gun ownership per capita by state
An estimated 35.3% of adults in Florida live in homes with guns. 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). Overall, 46% of Americans who live in rural parts of the country own a gun, compared with 28% of those who live in the suburbs and 19% of those in urban areas. About two-thirds (68%) of whites who have never owned a gun say they have fired one at some point, compared with 32% of blacks and 35% of Hispanics who have never owned a gun. About four-in-ten say the same about hunting (38%), while three-in-ten say sport shooting, including target, trap and skeet shooting is a major reason they own a gun. Change in Household Gun Ownership These states also have some of the lowest gun ownership overall, with only 14.8% of Rhode Island residents owning a gun and only 19.9% of New York residents owning a gun. For example, eight-in-ten adults who grew up in a gun-owning household in a rural area cite hunting as a reason there were guns in their household, while fewer cite protection (57%) or sport shooting (51%). Americans have a different assessment of how people in their own communities view gun owners. There is no significant difference in the rate of gun ownership across educational attainment among nonwhites. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Of Wyoming's 581,075 people, there are 132,806 registered guns. This database was first released in 2020 and is available free to the public. While her husband looks on, Madelie Sellers shoots a .45 caliber pistol at Precision Guns and Indoor Range in Baton Rouge. Here's the latest ranking, along with the RAND numbers, which reveal insights into America's love of guns. Number of registered weapons in the U.S. in 2019, by state. In fact, in 2020 alone, it is estimated that 5 million Americans became first-time gun owners. Its population of 731,545 people has 23,455 registered guns. RAND developed these state-level estimates of household gun ownership using a statistical model that draws on a wide range of survey and administrative data sources. Arkansas and Idaho have the next most gun owners (58 percent and 57 percent, respectively). This figure displays three-year rolling averages for household gun ownership rates in each state and the nation overall. Overall, 69% of all U.S. adults and 75% of those who own a gun say the world has become a more dangerous place. A man carries a rifle with a Texas flag attached to it during a police-appreciation rally in Houston. Biography of Elizabeth Warren, Senator and Scholar, Top 10 Classic Films With a Social Message, Biography of Ross Perot, Third-Party Presidential Candidate, Beto O'Rourke Biography: Progressive Politician From Texas, Pros & Cons of Embryonic Stem Cell Research, The Obama Administration's Animal Protection Record, 2010-2011, Biography of Elizabeth Vargas, ABC News Journalist, Congress Members Who Voted Against the 2002 Iraq War, Gun Ownership and Gun Violence in America, by the Numbers, America's Passion for Guns: Ownership and Violence by the Numbers, M.B.A., California State University, Long Beach, B.A., Journalism and Nonfiction Writing, University of California, Los Angeles. Gun salesman Nathan Palermo is shown here holding an AR-15. For example, about four-in-ten men (39%) say they personally own a gun, compared with 22% of women. Gallup. The following table shows the number of registered firearms in the U.S. by state. While reading, it's important to remember that only six states and the District of Columbia require the registration of firearms. The sum of registered firearms equals only 6,058,390, a far cry from the 393 million total in America. The initiative aimed to transform firearms into gardening tools. Guns are in the households of 50.8% of Oregonians. About 39% of men and 22% of women say they own a firearm. Large majorities of about nine-in-ten or more among current and past gun owners say they have fired a gun, and this is true across demographic groups. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Convention-goers look at Old West handguns at an NRA gathering in Nashville. A woman practices holding a handgun at a National Rifle Association virtual shooting booth in National Harbor. In Iowa, 43.6% of adults have guns in their homes. (2021, July 31). According to the anti-gun sentiment, this means just about every one of us should be dead in the street, but if you look around, that simply isnt the case. Information about how many Americans own guns, and how this varies over time and across the United States, is important for understanding the effects of gun laws on firearm ownership and other outcomes, such as firearm homicides, firearm suicides, and mass shootings. In South Carolina, 49.4% of adults say they share their homes with at least one gun. The facility also functions as a time share: Members can book the ranch for two weeks per year for family vacations. Here are the 10 states with the highest gun deaths per capita: Alaska (24.5 per 100k people) Alabama (22.9 per 100k people) Montana (22.5 per 100k people) Louisiana (21.7 per 100k people) Mississippi (21.5 per 100k people) Missouri (21.5 per 100k people) PaoliLion NJPSU These estimates are derived from a statistical model that draws on a wide range of survey and administrative data sources associated with household gun ownership. According to the Pew Research Center, handguns are the most common type of firearm among gun owners. Now, lets take a look at gun ownership by state. Guns are in the households of an estimated 42.1% of Washington state residents. About six-in-ten Americans who dont own a gun (61%) say society has a negative view of gun owners, while 38% say societys views are generally positive. FYI: People purchase firearms for a variety of reasons, one of which is home protection. Charts explaining some of the key statistics behind gun ownership and attacks linked to guns in the US. Still, there are windows into the world of gun ownership slices of data that offer pieces to the puzzle. It collected responses online, where people may be more willing to share sensitive information than they would be over the phone or in person. Uruguay has 31.8 guns per 100 people. White, Deborah. April 14, 2022 / 6:55 PM The founder and president of H&H Gun Range smiles at a Henry Golden Boy rifle at his store in Oklahoma City. The new survey asked about gun ownership differently than previous Pew Research Center reports. Among whites, about four-in-ten of those with a high school diploma or less (40%) or with some college (42%) are gun owners, compared with roughly a quarter of white college graduates (26%). ^ Germany. This is because the highest amount of crimes committed with a firearm involve the illegal possession of a gun, a theft of a gun, or the unauthorized use or purchase of a gun. And every year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms publishes a list of federally registered guns by state. Here, participants check out assault rifles on display at the Border. These once-illegally-owned guns were seized by the New York Police Department in 2013. When it comes to hunting, however, rural gun owners are far more likely than their urban or suburban