What Is Gun Ownership Like State by State

There's no way to get a precise count of gun ownership in the United States on a state-by-state basis. 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. But there are several reputable organizations that track firearms-related statistics, such as the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, which can provide a fairly accurate look at gun ownership by state, as well as annual federal licensing data.

Guns in the U.S.

According to the Small Arms Survey, there are more than 393 million guns in the U.S. That's more than one-third of all civilian-owned guns in the world, making America the No. 1 country in terms of gun ownership.

A 2017 survey by the Pew Research Center reveals some more interesting stats about guns in the U.S. Handguns are the most common choice of firearm among gun owners, especially those who only own one weapon. The South is the region with the most guns (about 36%), followed by the Midwest and West (32% and 31%, respectively) and the Northeast (16%).

Men are more likely than women to own a gun, according to Pew. Thirty-nine percent of men say they own a firearm, while 22% of women do. A closer analysis of this demographic data reveals that about 46% of rural households own guns, while just 19% of urban households do. Thirty-three percent of Americans aged 50 and older own at least one gun. For people between the ages of 30 and 49, 28% own a firearm. In the lowest age group—18- to 29-year-olds—own 27% own a gun. Politically, Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to own a gun.

Number of Guns Ranked by State

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. Still, this can give us an idea of how gun ownership breaks down by state.

For a different perspective, CBS conducted a telephone survey and ranked the states by guns per capita. You can find those results here.

Additional References

CBS News staff. "Gun Ownership and Gun Violence in America, by the Numbers." CBSNews.com, 15 February 2018.

McCarthy, Tom; Beckett, Lois; and Glenza, Jessica. "America's Passion for Guns: Ownership and Violence by the Numbers." TheGuardian.com, 3 October 2017.