Disparities in Gun Ownership

Gun ownership is common in the United States. Overall, 40 percent of Americans say they or someone in their household owns a gun, according to a 2021 survey by Pew Research Center. 

Surprisingly, the differences in gun ownership by age or education are small. By age, the range is from 35 percent among 18-to-29-year-olds to 42 percent among those aged 50 or older—a 6 percentage point difference. By education, the range is from 33 percent among those with a graduate degree to 45 percent among those with some college—a 12 percentage point gap. 

The gap in gun ownership is much larger by race, type of residence, and political affiliation...

 

PERCENTAGE WITH GUN(S) IN HOUSEHOLD

Total adults: 40%

Race and Hispanic origin

47% of non-Hispanic whites

37% of Blacks

26% of Hispanics

20% of Asians

Difference between highest and lowest: 27 percentage points

Rural-urban status

53% of rural

40% of suburban

29% of urban

Difference between highest and lowest: 24 percentage points

Political party affiliation

54% of Republicans

31% of Democrats

Difference between highest and lowest: 23 percentage points

Source: Pew Research Center, Key Facts about Americans and Guns

61% of Faith and Flag Conservatives Have Guns

Every few years, Pew Research Center probes the political beliefs of Americans, sorting the public into what it calls political typologies. The latest such survey, conducted in July 2021, finds the public distributed as follows...

Distribution of American adults by political typology, 2021 (from most liberal to most conservative)

  6% are Progressive Left

13% are Establishment Liberals

16% are Democratic Mainstays

10% are Outsider Left

15% are Stressed Sideliners

12% are Ambivalent Right

11% are Populist Right

  7% are Committed Conservatives

10% are Faith and Flag Conservatives

Take the political typology quiz and find out where you stand by clicking here.

Not surprisingly, the great majority of those in the four most conservative groups identify as Republicans, including 97 percent of Faith and Flag Conservatives. Among the four most liberal groups, the great majority identify as Democrats, including 98 percent of the Progressive Left. The group in the middle—Stressed Sideliners—is equally likely to identify as Democrat or Republican (45 percent each). This group is the most politically disconnected and votes at relatively low rates, Pew notes.  

Faith and Flag Conservatives and The Populist Right are the two groups most likely to live in a small town/rural area, at 39 and 38 percent respectively. These are also the groups most likely to have guns in their household, with 61 percent of each group reporting household gun ownership. 

Those with Progressive Left beliefs are least likely to live in a small town or rural area (13 percent). Together with the Outsider Left group, they are least likely to have guns in their household, with only 26 percent reporting gun ownership. 

Source: Pew Research Center, Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology

Gun Owners and Non-Owners Disagree about Policies

Should the purchase of guns by the mentally ill be restricted? Fully 87 percent of Americans say yes, with gun owners and those who don't own guns in rare agreement, according to a Pew Research Center survey. When it comes to most other gun policies, however, gun owners and non-owners are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Take a look...

Percent who somewhat/strongly favor allowing people to carry concealed guns in more places

Gun owners: 70%

Not a gun owner: 30%

Percent who somewhat/strongly favor allowing teachers to carry guns in K-12 schools

Gun owners: 63%

Not a gun owner: 33%

Percent who somewhat/strongly favor banning assault-style weapons

Gun owners: 37%

Not a gun owner: 74%

Percent who somewhat/strongly favor banning high-capacity ammunition magazines

Gun owners: 40%

Not a gun owner: 74%

Percent who somewhat/strongly favor creating a federal database to track all gun sales

Gun owners: 46%

Not a gun owner: 77%

Gun owners are a large minority of adults in the United States. According to Pew, 30 percent of adults personally own a gun and another 11 percent say they don't own a gun but someone else in their household does. This large constituency is what makes gun safety laws so elusive.

Source: Pew Research Center, Wide Differences on Most Gun Policies between Gun Owners and Non-Owners, but also Some Agreement  

Have Gun in Home

Thirty-five percent of Americans have a gun in their home, according to the 2018 General Social Survey. Another 3 percent refused to say whether they had a gun. The percentage of households with a gun has fallen from a high of more than 50 percent in the early 1980s.

Gun ownership does not vary much by generation, ranging from a low of 31 percent among Millennials to a high of 40 percent among Gen Xers and Boomers. By region, households in the Northeast are least likely to own a gun (21 percent) and those in the Midwest and South most likely (41 percent). The biggest difference in gun ownership is by race and Hispanic origin...

Percent of households with guns by race and Hispanic origin of householder, 2018
Black: 22.0%
Hispanic: 18.6%
Non-Hispanic White: 44.7%

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the General Social Survey

Bad Guys with Guns

How many criminals carry a gun when they commit their crime? Fewer than you might think. Only 21 percent of all state and federal prisoners carried or possessed a firearm during the crime for which they were imprisoned, according to a survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Among criminals who possessed a gun, most used it in some way and 27 percent shot and killed someone. Here are the outcomes for state prisoners who possessed a gun during their offense...

State prisoners who possessed a firearm during the offense for which they were imprisoned
Total who possessed firearm: 100.0%
Did not use firearm: 32.0%
Showed, pointed, or discharged firearm: 68.0%
  Discharged firearm: 46.5%
     Killed victim: 27.1%
     Shot but did not kill victim: 12.4%
     Discharged firearm but did not shoot anyone: 7.0%
  Did not discharge firearm: 21.5%

Where did these guns come from? Among all state and federal prisoners who possessed a gun when they committed the offense for which they were imprisoned, the largest share—43 percent—obtained the gun from the street or in the underground market. Another 25 percent got their gun from a family member or friend. Only 10 percent bought the gun at a retail store.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Source and Use of Firearms Involved in Crimes: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016

Who's Afraid of Being Shot?

