Posted on 01/09/2025 8:48:08 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The U.S. has more guns than people, with nearly 400 million in civilian possession.
In this map, Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti ranks states by the highest percentage of gun ownership for adults, based on data from the Pew Research Center compiled by Data Pandas as of 2024.
Montana tops the ranking of the states with the highest percentage of gun ownership, with 66.3% of the adult population owning firearms. The state has some of the most relaxed gun control laws in America. No state permit is required to purchase or possess a rifle, shotgun, or handgun.
The state is followed on our list by its neighbor, Wyoming, where 66.2% of adults own a firearm. Alaska comes in third, with 64.5%.
| State | Gun Ownership Rate ↕ |
|---|---|
| Montana | 66.3% |
| Wyoming | 66.2% |
| Alaska | 64.5% |
| Idaho | 60.1% |
| West Virginia | 58.5% |
| Arkansas | 57.2% |
| Mississippi | 55.8% |
| Alabama | 55.5% |
| South Dakota | 55.3% |
| North Dakota | 55.1% |
| Oklahoma | 54.7% |
| Kentucky | 54.6% |
| Louisiana | 53.1% |
| Tennessee | 51.6% |
| Oregon | 50.8% |
| Vermont | 50.5% |
| South Carolina | 49.4% |
| Georgia | 49.2% |
| Kansas | 48.9% |
| Missouri | 48.8% |
| Nevada | 47.3% |
| Maine | 46.8% |
| Utah | 46.8% |
| Arizona | 46.3% |
| New Mexico | 46.2% |
| North Carolina | 45.8% |
| Texas | 45.7% |
| Wisconsin | 45.3% |
| Nebraska | 45.2% |
| Colorado | 45.1% |
| Indiana | 44.8% |
| Virginia | 44.6% |
| Iowa | 43.6% |
| Minnesota | 42.8% |
| Washington | 42.1% |
| New Hampshire | 41.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 40.7% |
| Michigan | 40.2% |
| Ohio | 40.0% |
| Florida | 35.3% |
| Delaware | 34.4% |
| Maryland | 30.2% |
| California | 28.3% |
| Illinois | 27.8% |
| Connecticut | 23.6% |
| New York | 19.9% |
| Hawaii | 14.9% |
| Rhode Island | 14.8% |
| New Jersey | 14.7% |
| Massachusetts | 14.7% |
On the other side of the spectrum, New Jersey and Massachusetts share the lowest gun ownership rate in the country, both at 14.7%.
Two other states with very low ownership rates include Hawaii (14.9%) and Rhode Island (14.8%).
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. gun manufacturing and imports have increased by about 10% annually over the last decade.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic spurred record demand for firearms, 17 million guns entered the domestic market.
If you enjoyed this post, check out Which U.S. States Have the Most Gun Manufacturers? on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.
Legal guns .
This should be correlated to population density:
However, it still means:
I remember reading in Time magazine during the Waco siege at there were some 50 million guns in Texas. That was 32 years ago. If there aren’t somewhere between 80 million and 100 million now, there is something dreadfully wrong. To say that only 45% of Texan adults on a firearm is a wall full underestimate
The problem with studies like this is that they depend upon people, being honest. Generally speaking, Americans are not going to truthfully answer a stranger about whether or not they have firearms in their home. Yes, Virginia, people actually lie to pollsters.
Like all gun stats, this only names legals.
Illegals probably add another 25%.
Compare this to a crime rate map.
Make your own conclusions.
This must be some survey of legally owned guns.
Looks like more-less half of us have some gun.
I am sure, in the states listed at the low end, there are many more people having guns illegally.
I find it hard to believe that only 28% of people in Illinois are gun owners, but what do I know, the Illinois State Police are supposed to keep those records away from politicians. How can an accurate determination be made if those records are confidential? Something tells me that they’re not.
From the Pew Research Center? Yeah, that data is flawed.
your government should not even know how many guns are owned by civilians in These United States of America much less any particular state. “The only restriction written into the Second Amendment is a restriction on legislating restrictions” L.Star.
Data from the Pew-Pew Research Center probably would have been better.
Vermonters own more guns than Texans? Crap. I’m embarrassed.
I don’t believe anything from the CDC, a deep state commie govt entity.
Now that Presidential Trump is technically a convicted felon, Biden could have the ATF break down the doors to his homes and seize his personal firearms. It could even happen TODAY!
I am amazed that Oregon would exceed Florida.
I am surprised with VT at 51%
I’m just glad Alabama can beat Texas at something :-)
Bookmark.
This only by a survey.
There are about 30% of respondents who are “shy” about admitting they have a gun to a survey.
“On June 23, a study on the underreporting of firearm ownership was published in the Journal ” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.” The title is “Predicting potential underreporting of firearm ownership in a nationally representative sample,” hereafter referred to as the ‘study.’ The study indicated the number of people who refuse to report they are firearm owners, who have been called “shy” firearms owners, are about as numerous as firearms owners willing to identify themselves as such.”
https://www.ammoland.com/2023/08/study-shows-gun-ownership-may-be-double-previous-estimate/
“I take it to mean the number of people who own at least one registered gun, “
The vast majority of firarms in the United States are not registered and are untraceable.
https://www.ammoland.com/2018/08/hundreds-of-millions-of-u-s-guns-are-unlicensed-and-untraceable/
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