In the aftermath of several recent mass shootings in the United States, Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to share key facts about Americans and guns.
Methodology for each Pew Research Center poll can be found at the links in the post. This way nearly all U. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U. Four-in-ten U. There are differences in gun ownership rates by political party affiliation, gender, geography and other factors. Federal data suggests that gun sales have risen in recent years, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic.
The largest comparative percentage point difference occurred in July — when about 3. Personal protection tops the list of reasons why gun owners say they own a firearm. In a Gallup survey conducted in August , gun owners were most likely to cite personal safety or protection as the reason they own a firearm. Attitudes about gun violence differ widely by race, ethnicity, party and community type.
Due to sample size limitations, data for Asian Americans is not available. Current opinions are in line with what they were in March The data presented here are from background checks conducted by the FBI before a firearm is sold by a licensed dealer. These data do not perfectly measure firearm sales, but they are highly correlated with sales and are commonly used by researchers.
In past work , we have used these data to show that the spike in firearm sales following the Sandy Hook school shooting led to a spike in accidental firearm deaths, particularly among children. The spike, however, is less about concerns regarding access to firearms, than personal safety. In March, concerns about personal safety arose from both a deadly new virus and an economy in free fall.
By June, concerns about the virus and the economy remained, and were compounded by new evidence of racial injustice in policing, widespread protests, and discussions of defunding the police. Daily data allows us to better identify the sources of fears about personal safety.
As the following figure shows, the average daily level of firearm sales in January and February was 92, Within that period, daily sales varied within the range of 80, to , per day. Over the next 12 days including that day , firearm sales surged, jumping to over , per day, and peaking at , on March Over , additional firearms were sold in March. The geographic pattern in the additional sales is not correlated with COVID death rates nor with increases in unemployment rates.
This suggests that the spike in firearm sales resulted from a general sense of national apprehension, rather than a response to differential deterioration in local conditions. Over the next two months, as the country settled into its new environment and even moved into a period of scheduled re-openings, firearm sales stabilized, if perhaps at a slightly higher level than earlier in the year seasonal variation is modest during this period of the year. Then George Floyd was killed on May 25, which started a chain of events leading to a Minneapolis police station being burned down on May Protests then spread nationwide , including to Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, where the federal government forcibly removed protesters, reportedly using chemical agents and rubber bullets, on June 1.
According to the Pew Research Center, handguns are the most common type of firearm among gun owners. The number of firearms per capita ranges significantly between states. Wyoming has, by far, the highest number of guns per capita. Of Wyoming's , people, there are , registered guns. The four other states with the highest number of guns per capita are:. Seventeen states have at least 20 guns per capita. Of these states, Texas has the most registered guns, with , Many Democratic-dominated states have tightened their laws in recent years.
California, for example, has banned military-style semi-automatic "assault weapons" and large-capacity magazines and has the most robust "red flag" system, which allows authorities to take firearms away from people determined to be dangerous.
The state also prohibits people from carrying loaded firearms in public -- a practice known as "open carry" -- and gun owners must get a permit before carrying a concealed loaded weapon. Gun laws are much more permissive in rural states, including Idaho, Kentucky and Wyoming. Mississippi has the most permissive U. Residents of that state do not need a permit to carry loaded weapons, whether openly or concealed, and sales of "assault weapons" and large-capacity magazines are legal.
Buyers do not face waiting periods and the state does not have a red-flag law. Mississippi and 28 other states also have enacted "Stand Your Ground" laws that allow people to use deadly force when they feel threatened. Glock semi-automatic pistols are displayed for sale at Firearms Unknown, a gun store in Oceanside, California, U.
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