress is willing to listen to the will of the people or to the gun lobby remains to be seen. But the significant decline in gun ownership should coincide with a significant decline in the power and influence of the NRA.