"Gun Ownership and Gun Violence in America, by the Numbers." According to the FBI, during the six-year period from 2012 to 2017, more than $829 million worth of guns were reported stolen from individuals nationwide, amounting to an estimated 1.8 million . Some legislatures, including those in Texas, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, meet every other year and did not go into session in 2020 at all. With a long-established gun culture, a thriving gun industry, and plenty of hunting opportunities, if anything, one would expect the rate of ownership to be even higher. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. The new estimates fill in the details of a trend whose contours were. I am in my natural element when Im in the mountains with pen & paper or a laptop with a full battery. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Here is where we can get another great level of insight into just how many guns are actually in circulation. 2023 Outdoor Sportsman Group. However, the Pew Research Center has compiled data that is about as accurate as it gets. 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. Massachusetts50. (2019 rank: 45), 2020 was a surprisingly good year for Marylands gun owners. https://www.thoughtco.com/gun-owners-percentage-of-state-populations-3325153 (accessed May 2, 2023). (2019 rank: 19), An effort to create a lifetime carry permit in the state failed when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die in May. These laws often require registration of certain firearms and, in some states, ban ownership altogether. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? Apart from the CDCs data, these surveys have been of little use for research because they include too few participants to draw reliable conclusions at the state level. For people between the ages of 30 and 49, 28% own a firearm. Roughly half of Americans (53%) favor stricter gun laws, a decline since 2019, according to the Center's April 2021 survey. Map of gun deaths shows lower rates in cities than rural counties These bills allow permittees to carry in places of worship, protect the rights of gun owners in times of emergency and prevents municipalities from restricting firearm possession. Arizona2. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests. (2019 rank: 8), No relevant outcomes in 2020. Samantha Cherney, Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, et al. If youre wondering how many actual guns are in circulation in the US right now, this data by itself is not particularly helpful, especially since NFA items purchased by law enforcement agencies are included in the calculation. US record guns sales: Americans bought guns in record numbers in 2020 Presented below are figures on gun ownership by state as well as some information on the factor behind the prevalence. Other reasons for the high rate of gun ownership include favorable gun laws and long-established gun culture. Conclusion Gun ownership over the past 60 years has trended up. (October 15, 2021). Gun laws within the state are quite friendly, and hunting is quite a common hobby among residence. Please note that while we have done our best to rank states as objectively as possible, reasonable minds disagree with our findings. If you are an admin, please authenticate by logging in again. And with 2020 pushing more Americans than ever to step into gun ownership for the first time, it's likely those numbers won't drop off. The Yankee states of New England went for gun control by a margin of 61 to 36 . Gun Ownership in America | RAND This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. ThoughtCo, Jul. Hunting and recreational shooting are often cited as major reasons for owning a firearm. Helping Coastal Communities Plan for Climate Change, Measuring Wellbeing to Help Communities Thrive, Assessing and Articulating the Wider Benefits of Research, Growing Evidence About the Effects of Gun Policies Provides Needed Information for Policy Decisions, Development of the RAND State Firearm Law Database and Supporting Materials. Gun laws are quite relaxed here, and there is no indication of that changing anytime soon. The United States is a huge and highly diverse country how guns are perceived and how easy it is to buy one can vary considerably from state to state. Gun laws within Michigan are reasonable. The new 9mm suppressor can mount easily to any pistol barrel threaded x28 inches and doesn't compromise on sound suppression, gas blowback or recoil. Still, this can give us an idea of how gun ownership breaks down by state. Alabama at the bottom has 177,732, which shows a fast drop-off just within the top 10 states. | Virginia is a shining example of how a single election cycle can drastically change the fate of gun owners in a given state. (2019 rank: 25), The biggest news for gun owners in the Sunshine State came in June when the state Supreme Court removed a serious gun control proposal from the November ballot. With very friendly gun laws and lots of outdoor shooting and hunting opportunities, it should surprise no one that Florida features a gun ownership rate higher than what is the national average. The study does not estimate the absolute number of guns in each state, nor the share of individuals who own guns. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. The most relevant of these is that many states have permitting programs that allow someone to bypass getting a background check every time they purchase a firearm as long as they have a current, qualifying permit. Then they used a second technique. If we dont calculate it per thousand residents, and just look at the total numbers of registered guns, we see that Texas jumps to the top of the list (and I dont think anyone is surprised), followed by Florida and Virginia. (2019 rank: 38), No relevant outcomes in 2020. Then they used a second technique, structural equation modeling, to combine those adjusted surveys with the other proxy measures to produce the final estimates. This, along with a negative perception of firearms translates to a very low rate of gun ownership in the state. Each year I receive comments from readers on individual states rankings and, in many cases, I learn something new from that feedback please keep it coming. May-issue states that rarely issue permits are graded accordingly and can receive 1-6 points, depending on the standard review factors. Hawaii. (2019 rank: 50), Governor Murphy shut down gun shops, shooting ranges and firearm transfers in March by executive order. Compare those numbers to the bottom of the list, where New York, Rhode . South Carolina features a large non-urban population, and gun laws are quite permissive. A magazine ban and other bills failed to advance, but the Governor did sign legislation that will make the creation of home-made guns a felony. Governor Cooper vetoed the bill and the Assembly made an unsuccessful attempt to override that veto in July. : The prevalence of firearm ownership has declined in virtually every state over the past several decades. According to one estimate, there are. A majority non-urban population and popularity of hobbies such as hunting and recreational shooting also play a factor in the high rate of gun ownership. Sign up now to get our latest stories and eye-opening briefings. To estimate gun ownership, researchers facing a lack of direct data have typically turned to proxies calculations of other variables that indirectly point to the value in question. