Associate Editor Measuring US gun ownership isn’t as simple as counting registrations (many firearms aren’t registered, and state rules vary). Most “ownership” statistics come from large national surveys (self-reported) and modeling, while “how many guns” estimates come from research groups that combine multiple data sources. US Gun Ownership Statistics (Top Highlights) Personal vs Household Gun Ownership Survey-based … Read more
Gun industry statistics highlight how U.S. demand signals (background checks), domestic production, imports/exports, and the industry’s economic footprint have shifted since the 2020–2021 surge. Gun Industry Statistics (Top Highlights) U.S. Demand Proxy: NICS Firearm Background Checks NICS checks are a widely used indicator of firearm purchase activity, but they are not the same as firearm … Read more
Firearm statistics help quantify how guns show up in public health outcomes, consumer demand (background checks), domestic manufacturing, and global civilian ownership. Firearm statistics (top highlights) U.S. firearm deaths by intent (2023) In the latest complete CDC mortality year, most U.S. firearm deaths were suicides, followed by homicides. Intent Bar Deaths (2023) Suicide 27,300 … Read more
US gun violence statistics can look very different depending on what’s being measured (firearm deaths vs. injuries; “mass shootings” vs. “active shooter” incidents). The most consistent nationwide comparisons usually start with CDC death-certificate mortality totals, then add incident-based reporting for specific event types. US Gun Violence Statistics (Top Highlights) Total US Gun Deaths (Recent Years) … Read more
“Gun homicide” is most commonly reported as firearm homicide deaths (mortality data from death certificates) or as homicide victimizations involving firearms (law-enforcement-based incident/victimization data). The stats below focus on the latest complete national totals and a few key context metrics. US Gun Homicides (Top Highlights) Firearm vs. Non-Firearm Homicides (2023) In 2023, CDC reported 17,927 … Read more
There is no single official census of gun ownership by state. The most-cited state-by-state comparisons come from statistical estimates of the share of adults living in a household with a firearm, based on multiple surveys plus administrative indicators. Gun Ownership by State (Top Highlights) Top states for estimated household gun ownership (average 2007–2016) Estimated share … Read more
Gun ownership by country statistics are most often reported as (1) the estimated number of civilian-held firearms per 100 people and (2) the estimated total number of civilian-held firearms in each country. The most widely used global, country-by-country dataset for these measures is the Small Arms Survey’s 2017 civilian firearms estimates (published in 2018 and … Read more