Gun ownership

Gun ownership is the ownership of a gun or firearm.

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 worldsmallarmssurvey.org Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018 The survey stated that US 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 the US. In 2023, about 16.7 million firearms were sold in the US 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.

Gun ownership is a legal right in many nations. In the overwhelming majority of countries, this right is heavily restricted. A marginal set of countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, have a more liberal approach. These countries have explicit constitutional or statutory frameworks that affirm civilian access to firearms for self-defense, sport, and militia purposes.

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.

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.

+Worldwide civilian firearms holdings, 2017 estimates.smallarmssurvey.org June 2018, Estimating Global Civilian Held Firearms Numbers by Aaron KarpCivilian Firearms Holdings, 2017. smallarmssurvey.org. Archived on 29 June 2018. Countries and territories Firearms in civilian possession Population 2017 Civilian firearms per 100 people 4,270,000 34,169,000 12.5 350,000 2,911,000 12.0 877,000 41,064,000 2.1 (United States) 400 56,000 0.7 10,000 69,000 14.1 2,982,000 26,656,000 11.2 5,000 94,000 5.3 3,256,000 44,272,000 7.4 186,000 3,032,000 6.1 (Netherlands) 3,000 105,000 2.6 3,573,000 24,642,000 14.5 2,577,000 8,592,000 30.0 362,000 9,974,000 3.6 74,000 397,000 18.8 181,000 1,419,000 12.8 659,000 164,828,000 0.4 10,000 286,000 3.5 581,000 9,459,000 6.1 1,451,000 11,444,000 12.7 37,000 375,000 10.0 33,000 11,459,000 0.3 (United Kingdom) 3,000 61,000 4.6 6,000 793,000 0.8 218,000 11,053,000 2.0 1,185,000 3,793,000 31.2 97,000 2,344,000 4.1 17,510,000 211,243,000 8.3 6,000 434,000 1.4 590,000 7,045,000 8.4 175,000 19,173,000 0.9 238,000 11,936,000 2.0 717,000 16,076,000 4.5 510,000 24,514,000 2.1 12,708,000 36,626,000 34.7 (Cabo Verde) 31,000 533,000 5.7 (United Kingdom) 6,000 62,000 9.2 94,000 5,099,000 1.8 151,000 14,965,000 1.0 23,000 165,000 14.0 2,220,000 18,313,000 12.1 49,735,000 1,388,233,000 3.6 0 2,000 0.0 4,971,000 49,068,000 10.1 12,000 826,000 1.5 493,000 4,906,000 10.0 576,000 4,210,000 13.7 234,000 11,390,000 2.1 4,000 160,000 2.6 285,000 839,000 34.0 1,323,000 10,555,000 12.5 946,000 82,243,000 1.2 567,000 5,712,000 9.9 28,000 911,000 3.1 5,000 73,000 6.2 795,000 10,767,000 7.4 402,000 16,626,000 2.4 3,931,000 95,215,000 4.1 737,000 6,167,000 12.0 and Wales 2,731,000 58,877,000 4.6 112,000 894,000 12.5 23,000 5,482,000 0.4 65,000 1,306,000 5.0 377,000 104,345,000 0.4 (United Kingdom) 2,000 3,000 66.7 (Denmark) 5,000 49,000 9.9 5,000 903,000 0.5 1,793,000 5,541,000 32.4 12,732,000 64,939,000 19.6 (France) 55,000 283,000 19.6 (France) 7,000 289,000 2.5 61,000 1,801,000 3.4 137,000 2,120,000 6.5 402,000 3,973,000 10.1 15,822,000 80,636,000 19.6 2,280,000 28,657,000 8.0 (United Kingdom) 1,000 32,000 4.1 1,920,000 10,893,000 17.6 (Denmark) 13,000 56,000 22.3 5,000 108,000 4.6 (France) 40,000 472,000 8.5 (United States) 20,000 174,000 11.5 2,062,000 17,005,000 12.1 130,000 13,291,000 1.0 29,000 1,933,000 1.5 122,000 774,000 15.8 291,000 10,983,000 2.6 0 1,000 0.0 1,171,000 8,305,000 14.1 (China) 265,000 7,402,000 3.6 1,023,000 9,788,000 10.5 106,000 334,000 31.7 71,101,000 1,342,513,000 5.3 82,000 263,510,000 0.03 5,890,000 80,946,000 7.3 7,588,000 38,654,000 19.6 342,000 4,749,000 7.2 557,000 8,323,000 6.7 8,609,000 59,798,000 14.4 (Côte d'Ivoire) 1,049,000 23,816,000 4.4 246,000 2,813,000 8.8 377,000 126,045,000 0.3 1,473,000 7,877,000 18.7 504,000 18,064,000 2.8 750,000 48,467,000 1.5 900 116,000 0.8 436,000 1,831,000 23.8 685,000 4,100,000 16.7 171,000 6,125,000 2.8 215,000 7,038,000 3.0 205,000 1,945,000 10.5 1,927,000 6,039,000 31.9 105,000 