In the wake of the most recent U.S. mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 pupils and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old with an . Here, a red-hot gun barrel is prepared for work on a blacksmith's anvil at an event near the U.S. Capitol in 2021. That's due in large part to lack of national standards for licensing and registering firearms, which is left to the states and their varying degrees of regulation. And while 16% of men in this group went shooting or to a gun range at least sometimes when they were growing up, even smaller shares of women did so (6%). Gun owners overwhelmingly state protection as the reason why they own a firearm. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. Wyoming is the state with the most guns per capita, while New York is the state with the fewest. Guns are in the households of an estimated 30.2% of Maryland adults. Since it is not a federal law to register a gun, there is no true number of just how many guns are out there. Of the 393 million firearms in the U.S., only 6.06 million of them are registered. NOTE: Small Arms Survey calculates guns per . Makenzie Wynn poses with a Black Rain Ordnance rifle at an NRA event in Atlanta, as herfather snaps a photo. They were made to safeguard freedoms against tyranny, and are not granted by the Government, but considered a God-given right and are not to be infringed upon by any government. By contrast, older Americans who grew up in a gun-owning household are far more likely than younger adults who grew up with guns to point to hunting as a reason guns were present in their household. Park County Sheriff Scott Steward told CBS News there are so many guns in Wyoming that those who do not own one "are very much in the minority.". The most salient reason behind firearm ownership is the prevalence of "gun culture," or the acceptance of firearms by friends, family, and . This is, perhaps, not surprising, considering that eight-in-ten gun owners cite more than one reason for owning a gun including 44% who say there is more than one major reason and may need different types of guns for different purposes. Among non-gun owners, about six-in-ten of those who grew up in a gun-owning household say they could see themselves owning a gun at some point (61%). Here, a man holds a handgun for sale at the RTSP shooting range in Randolph. Men are particularly likely to own multiple guns: About three-quarters of male gun owners (74%) say they own two or more guns, compared with 53% of female gun owners. There is no significant difference in the rate of gun ownership across educational attainment among nonwhites. U.S. number of federal firearms licensees 2020, by state; Gun ownership in the U.S. 2014, by gender; Gun ownership in the U.S. 2012, by . Because of this, over 70% of gun owners own a handgun of some sort, with rifles and shotguns making up the rest. Serbia Serbia is ranked second in the firearms per capita with a rate of 58.21 guns per 100 people. White, Deborah. Finally, it asked about gun ownership using two separate questions to measure personal and household ownership instead of collecting this information with a single question, as has been the case with previous Pew Research Center reports. Among adults who didnt grow up in a gun-owning household, few say they went hunting or shooting when they were growing up. Of those who do not own a gun, 36% claim they are not opposed to ownership in the future. Among all current and past gun owners, the average age at which Americans say they first became gun owners is 22 years. firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 per 100 in 2011, far surpasses that of other . Around 44.6% of adults in Virginia have guns at home. This is a decline of about 17 percentage points from the peak ownership years in 1977-1980. Around 46% of all 857 million guns in civilian hands around the world belonged to people living in the United States in 2017, a survey has found. In 2017, there were nearly 40,000 gun-related deaths in the United States, including homicides and suicides. In addition to Wyoming, several other small states are near the top of the list when it comes to per capita gun sales. Americans have a different assessment of how people in their own communities view gun owners. What the data says about abortion in the U.S. Are you in the American middle class? Protection is cited far more often by adults younger than 30 than their older counterparts as a reason there were guns in their household growing up. An NRA convention-goer holds a 24-karat-gold-plated Desert Eagle pistol at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Interestingly, gun owners who see their local community as unsafe are not significantly more likely than those who say they live in a safe community to say protection is central to why they own a gun. In New Hampshire, 41.1% of adults have guns in their homes. Around 57.2% of Arkansans say they have guns in their homes. Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers. For people between the ages of 30 and 49, 28% own a firearm. This doesnt mean there arent crimes committed with legally owned weapons, but it does mean that bad guys do bad things and have found a way to get a weapon despite strict gun laws. . With a steel-constructed body constituting its thickness measured in gauges and secured with one (or more) of the three major lock . This chart presents the annual estimated proportion of adults living in a household with a firearm between 1980 and 2016. 17-19% of 40-45 million adults own a handgun. Furthermore, the percentage of people who live in gun houses according to . Currently, you are using a shared account. Here are the results: As shown, when considered from a global perspective, there is no correlation between the number of guns per capita in a country and the number of firearm-related homicides. A closer analysis of this demographic data reveals that about 46% of rural households own guns, while just 19% of urban households do. The study shows that the states with highest gun . First, they used a small-area estimation technique to create state-level ownership estimates for each of 51 nationally representative surveys . New Hampshire, which has the second-highest guns per capita, has some of the most relaxed firearm laws in the U.S., including no requirement to register your gun. In Oklahoma, 54.7% of adults have guns at home. The resulting measure represents the proportion of adults living in a household with a firearm in each U.S. state for each year between 1980 and 2016. On the other side of the scale, we have the states with the lowest percentage of gun owners. (November 15, 2022). A closer analysis of this demographic data reveals that about 46% of rural households own guns, while just 19% of urban households do. Its important to note that were looking at the total percentage of gun ownership based on population. Some states require registration upon purchase, but for the most part, gun ownership, per capita is an estimate based upon overall gun sales and independent polls. In Missouri, 48.8% of adults have guns at home. Nevada's gun ownership for every 1,000 residents averages at 34. The four other states with the highest number of guns per capita (guns per 1,000 people) are: New Hampshire (47), New Mexico (46), Virginia (36), and Alabama (33). Gun ownership is more common among men than women, and white men are particularly likely to be gun owners. The journal surveyed 4,000 adults across the country to see which states have the highest number of gun owners per capita, also known as the gun ownership rate. Among adults who have never personally owned a gun, seven-in-ten of those who grew up with guns in their household say they have fired a gun at some point, compared with 47% of those who didnt grow up in a gun-owning household. Overall, 69% of all U.S. adults and 75% of those who own a gun say the world has become a more dangerous place. An estimated 53.1% of adults in the Bayou State have guns at home. An estimated 35.3% of adults in Florida live in homes with guns. To compare countries' gun ownership rates, researchers in the original study assigned each nation a score based on figures from the Small Arms Survey, the country's ratio of firearm suicides to all suicides (a common proxy for firearm availability . It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Gun violence in the United States by state - Wikipedia Gun violence in the United States by state This article is a list of the U.S. states, with population, murders and non-negligent manslaughter, murders, gun murders, and gun ownership percentage, then calculated rates per 100,000. Rural households are more likely to own a firearm than urban households, 46% vs. 19%, and those 50 or older have the highest gun ownership rate than other age groups at 33%. Of Wyoming's 581,075 people, there are 132,806 registered guns. Wed love the chance to answer any questions you may have in the comments below, and, as always, please share! The Small Arms Survey claims that the United States has by far the highest level of gun ownership, with 88.8 guns per 100 people. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. While this difference is most pronounced among those who grew up in rural areas 48% of those who grew up with guns now own a gun vs. 12% of those who didnt grow up with guns in their household it is also evident among those who grew up in small towns, suburbs or cities. One-in-ten men who didnt grow up with guns in their household say they went hunting often or sometimes, compared with 5% of women. In the survey the question was asked in the following wording: "Do you have a gun in your home? Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Gun sales have . About half of men who grew up with guns in their homes say they went hunting often (27%) or sometimes (23%). April 14, 2022 / 6:55 PM Virginia, which is the 12th-biggest state, ranks sixth for gun sales (about 778,000), and Alabama, 23rd . ThoughtCo. This reflects, in part, the fact that men who own guns are more likely than their female counterparts to have more than one reason for doing so. "America's Passion for Guns: Ownership and Violence by the Numbers." Among women who grew up in a gun-owning household, about one-in-five (22%) say they went hunting at least sometimes when they were growing up, while most say they hardly ever (18%) or never (61%) did this. The population data is from the U.S. Census Bureau. 