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. Required fields are marked *. (2019 rank: 17), No relevant outcomes in 2020. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/215655/number-of-registered-weapons-in-the-us-by-state/, Number of registered weapons in the United States in 2021, by state, Immediate access to statistics, forecasts & reports, 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, Number of registered weapons U.S. 2021, by state, 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, 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 ethnicity, United States: presence of a firearm at home 2022, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2012, by education, Gun ownership in the U.S. 2017, by region, Share of Chinese arms exports 2012, by recipient, Number of non-fatal firearm crimes U.S. 2000-2019, Non-fatal firearm crimerate in the U.S. 2011, by ethnicity, Import value of bladed weapons and accessories into Sweden 2016, by country. Suppressors can be great to have anytime youre shooting with other people or hunting. Recreational shooting remains highly popular among state residents. We award maximum points to states that allow the use of force wherever a person has a legal right to be and protect citizens from both criminal and civil liability if appropriate force is used. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. Hunting remains the biggest cited reason for gun ownership. Despite huge advantages in fundraising by out-of-state groups, Democrats were unsuccessful in gaining majorities in the states two legislative chambers. More specifically, guns add billions to the tax base. Chris Johnson, FN Senior Product Manager, walks us through two new FN striker-fired pistols at SHOT Show 2023: the FN 510 Tactical, chambered in 10mm Auto, and the FN 545 Tactical, chambered in .45 ACP. (2019 rank: 9), No relevant outcomes in 2020. (2019 rank: 10), No relevant outcomes in 2020. Our rankings reflect whether a state regulates any category of firearm by its features or limits magazine capacity. Neither myself nor HuntingMark is intending to advocate for any specific policy or position, we are simply presenting useful data for anyone wanting to be more educated on the presence of firearms in the U.S. Gun laws in Delaware are somewhat restrictive. Subscribe to the weekly Policy Currents newsletter to receive updates on the issues that matter most. 49. (2019 rank: 51), Dozens of gun control bills were introduced in Hawaii this year but only two actually became law. Literally hundreds of millions of firearms are already in circulation, and with modern technology like 3D printing allowing the private construction of high capacity magazines and even most components of a firearm, the toothpaste isnt going back in the tube. The state has reasonably permissive gun laws, but the main contributing factor behind the high rate of gun ownership is the popularity of hunting and recreational shooting in the state. A closer analysis of this demographic data reveals that about 46% of rural households own guns, while just 19% of urban households do. 1 The number of deaths per 100,000 total population. On the other side of the scale, we have the states with the lowest percentage of gun owners. NRA-ILA | State Gun Laws The Best of both worlds: After nearly 4 years of waiting, Dan Wesson's DWX is here. All of these variables are higher in states with higher rates of gun ownership, and vice versa, but none directly reveal what percentage of a states residents own guns. The state also has a flourishing gun industry. Were trying to identify the true value of gun ownership that would explain all of the available data from all of these measures, said Schell. Ned Lamont declared firearm and ammunition retailers as essential businesses as part of his pandemic-related executive order. I do not mean to make light of the gun violence, firearm suicides and other violent crimes that do occur; according to Pew, 44% of adults say they know someone who has been shot (though this includes accidents). Saving Lives, Protecting People, CDC/National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. "Number of Registered Weapons in The United States in 2021, by State. "This is a tectonic shift in the firearm and ammunition industry marketplace and complete transformation of today's gun-owning community," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President of General Counsel. Number of registered weapons in the United States in 2021, by state [Graph]. The report covers activity for the calendar year ended the previous December 31. ATF. All Rights Reserved. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Show sources information In addition to these reports, the Juvenile Offender (Fire) Incident Report and the House of Worship (HOW) Incidents in the United States also useinformation reported toUSBDC from BATS. In the case of a tie, which is common, we dig deeper into the intangibles category and rank states accordingly. State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership | RAND Although adjusted for differences in age-distribution and population size, rankings by state do not take into account other state specific population characteristics that may affect the level of mortality. Gun Ownership by State 2020 It's common knowledge that America boasts the highest rate of gun ownership of any country. The figures on this chart are the number of NFA items per thousand residents, and there arent a lot of surprises here, except Washington, D.C. being second only to Wyoming. Pew Research Center, 2017. How can ownership levels decline even as Americas gun stock grows? Your tax-deductible donation will directly support our nonprofit journalism. What looked like certain victory for a semi-auto, magazine and suppressor ban took a sharp turn when a handful of Democrats voted against the measure during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Gun Ownership by State 2020 - Detroit Ammo Co. Firearms have also been an integral part of the states history and culture. This report presents data drawn from a number of ATF reports and records in one comprehensive document. Writing for Hunting Mark has allowed me to dive deeper into topics that I only know so much about, and given me insight beyond my personal experience. Despite neighboring one of the states with the highest number of gun owners (Wyoming with 53.8% of its population), only 19.8% of Nebraskans own guns. from the nonprofit think tank RAND Corporation, published today, provides researchers and the public with fresh figures on gun ownership. Other researchers can use these annual, state-level measures to test theories about the relationship between firearm ownership and crime, injury, and public policy. While I enjoy hunting and shooting, I have always loved writing and producing content. The above bar graph depicts the volume of applications captured in the NFRTR that were processed by the NFA Division by Fiscal Year to include FY 2005 to FY 2022; see table of data below. USCCA Concealed Carry Reciprocity Map & U.S. Gun Laws | USCCA Background checks are conducted to get the qualifying permit as well as other criteria that have to be met. Baker closed gun shops as part of his executive powers related to the pandemic, but a Federal Court ruled that the state overstepped its authority and placed an undue burden on the Second Amendment.