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We are the only country in which guns outnumber people — a fact that became true in 2009. And we keep manufacturing more and more guns. Between 2010 and 2013 alone, the number of guns produced in the United States doubled.
Chart: The Steady Rise Of U.s. Gun Deaths
Guns are ubiquitous in the United States in a way that is unique. This is a big part of the explanation for why the United States has higher gun homicide rates than other countries — why mass shootings are constantly in the news here.
Understanding the size of America’s gun problem can be a daunting task. These GIFs walk you through some of the basics about guns in the United States. You can read more coverage on the subject here.
The year 2009, the first of Barack Obama’s presidency, marked a turning point in America’s relationship with guns: It was the first year when guns outnumbered people in America.
Striking U.s. Firearm Industry Statistics [2023]: How Big Is The Us Gun Industry
From 1994 to 2009, the number of guns Americans owned grew on average by 4.1 percent annually. Over the same time frame, total US population grew 1.1 percent annually.
The number of guns in America has more than doubled since 1968. But the US population has nowhere near doubled its 1968 population (it was 201 million, and we’re currently estimated to be at 332.7 million).
US gun manufacturers are ramping up firearm production to meet America’s growing appetite for ammunition. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the number of guns manufactured in the US has almost doubled in just three years, from nearly 5.5 million in 2010 to nearly 10.9 million in 2013.
Firearm Deaths Of Children And Adolescents Continued To Rise In 2021, Especially Among Black Youth
What’s more, most of these guns stay in the US. Only a small fraction — 400, 000 firearms in 2013 — are exported.
While one background check does not necessarily equal one gun sale for a variety of reasons, background checks are a good — albeit imperfect — proxy for gun sales.
Gun-related background checks have steadily risen for the past 10 years. But it wasn’t until Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election that we saw a dramatic surge in background checks.
The Number Of People In America Vs. The Number Of Guns In America, Visualized
Many people feared the Obama administration would enact stringent gun control laws, and background checks more than doubled from 7 million in 2002 to 15 million in 2013. What’s more, the monthly spikes in background checks for firearms either coincide with President Obama being elected (or reelected) or follow in the wake of a mass shooting or terrorist attack.
Obama had just been reelected in November 2012, and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary that killed 20 children and six teachers happened that December. Background checks climbed shortly after, hitting a record 2 million by January 2013.
Similarly, in the aftermath of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 in December 2015, a staggering 1.5 million background checks were performed that month.
Despite Mass Shootings, Number Of Households Owning Guns Is On The Decline
As my colleague Zachary Crockett noted, this is business as usual for the gun industry. Gun sales typically soar after a terrorist attack or mass shooting.

In 1977, one in two American households owned a gun. But by 2014, less than one in three households reported owning a gun. Gun ownership in the US has been in decline since the mid-’90s, but 2014 marked a 40-year low in gun ownership, with only 31 percent of homes owning a gun.
Researchers point to the declining popularity of hunting as the reason. Not only did 2014 mark a historic low in household gun ownership, it also marked the lowest level of hunters reported living in a household in the past 40 years. In 1997, 32 percent of households reported a member being a hunter, but by 2014 that percentage had been cut in half, dropping to 15 percent.
America's High Homicide Rate
The data comes from a survey conducted by NORC, an independent research organization at the University of Chicago, which examines gun ownership in America alongside other demographic trends in its biennial General Social Survey (GSS).
There is one thing the research is pretty clear on: Places with more guns generally have higher homicide rates (both firearm and non-firearm-related). The research holds up no matter how you slice it — country to country or state to state.
Multiple reviews of the research, including the Harvard Injury Control Research Center's aggregation of the evidence, have consistently found a correlation between gun ownership and gun deaths — including homicides, suicides, and accidental shootings — after controlling for other factors, German Lopez has written for .
Gun Ownership Statistics By State In America
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The Declining Culture Of Guns
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Get the best of technology coverage, from essential reporting on Silicon Valley to the latest news about media, policy, and beyond.We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.
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America's Gun Problem Explained
America has 4.4 percent of the world's population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world — enough to arm every adult in the country:
Whether at the state or country level, reviews of the studies by the Harvard School of Public Health's Injury Control Center have consistently found that places with more guns have more deaths after controlling for variables like socioeconomic factors and other crime. Within the United States, David Hemenway, the Injury Control Research Center's director, wrote in
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at , there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.
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Lethality Of Suicide Method
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy, which makes it hard to plan ahead. Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription.
It’s important that we have several ways we make money. That’s why, even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek reader support.
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to today? Any amount helps.
Gun Violence Statistics — American Gun Violence By The Numbers
Get the best of technology coverage, from essential reporting on Silicon Valley to the latest news about media, policy, and beyond.WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thirty-two percent of U.S. adults say they personally own a gun, while a larger percentage, 44%, report living in a gun household. Adults living in gun households include those with a gun in their home or anywhere on their property.
Gallup has tracked both metrics of gun ownership annually since 2007, showing no clear increase or decrease in gun ownership over that time.
Line graph. The percentage of U.S. adults who own guns has remained stable for more than a decade. 44% say they live in a gun household, and 32% say they personally own a gun. In 2007, 44% said they lived in a gun household and 28% said they personally owned a gun.
Firearms Are The Leading Cause Of Death For Children In The United States But Rank No Higher Than Fifth In Other Industrialized Nations
The latest results are from Gallup's annual Crime poll, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 15, 2020. As is typical, the rate of personal gun ownership varies most by political party and ideology, gender, race/ethnicity, region and urbanicity, with smaller differences seen by household income and marital status.

Questions: Do you have a gun in your home? (Asked of those who do not have a gun in their home:) Do you have a gun anywhere else on your property such as in your garage, barn, shed or in your car or truck? (Asked of those who have a gun in their home or on their property:) Do you
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