50 facts about guns in America

Firearm evolution dates back to 1364 with what was initially branded a “hand cannon,” and were aboard the ships that discovered the New World. Riflemen in 1776 used flintlock muskets to fire roughly three shots per minute during the American Revolution. Samuel Colt invented the first multi-shot revolver in 1873.

The steep climb in personal history reports required for gun ownership performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System rose the most from 2010 to 2015. The total of FBI background checks, which started at 8.5 million in 2000, grew to 23,141,970 only 15 years later.

During the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 broke out in the U.S, firearm sales soared, then rose higher during a summer of racial and social unrest. Americans purchased approximately 17 million firearms during the spring and summer, with many citizens buying their first guns.

The Constitutional definition regarding “the right to bear arms” is questionable in an age of mass shootings, dividing many Americans whose opinions on gun ownership differ. The Atlantic reports that while the “contextual reading is quite enlightening” in the amendment, its initial and sole purpose was to permit U.S. states to create armed militias legally.

The report “America’s Complex Relationship with Guns” details that regardless of demographics, up to 67% of U.S. citizens claim to own firearms primarily for safety purposes. Additional reasons Americans say they own firearms are for hunting, sport shooting, gun collection, and employment purposes.

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Following the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort in Las Vegas in 2017, the number of U.S. citizens who favor further firearm restrictions rose from 50% to 62% by 2019. Lawmakers have also debated gun policy laws, even proposing policies to prevent gun violence, including a ban on straw purchases and assault weapons, safe storage requirements, mandatory background checks, and the “red flag” law.

When it comes to banning bump stocks, bipartisan politics does not seem to play a role, with 60% of all registered voters rejecting the firearm accessory, as well as 78% of Democrat and 60% of GOP lawmakers renouncing the device. Bump-firing is when a semiautomatic weapon recoil causes rapid succession fire. After the 2017 Las Vegas Nevada and Parkland, Florida, mass shootings, the U.S. banned the deadly accessory.

Firearm related deaths were the third-leading reason for adolescent fatality in 2016, behind injury-related deaths and motor vehicle crashes, respectively. Of the total 3,143 firearm adolescent deaths, 1,865 were homicide-related, 1,102 were suicides, 126 were deemed unintentional, and 50 were of undetermined intent.

Though federal law dictates that all licensed gun dealers perform background checks on purchasers, it does not mandate a personal history release on brick-and-mortar gun sales or firearms purchased online. However, 13 states and the District of Columbia require universal background checks with all firearm types for purchase or trade.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) reports the manufacturing of 10,844,792 firearms in 2013, the most in one year since 1986. In those 29 years, the fewest firearms were produced in 2001, with only 2,932,655 made that year.

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Research proves that those with suicidal tendencies are more likely to successfully take their lives if a firearm is in residence. More than 12 U.S. case-control studies reveal that more suicides take place in states with more guns and fewer restrictive firearm regulations, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Of all U.S. states, 34 implement Stand Your Ground, a law allowing the use of deadly force with a firearm to defend oneself from severe physical harm or possible death. However, the “duty to retreat” noted in the law often foreshadows that the self-defense law does not result in a criminal penalty if upheld.

Three out of 10 Americans, or 30%, admit to owning a gun, 11% say they know someone who does, and 57% do not possess one, according to a Pew Research Center study conducted in 2017. The study also showed that 66% of gun owners own more than one firearm. Firearm exposure begins in adolescence for almost half of Americans, with up to 48% saying they grew up with a gun in the house.

There were 25 mass shootings in 2019, collectively killing 176 Americans. The largest mass shooting took the lives of 22 people in El Paso, Texas, in August. The incident took place in a local Walmart that police say was filled to capacity.

Founded by two Union veterans, the National Rifle Association (NRA) was formed in 1871 in order to improve troop marksmanship and “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis.” The NRA reported that more than 125,000 “certified instructors” train 1 million firearm owners on how to properly shoot a rifle.

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Both GOP and Democrat lawmakers agree that Americans who have a mental illness should not own a gun. Both political parties agree that anyone on a federal no-fly or watchlist should be prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm. Federal law must mandate background checks for gun purchasers who buy from a private dealer or show.

