{"id":55114,"date":"2020-05-22T13:36:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T18:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?page_id=55114"},"modified":"2024-05-02T13:31:44","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T18:31:44","slug":"61-statistics-describing-u-s-gun-owners","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?page_id=55114","title":{"rendered":"61 Statistics Describing U.S. Gun Owners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tierthreetactical.com\/61-statistics-describing-u-s-gun-owners-demographics-concealed-carry-and-more\/\">DEMOGRAPHICS, CONCEALED CARRY, AND MORE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There are more gun owners now than ever before. It\u2019s not just my opinion, it\u2019s a matter of scientific fact. This article is going to discuss some excellent research on gun owners including: demographics, how they use them, how often they carry, as well as much more.<\/p>\n<p>We are going to cover a wide swath of gun research, and polling data from actual gun owners on their habits and use, as well as their demographic data. All primary sources will be linked in the article, so you can follow any topic you like in more detail.<\/p>\n<p>Statistically speaking, the prototypical gun owner is a middle aged white male, earning between $30,000-$70,000, with at least one child. They are most likely conservative, and are more likely to live in the Midwest or South.<\/p>\n<p>After reading a lot of research, it seems that statistically this is still true, but it is becoming less true by the year. Studies on gun ownership estimate that there are approximately one million new gun owners each year, and these folks are generally young, suburban, and less likely to hold conservative views. Let\u2019s discuss the demographics of gun ownership in a little more detail.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>U.S. GUN OWNER DEMOGRAPHICS<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>There are approximately 98,460,000 gun owners in the US (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/264932\/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>30%\u00a0of U.S. adults say they personally own a gun, while a larger percentage, 43%, report living in a gun household. (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/264932\/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Education: 27% High School, 34% Some College, 33% College Grad, 23% Advanced Degree\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Location: 19% live in urban areas, 28% live in suburban areas, 46% live in rural areas\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Race and Ethnicity: 48% of white men own a gun, 24% of white women own a gun, 24% of non white men own guns, 16% non white women own guns\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Politics: 41% of gun owners are Republicans,\u00a016% of gun owners are Democrats, 36% of gun owners are independents<\/li>\n<li>Women (17%), Democrats (16%) and Hispanics (15%) are the least likely to report personal gun ownership.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/264932\/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Republicans (45%), men (43%) and self-identified conservatives (40%) are the most likely key subgroups to say they personally own a gun.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/264932\/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Male gun owners first started shooting at age 12 on average\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Female gun owners first shot a gun at age 17 on average\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Average age of gun ownership for males is 19, females 27 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p data-slot-rendered-dynamic=\"true\">There is quite a lot of information to unpack here. We can see that many of our previously held beliefs about white men, living in rural areas being common gun owners are still true, but I think it\u2019s worth mentioning that white women, and people of color make up about half of all gun owners.<\/p>\n<p>I also think it is interesting that gun owners represent a broad swath in terms of education and political beliefs. Sure, there are some high school grads who identify as Republican, but there are also tons of folks with advanced degrees who are independents, and everything in between.<\/p>\n<p>We have to keep in mind that one in three US citizens is a gun owner, so any attempt to stereotype such a large group is doomed to fail. Next we are going to discuss the types of firearms they own.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>TYPES OF GUN OWNERSHIP IN THE US<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>66% of gun owners own more than one gun\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>32% of gun owners own only one gun\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>37% of gun owners own 2-4 firearms\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>29% of gun owners own 5+ firearms\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Gun Ownership by Type: 72% of gun owners own a pistol, 62% own a rifle, 54% own a shotgun\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(source)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>40% of gun owners say they always have a loaded gun close at hand in their house (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>We can see from these gun ownership stats, that there is a sizable population of gun owners who only own one firearm. These owners most often have this weapon for self defense, as we will see further on in the article.<\/p>\n<p>We can also see that, just like Pringles, once you pop you just can\u2019t stop. Many gun owners own more than one firearm, and they go on to accumulate more than five firearms. Now that we know a little about the types of owners, and how many guns they own, let\u2019s talk about their attitudes and reasons for owning firearms.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>GUN OWNER ATTITUDES AND REASONS FOR OWNERSHIP<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>67% percent of gun owners cite protection as the primary reason for owning\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>38% cite hunting as the primary reason for owning (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>30% cite sporting as the primary reason for owning (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>13% cite gun collecting as the primary reason for ownership (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>8% of gun owners own a weapon for job related reasons (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>19% of gun owners belong NRA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>10% of gun owners are new gun owners as of July 2018 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5993417\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>36% of American who don\u2019t currently own a gun have considered purchasing one (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>33% of American say they will never own gun (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>52% of American say there should be stricter gun laws (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>29% of gun owners say gun laws should be more strict\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>62% of non gun owners want stricter laws\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p data-slot-rendered-dynamic=\"true\">After doing the research for this article, it seems that gun owners tend to cite personal protection as the primary reason for owning a gun. This is perfectly reasonable, but it is interesting, as violent crime rates have been going down steadily since the 1990\u2019s. I don\u2019t discourage people from being prepared, but I do wonder what has caused this change.