From Zerohedge
This chart is pretty instructive and backs up my long held claim that Texas is a sort of myth when it comes to being a ” gun paradise.” Same with Florida, which turns in ever more pathetic numbers.
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.
High Gun Ownership in Northwestern America
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%).
The Number of Firearms is Increasing
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.
Scattered Shots 
Always assuming people answer the polls honestly, of course …
And I doubt it counts those who have guns illegally, e.g. a convicted felon who owns a gun anyway.
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I believe 400,000,000 is an undercount, and not a small one.
Back in the day Kevin R C O’Brien tried to figure how many guns were floating around using open sources.
He came up with 300,000,000 being sold to Americans over the @ 20 years before he started to investigate.
Guns can last a long time, 56-52 Spencer ammo is still available and the oldest Gun I have fired was marked “Tower 1769”.
Quite a few people are printing the FGC9 Mk2 and using ECM to rifle their barrels…
As far as disarming the American People, you can’t get there from here.
Thank God.
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I agree that was an excellent analysis from Hognose, and one I think about a lot when I see numbers like 300-500 million guns bandied about. If memory serves, he considered 1 billion guns an entirely reasonable estimate of privately-owned guns in the US, and that was back in 2017, prior to quite a few gun sales events in the USA.
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Those are rookie numbers, people. We can do better!
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I wonder how many ghosts/home built in the country,feel a fairly sizeable number in itself.
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James, I would guess that there are not less than a Million home built guns in the last decade, perhaps two or three times that #.
And more coming all the time.
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it would be interesting to know the number of Glock and AR barrels made, vs number of complete firearms. While there’s not going to be a 1:1 between “extra” barrels and home built firearms, it’s at least an indication.
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