Thirty-nine percent of Americans are very/somewhat worried that they or family members will become the victims of a mass shooting, according to a Gallup survey, nearly identical to the 38 percent who felt very/somewhat worried in 2015. There are big differences in the percentage who are very/somewhat worried by demographic characteristic...

• 53% of women vs. 26% of men
• 47% of people aged 18 to 34 vs. 33% of people aged 55 or older
• 47% of people who do not own guns vs. 23% of gun owners 
• 49% of Democrats vs. 27% of Republicans

The 63 percent majority of Democrats think new gun laws would reduce mass shootings by a great deal/moderate amount. Among Republicans, 71 percent say new gun laws would "not at all" reduce mass shootings. 

Source: Gallup, Four in 10 Americans Fear Being a Victim of a Mass Shooting

Right-to-Carry Laws Boost Violent Crime

Right-to-carry leads to an increase in violent crime, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. A state-level analysis of trends in crime shows violent crime rising 13 to 15 percent 10 years after a state passes a right-to-carry concealed weapons law. States that pass right-to-carry laws would have to double their prison population to counteract the increase in violent crime, the authors note.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, Right-to-Carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State-Level Synthetic Controls Analysis, Working Paper 23510 ($5)

Why Gun Sales Are Growing

Gun sales reached an all-time high in 2016, despite the fact that the number of households with guns has barely grown over the past decade. An estimated 40.8 million households owned a gun in 2016, up from 39.5 million in 2016—just a 3 percent increase. The percentage of households with guns fell to 32 percent in 2016, down from 34 percent in 2006, according to the General Social Survey.

Despite the small increase in the number of households with guns over the past decade, gun sales have soared. The number of background checks run through the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (the best estimate of gun sales) more than doubled between 2006 and 2016, rising from 10 million to 28 million. What explains the surge in gun sales? According to the results of a Pew Research Center survey on gun ownership, the likely explanation is that gun owners are buying more guns...

Number of guns owned by gun owners
One gun: 32%
2 to 4 guns: 37%
5 or more guns: 29%
Did not answer: 2%

Source: Pew Research Center, America's Complex Relationship with Guns

Gun Ownership: Urban vs. Rural

Only 32 percent of the nation's adults live in a household with guns, according to the 2014 General Social Survey, down from 49 percent in 1973. The percentage of adults who live in a household with guns is much higher in rural areas...

Percent of adults with a firearm in their household, 2010-14
14.8% in the central cities of the 12 largest metros
19.2% in the suburbs of the 12 largest metros
19.4% in the central cities of the 13th to 100th largest metros
29.0% in the suburbs of the 13th to 100th largest metros
43.7% in other urban areas
55.9% in rural counties

Source: National Opinion Research Center, General Social Survey: Trends in Gun Ownership in the United States, 1972-2014

Who Owns a Gun?

Despite all the talk about guns, only 32 percent of Americans have a gun in their home, according to the General Social Survey—a figure that has fallen over the past few decades (it was more than 50 percent in the early 1980s). Gun ownership is much more common among non-Hispanic Whites than Blacks or Hispanics...

Percent of households with a gun
Black households: 15%
Hispanic households: 15%
Non-Hispanic White households: 42%

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2014 General Social Survey

Are Americans Buying More Guns?

True or false: Americans are buying more guns. One way to determine whether this statement is fact or fiction is by examining the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, which captures household spending on guns and ammunition in the spending category "hunting and fishing equipment." Although hunting and fishing equipment includes rods and reels, bait and tackle, and bows and arrows as well as guns and ammunition, an analysis of trends in the category is revealing.

Average household spending: Between 2000 and 2011, average annual household spending on hunting and fishing equipment fell slightly, from $33.77 to $33.06 (in 2011 dollars). During those 11 years, spending on the category peaked in 2002 at $44.61 and bottomed out in 2010 at $27.00. So there has been no upward trend in average household spending.

Percent of households buying: The Consumer Expenditure Survey also collects information on the percentage of households that make purchases during an average quarter. During an average quarter of 2000, for example, 2.20 percent of households spent money on hunting and fishing equipment. This figure fell as low as 1.83 percent in 2007. In 2011, however, it was at an 11-year high of 2.80 percent. So there has been an upward trend in the percentage of households buying.

Best customers: Non-Hispanic whites spend 17 percent more than the average household on hunting and fishing equipment, making them the "best customers" of the category. In fact, they are the only race/Hispanic origin group that spends more than average on these items. Black households spend 44 percent less than average on hunting and fishing equipment, Hispanic households spend 68 percent less, and Asian households spend almost nothing on the category. The percentage of non-Hispanic white households purchasing hunting and fishing equipment during an average quarter has grown steadily in recent years: 2.26% in 2007; 2.55% in 2008; 2.80% in 2009; 2.98% in 2010; and 3.40% in 2011. So the best customers are becoming even better customers.

Are Americans buying more guns? This analysis suggests that some are.

Most Gun Owners Are White Men

Non-Hispanic white men's share of total public: 32%
Non-Hispanic white men's share of gun owners: 61%

Source: Pew Research Center, Why Own a Gun? Protection is Now Top Reason