40-45% of 47-53 million Americans have a household with a gun. Despite the legal challenges the Second Amendment has run across in the last few decades, the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times in favor of individual rights to own legally defined firearms. Still, there are windows into the world of gun ownership slices of data that offer pieces to the puzzle. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/249740/percentage-of-households-in-the-united-states-owning-a-firearm/, Percentage of households in the United States owning one or more firearms from 1972 to 2022, Available to download in PNG, PDF, XLS format, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2022, by gender, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2021, by ethnicity, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2021, by education level, Gun ownership U.S. 2022, by party affiliation, U.S. number of firearms manufactured 1986-2021, Number of total firearms manufactured U.S. 2021, by firearm category, Economic impact of U.S. sporting arms and ammunition industry 2020, Number of exported firearms U.S.1986-2021, U.S. number of exported firearms manufactured 2021, by firearm category, Number of imported firearms U.S. 1986-2020, Number of imported firearms U.S. 2020, by firearm category, NICS background checks performed in the U.S. 1998-2021, Number of homicides by firearm in the U.S. 2006-2021, Homicides by firearm in the U.S. 2006-2020, Homicide by firearm rate in the U.S. 2006-2020, Murders involving firearms in the U.S. 2020, by state, Number of firearm deaths U.S. 2019, by gender, U.S. public opinion on the strictness of laws covering firearms sale 1990-2022, Support for stricter gun control laws U.S. 2022, by party, Support for protecting or limiting gun ownership rights U.S. 2022, by party, U.S. public opinion on a law that bans private handgun possession 1990-2022, Support for banning assault-style weapons in the U.S. 2022, by party, Support for banning high-capacity ammunition magazines U.S. 2022, by party, Percentage of U.S. population who know gun violence victims, as of 2013, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2012, by ethnicity, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2012, by education, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2017, by region, United States: presence of a firearm at home 2022, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2014, by gender, U.S. public opinion on safety gains through more concealed weapons 2015, U.S. public opinion on background checks for all gun purchases 2015, How many Americans agree with concealed carry, by gender 2018, Number of registered firearms in South Korea 2007-2016, U.S. public opinion on people in neighborhood watch programs carrying guns 2012, U.S. public opinion on the "stand your ground laws" in March 2012, Firearm ownership rate, by household income U.S. 2014, Satisfaction with gun policy in the US 2014, Latin America & Caribbean: number of armed civilians by country 2017, Firearm ownership rate, by proximity to urban centers U.S. 2017, Find your information in our database containing over 20,000 reports, large number of deaths due to firearms in the country. Here, a Bush Master AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is displayed at Firing-Line gun shop in Aurora. Consistent with patterns in gun ownership, a higher share of men than women who dont currently own guns say they could see themselves doing so at some point; 62% of men who dont own guns say this is the case, compared with 45% of women. Measuring gun ownership comes with its own set of challenges. In Tennessee, 51.6% of adults have guns in their homes. You can find those results here. In fact, eight-in-ten say they have more than one reason for owning, and 44% have more than one major reason. However, as a living document, it encompasses the legal right to own and bear guns, and the amount of guns owned by law-abiding US citizens illustrates just how seriously they take this right. One of the many reasons why there are more guns in the United States than there are people, is our Constitutions 2nd Amendment that reads, A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than twice as likely as Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to say they own a gun (44% vs. 20%). Louis Post-Dispatch/Tribune News Service/Getty Images. Roughly three-quarters of Americans who currently own a gun (73%) say they cant see themselves ever not owning one, and this is the case among majorities of gun owners across demographic groups. According to the Pew Research Center, handguns are the most common type of firearm among gun owners. 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