Gun ownership

 ( Firearms ) 

In 2018, the Small Arms Survey reported that there are over one billion small arms distributed globally, of which 857 million (about 85 percent) are in civilian hands. smallarmssurvey.org Small Arms Survey reveals: More than one billion firearms in the world smallarmssurvey.org Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018 The survey stated that USA civilians account for an estimated 393 million (about 46 percent) of the worldwide total of civilian held firearms, or about 120.5 firearms for every 100 American residents.

From 1994 to 2023, gun ownership increased 28% in America. In 2023, about 16.7 million firearms were sold in the U.S. In the first four months of 2024, nearly 5.5 million firearms were sold, averaging around 1.3 million per month. About 72% of American gun owners say they own a gun primarily for protection.

The world's armed forces control about 133 million (approximately 13 percent) of the global total of small arms, of which over 43 percent belong to two countries: Russia (30.3 million) and China (27.5 million). Law enforcement agencies control about 23 million (about 2 percent) of the global total of small arms. Gun ownership is a protected right in countries such as the United States and Yemen.

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Global distribution of civilian-held firearms The following data comes from the Small Arms Survey. For more tables see: Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country and Percent of households with guns by country.

+World wide civilian firearms holdings, 2017 estimates. smallarmssurvey.org June 2018, Estimating Global Civilian Held Firearms Numbers by Aaron Karp Civilian Firearms Holdings, 2017. smallarmssurvey.org. Archived on 29 June 2018.
12.5
12.0
2.1
0.7
14.1
11.2
5.4
7.4
6.1
2.6
14.5
30.0
3.6
18.8
12.8
0.4
3.5
6.1
12.7
10.0
0.3
4.6
0.8
2.0
31.2
4.1
8.3
1.4
8.4
0.9
2.0
4.5
2.1
34.7
5.7
9.2
1.8
1.0
14.0
12.1
3.6
0.0
10.1
1.5
10.0
13.7
2.1
2.6
34.0
12.5
1.2
9.9
3.1
6.2
7.4
2.4
4.1
12.0
4.6
12.5
0.4
5.0
0.4
66.7
9.9
0.5
32.4
19.6
19.6
2.5
3.4
6.5
10.1
19.6
8.0
4.1
17.6
22.3
4.6
8.5
11.5
12.1
1.0
1.5
15.8
2.6
0.0
14.1
3.6
10.5
31.7
5.3
0.03
7.3
19.6
7.2
6.7
14.4
4.4
8.8
0.3
18.7
2.8
1.5
0.8
23.8
16.7
2.8
3.0
10.5
31.9
4.8
2.1
13.3
28.8
13.6
18.9
3.6
0.7
0.3
0.7
6.2
1.1
28.3
0.5
8.5
2.8
8.3
12.9
0.7
3.0
18.4
7.9
39.1
5.4
4.8
4.5
1.6
15.4
0.0
1.5
2.6
42.5
26.3
5.2
0.5
3.2
11.0
2.6
0.3
28.8
16.7
22.3
0.5
1.1
10.8
1.0
16.7
2.0
3.6
2.5
21.3
11.5
12.3
16.7
2.4
19.6
2.6
12.3
0.5
3.4
3.4
8.5
3.4
10.1
15.6
3.4
53.7
5.6
2.0
39.1
4.1
0.5
0.3
4.2
6.5
15.6
0.2
12.4
11.9
9.7
0.2
9.6
7.5
2.4
6.6
15.9
4.8
23.1
27.6
8.2
0.04
0.4
0.8
15.1
0.3
0.8
8.0
3.2
1.1
16.5
0.4
3.3
1.2
0.8
9.9
16.7
120.5
34.7
0.4
3.9
18.5
1.6
0.8
16.6
52.8
0.9
2.8

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Association with rates of violence in times of peace Studies suggest that higher rates of gun ownership are associated with higher homicide rates, although Gary Kleck argues that the highest-quality studies show that gun ownership does not increase homicide rates. Higher rates of gun ownership are also associated with higher suicide rates and higher accidental gun death rates. The availability of illegal guns, but not that of legal guns, is associated with higher rates of violent crime.

This study has been criticized for combining high-income countries (like the United States) with middle-income countries (like Estonia); if middle-income countries are excluded from the analysis, a strong relationship emerges between gun ownership and homicide. However the Hemenway study has been criticized in response as well. When removing the United States as an outlier and using the superior proxy of gun ownership in the study (percentage of firearm suicides over all suicides), the relationship ceases to be significant. The association between gun ownership and homicide rates across nations is dependent on the inclusion of the U.S. Studies in Canada that examined the levels of gun ownership by province have found no correlations with provincial overall suicide rates. A 2011 study conducted looking at the effects of gun control legislation passed in Canada and the associated effects in homicide rates found no significant reductions in homicide rates as a result of legislation. A case-control study conducted in New Zealand looking at household gun ownership and the risk of suicides found no significant associations.

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Maps

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See also

• Gun control
• Gun violence
• Index of gun politics articles
• Percent of households with guns by country
• Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country

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Further reading

• The Washington Post article (June 2018) [6]
• Time article (June 2018) [7]
• The New York Times (June 2018) [8]
• The Guardian article (June 2018) [9]
• Newsweek article (June 2018) [10]
• The Star Tribune article (June 2018) [11]
• The Associated Press article (June 2018) [12]
• Reuters article (June 2018) [13]
• New York Daily News article (June 2018) [14]

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