While we don’t know for certain, it’s estimated that there are roughly 300 million guns in America. Of course, some say that number is higher…much higher…like upwards of 200 million higher. So who owns all these guns, and where do they live? Injury Prevention, a scholarly journal, decided to find out.
The journal surveyed 4,000 adults across the country to see which states have the highest number of gun owners per capita, also known as the gun ownership rate.
Check to see how your state ranks. You just might be surprised.
Below the national average of 29.1%
Delaware: 5.2
Rhode Island: 5.8
New York: 10.3
New Jersey: 11.3
New Hampshire: 14.4
Connecticut: 16.6
Ohio: 19.6
Nebraska: 19.8
California: 20.1
Maryland: 20.7
Massachusetts: 22.6
Maine: 22.6
District of Columbia: 25.9
Illinois: 26.2
Oregon: 26.6
Missouri: 27.1
Pennsylvania: 27.1
Washington: 27.7
North Carolina: 28.7
Michigan: 28.8
Vermont: 28.8
Above the national average of 29.1%
Virginia: 29.3
Oklahoma: 31.2
Georgia: 31.6
Utah: 31.9
Kansas: 32.2
Arizona: 32.3
Florida: 32.5
Indiana: 33.8
Iowa: 33.8
Colorado: 34.3
Wisconsin 34.7
South Dakota: 35.0
Texas: 35.7
Minnesota: 36.7
Nevada: 37.5
Tennessee: 39.4
Kentucky: 42.4
Mississippi: 42.8
South Carolina: 44.4
Louisiana: 44.5
Hawaii: 45.1
North Dakota: 47.9
Alabama: 48.9
New Mexico: 49.9
Montana: 52.3
Wyoming: 53.8
West Virginia: 54.2
Idaho: 56.9
Arkansas: 57.9
Alaska: 61.7
While the survey is a few years old (it was first published in 2015), it’s likely the rankings have generally remained the same.
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