Almost half of Americans confess to knowing someone who has been accidentally or intentionally shot with a firearm, while 23% admit to using a gun to threaten a family member. Additionally, suburban Americans know fewer people who have been shot compared to citizens in rural regions.

Self-identifying definitions, concealed or open, are the two ways an owner can legally carry firearms, but this was not always the case. In the last three decades, profound policy changes on the public display of weapons made openly carrying a gun easier, with 14 U.S. states allowing it as long as the gun owner has a permit or license to do so.

The U.S. Congress authorized the Nonmailable Firearms Act in 1927, which banned shipping firearms, including pistols, revolvers, and concealable guns, through the U.S. Postal Service. Only military, police officers, and specific law officials were authorized to mail firearms. If found guilty of illegally sending weapons, gun owners could face as long as two years in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.

There are more guns than people in America, with 120.5 firearms per 100 U.S. citizens, according to Vox, making the country more prone to gun violence. As the leading country in gun ownership (with Yemen second), the U.S. owns almost half of all firearms globally, at around 45%.

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Harvard Injury Control Research Center Director David Hemenway states that “a wide array of empirical evidence indicates that more guns in a community leads to more homicide” in America. He adds in his book, “Private Guns, Public Health,” that additional research shows firearms in a home cause a greater risk of suicide and unintentional injury.

Since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, more than 2,000 mass shootings have taken place throughout nearly every U.S. state.

According to the American Journal of Public Health, occupational mortality for law enforcement officers (LEO) is much higher in states with less-restrictive gun regulations. Using the Poisson distribution to breakdown data gathered from the FBI between 1996 and 2019, research proves LEO homicide rates to be three times higher in states with more gun owners.

While mass shootings, specifically on school grounds, have compelled lawmakers to enforce regional gun restrictions and bans, five states welcome concealed weapons on campus. The University of Colorado, the Oregon University System, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Mississippi, and Utah public colleges or universities allow students to have a gun on the grounds.

In the Green Mountain state, a resident only has to be 16 to legally possess a handgun without parental consent. Additionally, there is no age restriction on owning or possessing a rifle or shotgun in Vermont, allowing any child to have that type of firearm without parental consent.

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Under nullification laws, individual U.S. states feel they do not have to follow federal law regarding the sale of guns manufactured in the region. Since 2010, Idaho, Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Arizona have all passed federally defiant legislation based on “firearms freedom,” allowing them to make guns without national regulations and sell them without an official federal record.

A 2017 study showed about 19 children are shot daily in the U.S. on average, with an average of three fatalities each dawn-to-dark. There are more males victims than females. While there is an inordinately elevated number of daily homicidal gun shootings among Black adolescents, there is also an excessively high number of gun-shooting deaths by suicide for whites and Native Americans.

Not only do 39% of parents or guardians falsely believe that their children do not know where the firearms in the house are stored, but up to 22% of parents also had no clue that their children either handled or played with said guns. Presently, only 11 states have laws regarding safe storage.

While 30% of Americans admit to owning a firearm, even more confess they could see purchasing and possessing a gun in the future. In a Pew Research Center study, up to 36% of U.S. citizens feel they may need a weapon and are more likely to purchase a handgun first, followed by a rifle and a shotgun.

A detailed Washington Post report reveals that between 1999–2017, more than 250,000 children experienced a mass shooting on school grounds. Numbers for children killed outside of school grounds are even more daunting, with nearly three times as many children killed on American land than soldiers murdered abroad. Guns killed approximately 180,000 adolescents from 1963 to 2015.

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The Lafayette-Washington steel-mounted “saddle” pistols reportedly carried by George Washington during the 1777 encampment at Valley Forge sold for more than $1.9 million at a Christie’s auction located in London and New York. Nearly as expensive, famous french gunsmith Nicolas-Noel Boutet’s renowned silver-mounted rifled flintlock pistols also sold at Christie’s for more than $1.8 million.

A decade-long Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis shows that in 17 U.S. states, adolescents become “collateral victims” in domestic violence incidents committed with a gun. From Colorado to Massachusetts, 179 children, at least half younger than 13 years old, were killed with a firearm after a fight broke out in the home from 2003–2013.

