In 1994, 44 million Americans owned 192 million
firearms, 65 million of which were handguns.
Although there were enough guns to have provided
every U.S. adult with one, only 25 percent of
adults actually owned firearms; 74 percent of gun
owners possessed two or more.
According to widely varying estimates, there are between 77 million and 90 million gun owners in the United States. Here are some of their characteristics.
39 Percentage of Americans reporting a gun in their home
47 Percentage of men reporting a gun in their home
27 Percentage of women reporting a gun in their home
40 Percentage of whites reporting a gun in their home
19 Percentage of non-whites reporting a gun in their home
46 Percentage of Southerners reporting a gun in their home
39 Percentage of Midwesterners reporting a gun in their home
26 Percentage of Easterners reporting a gun in their home
33 Percentage of Westerners reporting a gun in their home
52 Percentage of rural residents reporting a gun in their home
36 Percentage of suburban residents reporting a gun in their home
25 Percentage of urban residents reporting a gun in their home
67 Percentage of Americans who have ever fired a gun
86 Percentage of men who have ever fired a gun
51 Percentage of women who have ever fired a gun
66 Percentage of gun owners who own guns for target shooting
65 Percentage of gun owners who own guns for protection against crime
59 Percentage of gun owners who own guns for hunting
62 Percentage of gun owners who own a rifle
59 Percentage of gun owners who own a shotgun
64 Percentage of gun owners who own a handgun
4 Average number of firearms possessed by gun owners
(Sources: Gallup Polls of 1,012 adults from August 29-September 5, 2000; and 1,054 adults from February 8-9, 1999)
Trends in Gun Ownership
The proportion of households with a firearm has been in slow decline over the last quarter century (Table 6). In the early 1970s about 50% of adults lived in households that kept a firearm. This now has fallen about 34-35%. Similarly, the percent of adults living in a household with a gun fell from a high of 51% in 1977 to a low of 32-33% in 2000-2001. These declines are partly the result of a decrease in household size. From 1980 until 1997 the proportion of adults personally owning a gun held steady at about 29%. However, since then even this level declined to about 22-24% of adults personally owning a gun. There has also been a shift in the types of firearms that people own. As hunting has declined as a recreational pursuit (Smith, 1997), the proportion of adults in households with longguns has decreased from about 42% in the early 1970s to about 27-29% today. Partly compensating for this drop, the proportion of adults living in a household with a handgun rose from about 20% in the early 1970s to 24- 25% in the mid-1990s. However, this number is also now be waning with only 21-22% reporting living in a household with a handgun in 2000-2001. Likewise, the proportion ever having bought a handgun increased from 21% in 1996 to 25% in 1997-98 and then fell to 20-21% in 1998/99 (Smith, 2000).
The proportion of households with a firearm has been in slow decline over the last quarter century...
4 Average number of firearms possessed by gun owners