2,185,000 4.8 97,000 4,730,000 2.1 851,000 6,409,000 13.3 11,000 38,000 28.8 385,000 2,831,000 13.6 110,000 584,000 18.9 (China) 22,000 606,000 3.6 168,000 25,613,000 0.7 47,000 18,299,000 0.3 217,000 31,164,000 0.7 23,000 376,000 6.2 206,000 18,690,000 1.1 119,000 421,000 28.3 300 53,000 0.5 (France) 34,000 396,000 8.5 120,000 4,266,000 2.8 106,000 1,281,000 8.3 16,809,000 130,223,000 12.9 700 106,000 0.7 121,000 4,055,000 3.0 7,000 38,000 18.4 242,000 3,052,000 7.9 245,000 626,000 39.1 (United Kingdom) 300 5,000 5.4 1,690,000 35,241,000 4.8 1,337,000 29,538,000 4.5 877,000 54,836,000 1.6 396,000 2,569,000 15.4 0 10,000 0.0 444,000 29,187,000 1.5 442,000 17,033,000 2.6 (France) 115,000 270,000 42.5 1,212,000 4,605,000 26.3 323,000 6,218,000 5.2 117,000 21,564,000 0.5 6,154,000 191,836,000 3.2 206,000 1,873,000 11.0 (United States) 1,000 56,000 2.6 76,000 25,405,000 0.3 1,537,000 5,331,000 28.8 792,000 4,741,000 16.7 43,917,000 196,744,000 22.3 100 22,000 0.5 56,000 4,952,000 1.1 436,000 4,051,000 10.8 79,000 7,934,000 1.0 1,140,000 6,812,000 16.7 633,000 32,166,000 2.0 3,776,000 103,797,000 3.6 968,000 38,564,000 2.5 2,186,000 10,265,000 21.3 (United States) 422,000 3,679,000 11.5 246,000 1,995,000 12.3 390,000 2,338,000 16.7 119,000 4,866,000 2.4 (France) 171,000 873,000 19.6 506,000 19,238,000 2.6 17,620,000 143,375,000 12.3 66,000 12,160,000 0.5 2,000 57,000 3.4 6,000 188,000 3.4 (France) 3,000 32,000 8.5 4,000 110,000 3.4 20,000 196,000 10.1 5,000 32,000 15.6 7,000 198,000 3.4 12,564,000 32,743,000 53.7 305,000 5,436,000 5.6 323,000 16,054,000 2.0 2,719,000 6,946,000 39.1 4,000 98,000 4.1 35,000 6,733,000 0.5 20,000 5,785,000 0.3 (Netherlands) 2,000 40,000 4.2 355,000 5,432,000 6.5 324,000 2,071,000 15.6 1,000 606,000 0.2 1,145,000 9,225,000 12.4 456,000 3,823,000 11.9 5,351,000 55,436,000 9.7 79,000 50,705,000 0.2 1,255,000 13,096,000 9.6 3,464,000 46,070,000 7.5 494,000 20,905,000 2.4 2,768,000 42,166,000 6.6 88,000 552,000 15.9 64,000 1,320,000 4.8 2,296,000 9,921,000 23.1 2,332,000 8,454,000 27.6 1,547,000 18,907,000 8.2 10,000 23,405,000 0.04 37,000 8,858,000 0.4 427,000 56,878,000 0.8 10,342,000 68,298,000 15.1 3,000 1,237,000 0.3 58,000 7,692,000 0.8 9,000 108,000 8.0 43,000 1,369,000 3.2 123,000 11,495,000 1.1 13,249,000 80,418,000 16.5 23,000 5,503,000 0.4 (United Kingdom) 1,000 35,000 3.3 100 10,000 1.2 331,000 41,653,000 0.8 4,396,000 44,405,000 9.9 1,569,000 9,398,000 16.7 393,347,000 326,474,000 120.5 1,198,000 3,457,000 34.7 127,000 30,691,000 0.4 11,000 276,000 3.9 5,895,000 31,926,000 18.5 1,562,000 95,415,000 1.6 300 31,000 0.8 18,000 107,000 16.6 14,859,000 28,120,000 52.8 158,000 17,238,000 0.9 455,000 16,338,000 2.8

Association with rates of violence in times of peace

American 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.

An international study by UNICRI researchers from 2001 examined the link between household gun ownership and overall homicide, overall suicide, as well as gun homicide and gun suicide rates amongst 21 high-income countries. Significant correlations between household gun ownership and rates of gun suicides for both genders, and gun homicide rates involving female victims were found. There were no significant correlations detected for total homicide and suicide rates, as well as gun homicide rates involving male victims, gun homicide rates when including both genders, or overall female homicide rates. 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 his study (percentage of firearm suicides over all suicides), the relationship ceases to be statistically significant. The significant association between gun ownership and homicide rates across highly developed nations is dependent solely 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.

Maps

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

References

Gun ownership

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