counterparts to say it is as an important reason they own a gun; 48% of gun owners in rural areas say this, compared with 34% in the suburbs and 27% in urban parts of the country. As part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, RAND researchers developed annual, state-level estimates of household firearm ownership by combining data from surveys and administrative sources. Texans purchased more than 1.6 million guns in 2021, about one gun for every 14 adults in the state. Massachusetts and New Jersey have the lowest gun ownership rate of 14.7%, followed by Rhode Island, with 14.8%, and Hawaii, with 14.9%. After taking the man into custody, police later confirmed the rifle was a replica Airsoft weapon. For many adults who own guns, exposure to guns happened at an early age. Registered Gun Rate help 44.3 per 1k Ranked in the US #8 Household Firearm Ownership Rate help 51.8% Ranked in the US #14 Gun Death Rate help 22.6 per 100k Ranked in the US #8 Handgun Open Carry Status help Allowed Registered Gun Rate Household Firearm Ownership Rate Gun Death Rate California See more add_circle Registered Gun Rate help 10.4 per 1k Gun safes have grown to become essential accessories for ammunition and arms. Still, a substantial share of those who grew up in a small town (52%), a suburb (37%) or a city (39%) say guns were present in their home when they were growing up. But gun ownership per capita has dropped by 23% during the same time, said Associate Prof Philip Alpers from the University of Sydney. Register in seconds and access exclusive features. So, as someone who, frankly, prides myself on believing that . 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.". As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic. Around 49.2% of Georgian adults live in homes with guns. Men who grew up in a gun-owning household report that they first fired a gun when they were, on average, 12 years old. The ability to legally possess one (or more) of the aforementioned legal guns has actually helped to reduce crime. Among those who live in rural areas, 46% say they are gun owners, compared with 28% of those who live in the suburbs and 19% in urban areas. In Texas, 45.7% of adults say they live in homes with guns. Information on estimated standard errors for each state-year estimate is provided in the full data set. This chart presents the annual estimated proportion of adults living in a household with a firearm between 1980 and 2016. RAND estimates 14.8% of adults in Rhode Island live in homes with guns. Based on this, the state of Montana has the highest gun ownership rate, with 66.3% of adults owning a gun. Moore is right that Canada has a far lower rate of firearm homicides than its . And while 85% of gun owners who say the right to own guns is essential to their sense of freedom say they cant see themselves ever not owning a gun at some point, 41% of those who dont see the right to own guns as essential say the same. Deborah White is a political journalist specializing in progressive political issues and perspectives. While similar shares of male and female gun owners own a handgun (73% and 71%, respectively), rifles and shotgun are more popular among men. This partisan gap remains even after controlling for demographic differences. Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. Perhaps not surprisingly, those who see owning a gun as central to their overall identity are particularly committed to gun ownership. An estimated 48.9% of Kansas adults have firearms in their homes. Still, there are windows into the world of gun ownership slices of data that offer pieces to the puzzle. In fact, 52% of all non-gun owners and 71% of those who have owned a gun in the past say they could see themselves owning a gun in the future. For more information about how the estimates were developed, or to download the database, see State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership. A marcher wears a pistol on his hip during a "Unite the Right" demonstration in Charlottesville. ThoughtCo. In late June 2020, Mark and Patricia McCloskey of St. Louis brandished guns at Black Lives Matter protesters. In the United States over 300 million people own firearms. Like the gender gap, the education gap in gun ownership is particularly pronounced among whites. 31, 2021, thoughtco.com/gun-owners-percentage-of-state-populations-3325153. "Gun Ownership and Gun Violence in America, by the Numbers." Because of this, over 70% of gun owners own a handgun of some sort, with rifles and shotguns making up the rest. David DeLoia, the owner of Heritage Gun & Coin in West Warwick, says he saw an uptick in applications for gun purchases while businesses were shuttered due to the pandemic in 2020. 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. Both Massachusetts and New Jersey have some of America's most stringent gun ownership laws. How it works: Hover over or tap on a line on the chart to identify the state and year shown. Despite the individual states abilities to create laws surrounding how an individual may purchase, carry, and use their weapon- legally obtained firearm ownership is safe from persecution. Here, armed protesters calling for an end to restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 gather outside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing in April 2020. When it comes to airsoft guns, such as paintball, BB or pellet guns, 57% of men including 72% of those who grew up with guns in their household and 42% of those who didnt say they used them often or sometimes when they were growing up. 2. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. The SAS found that gun ownership among civilians . 40-45% of 47-53 million Americans have a household with a gun. Here, a Bush Master AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is displayed at Firing-Line gun shop in Aurora. An estimated 55.3% of South Dakota adults have guns in their homes. It covers only a subsection of weapons short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles, and machine guns are included, along with silencers and destructive devices like grenades, but ordinary pistols or AR-15sare not. Most guns in the United States are owned by rural households, while more men own guns than women. 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. Source: 2021 National Firearms Survey That's 62,527 registered firearms dispersed among 6,626,624 people. Back in 2017, for every one hundred people in the United States, there were one hundred twenty firearms in the hands of the general public. In Oklahoma, 54.7% of adults have guns at home. On average, men who grew up in a gun-owning household report that they first got their own gun when they were 17, compared with an average age of 26 for women who grew up with guns in their household. About four-in-ten (38%) say hunting is a major reason they own a gun, while three-in-ten cite sport shooting, including target, trap and skeet shooting. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Sales in Kentucky are at or near the top of the FBI list most months. 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.. 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