<\/p>\n<p>I found it interesting that roughly a third of Americans say they will never own a firearm, and almost the same amount of gun owners say that gun laws need to be more strict. I would not expect that many would answer those questions that way. Now let\u2019s talk about gun owners use, and carry habits.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>CONCEALED CARRY, OPEN CARRY, AND GUN USE<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Approximately 9 million US adult handgun owners carry loaded handguns monthly, 3 million do so every day (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5678386\/\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>10% of gun owners carry all the time (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5678386\/\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>15% of gun owners say they carry some of the time (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5678386\/\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>31% of gun owners carry occasionally (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5678386\/\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>43% of gun owners never carry (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5678386\/\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>The proportion of handgun owners who carried concealed loaded handguns in the past 30 days was 21% in unrestricted states, 25%\u00a0in shall issue\u2014no discretion states, 20%\u00a0\u00a0in shall issue\u2014limited discretion states, 9% \u00a0in may-issue states (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5678386\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>58% of men say they go to the gun range to practice (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>43% of women say they go to the gun range\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>28% of female gun owners hunt\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>37% of male gun owners hunt\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>70% of gun owners have taken gun safety course (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p data-slot-rendered-dynamic=\"true\">I\u2019ve always suspected that the number of gun owners who regularly carried was quiet low, but I wouldn\u2019t have thought it was as low as 10%. Nearly half of gun owners say they never carry a firearm.<\/p>\n<p>If we examine the concealed carry bullet point, we see that as state permitting becomes less and less available, that concealed carry does in fact go down. In may-issue states, such as California, it is less than 10% of gun owners.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest thing that stands out to me is how few gun owners actually go to the range and practice. Now, I recognize that some folks have property to shoot on, and don\u2019t need to go to the range, but I would imagine that\u2019s a small minority.<\/p>\n<p>I am surprised 70% of gun owners have taken a safety course, but I imagine that is a state requirement, either to get a hunting license, or to obtain a concealed weapons permit. I think, as gun owners, we can all do better in seeking out training, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tierthreetactical.com\/getting-started-in-uspsa-a-step-by-step-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">maintaining our proficiency.<\/a>\u00a0Especially if we cite protection as our reason for carrying. The last thing we are going to talk about is attitudes towards, and about gun owners.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>ATTITUDES TOWARDS AND ABOUT GUN OWNERS IN THE US<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>72% of Americans say they have fired a gun (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>60% of Americans say people in their community have\u00a0positive\u00a0a attitude towards gun owners (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>79% of rural gun owners report positive views (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>44% of Americans say they know someone who has been shot on purpose or accident\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>23% of Americans, both gun owners and not, say that someone in their family has been threatened by guns (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>7% of American say they have used a gun (brandish or shoot) to defend selves (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2017\/06\/22\/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p data-slot-rendered-dynamic=\"true\">I think attitudes towards and about gun ownership is one of the biggest factors that influence gun legislation. I think there is a vast misunderstanding on both sides. It\u2019s obvious from these stats that gun ownership is viewed more favorably in rural areas, where it is more common. In urban areas gun ownership is often associated with criminality, as a result of personal experiences by many.<\/p>\n<p>If almost a quarter of Americans say a family member has been threatened with gun violence, it makes sense that a person might view them unfavorably.<\/p>\n<p>FINAL THOUGHTS<br \/>\nThis has been a dense article to get through, but I think there are some real nuggets of information that we need to highlight. First, gun owner demographics are becoming more and more diverse, and we are seeing huge increases in new gun owners.<\/p>\n<p>We as a community need to continue to help one another out and ensure that we are receiving the proper training. Too often, I talk to folks that bought a gun for protection and they leave it locked up in a closet like a magical talisman to ward off evil. Obviously, this won\u2019t work. We need training to use these tools effectively and lawfully. I\u2019d encourage you to read this article that discusses how judges view the legality of most citizen firearms uses. Spoiler alert, most citizen firearm uses aren\u2019t lawful.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll leave you with this quote from the venerable Colonel Jeff Cooper, the father of modern combat shooting, \u201cOwning a handgun doesn\u2019t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.\u201d Get out there and get some training!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DEMOGRAPHICS, CONCEALED CARRY, AND MORE There are more gun owners now than ever before. It\u2019s not just my opinion, it\u2019s a matter of scientific fact. This article is going to discuss some excellent research on gun owners including: demographics, how they use them, how often they carry, as well as much more. We are going &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?page_id=55114\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;61 Statistics Describing U.S. Gun Owners&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-55114","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55148,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55114\/revisions\/55148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}