States with stricter gun laws have fewer deaths by firearm, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Six of the seven states—and Washington D.C.—with the strictest gun laws had the fewest gun crimes per capita.

The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, amended in 1995 to allow for commercial activity, made it illegal to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. Eight states allow guns into schools with a concealed-carry permit, and many states don’t have laws against guns in daycare centers.

In its 2008 ruling in the District of Columbia vs. Heller, the Supreme Court overturned a 32-year handgun ban in the nation’s capital. The decision was the most recent regarding the Second Amendment from the top court, which in April 2020 sent New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York back to the lower courts.

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Broken down by gender, adult men are nearly twice as likely to own a gun as their female counterparts, and 48% of white men reported owning a gun, double the rate for non-white males. Two-thirds of all gun owners have more than one, while 29% own five or more.

In response to the notorious extreme gun violence committed by 1930s gang leaders including mobster Al Capone and hitman John Dillinger, the U.S. Congress passed the National Firearms Act of 1934 under President Franklin Roosevelt’s Administration. The legislation under the “New Deal for Crime” prohibited the use of any firearm with a barrel shorter than 18 inches.

The ATF estimates that America hosts about 2,000 gun shows annually. A lack of federal and state oversight at gun shows makes the thousands of firearm displays questionable, with some not requiring background checks or a waiting period.

Approximately six in 10 adults in Alaska own a gun in 2020, with Arkansas and Idaho rounding out the top three. Texas leads the way in terms of the number of registered firearms, followed by Florida.

The Northeast region of the United States has some of the strictest gun laws and the six states with the lowest gun ownership rates, led by Delaware at 5.2%. Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Connecticut round out the top six, all under 17%.

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Fifty-eight concertgoers at the Rt. 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas lost their lives during the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. More than 850 were injured when a single gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino. Country musician Jason Aldean was performing when the shooting started.

Under the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, all gun dealers, manufacturers, and importers were required to obtain a license to sell firearms. The law also excluded certain groups, like convicted felons, from owning a gun. The Gun Control Act of 1968 replaced the Federal Firearms Act but adopted many of the same rules still in place today.

Seven states and the District of Columbia have outright bans on the sale and purchase of assault weapons, while Minnesota and Virginia have regulations in place. California, New Jersey, and Connecticut put bans into effect before a federal 10-year ban was enacted with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Massachusetts, Hawaii, New York, and Maryland have similar laws.

Gun purchasers have contributed billions of dollars to wildlife conservation and hunting safety through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937. Through the act, legally sold firearms and ammunition are subject to a minimum 10% tax, bringing in nearly $800 million in tax revenue in 2016.

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 implemented a five-day waiting period before an unlicensed person could purchase a gun so the FBI can perform a background check. The law was named for former White House press secretary James Brady, who was shot in the head during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

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Though the Brady Act in 1993 required background checks for the sale of firearms, 20% of all transactions today occur without one. Private gun vendors in certain states are exempt from performing federal background checks, both at gun shows or through online sales. The Bipartisan Background Checks Act passed the House in 2019 and would require checks on all sales.

A 2017 study by the University of California, Davis, revealed that an alcohol arrest was a bigger factor toward future gun violence than prior violence itself. Another showed that nearly half of all homicide perpetrators had consumed alcohol before their crimes.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 was the first gun legislation to prohibit the sale of guns to certain groups, including convicted felons, minors, and the mentally unstable. The bill also banned the sale of guns through interstate mail, five years after the assasination of President John F. Kennedy using one such gun. Two more assassinations—those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy—came just months before the bill’s passage.

The city of Kennesaw, Georgia, has a law on the books stipulating that “every head of household in the city limits must own a gun.” The law was passed in 1982 in response to a gun ban in Morton Grove, Illinois. A handful of towns have since passed similar laws requiring gun ownership.

Remington Arms was formed in 1816 and serves as the nation’s oldest gun manufacturer, while Italy’s Beretta dates to 1526. Bankruptcy proceedings in 2020 threatened to break Remington apart, while American competitor Smith & Wesson, founded in 1856, is the second-largest manufacturer in the world behind Ruger.

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