How many Americans own guns? What kind of guns do they own? How many guns do they own? The 2021 National Firearm Survey by William English, Ph.D. at Georgetown University, sought to answer these questions and more. So let’s take a look at what the survey found.

More Interesting Data @ TFB:

• SILENCER SATURDAY #124: 300BLK Subs Vs 308 Subs With Labradar Data
• Down Range Systems E-DOPE Card Targeting Data Display
• STUDY: Russia, China and India Top List of Countries with Most Military & Law Enforcement Firearms
• Concealed Carry Corner: Self-Defense Shooting Distances
• Does Pointing Your Gun Up Affect Accuracy? ARDEC Study Reveals the Effect of Weapon Orientation on Ammunition Velocity and Consistency [NDIA 2017]

Methodology

The National Firearm Survey was conducted over the internet and captured a massive sample of over 16,000 gun owner respondents. No survey methodology is perfect. This study started with a screening question about “recreational opportunities and public policy. ” It then asked users to select which types of outdoor recreational products they owned, such as canoes, rock climbing gear, or a firearm. Many gun owners are not outdoorsmen, and some may have opted into the survey based on the initial prompt.

The author of the study acknowledged that most surveys under-report actual gun ownership rates. Many gun owners are not comfortable answering questions about whether or not they own a gun, what kinds of guns they own, and in what quantities. Previous studies on this trend have documented a 10%+ error. Thus, the totals presented in this study should be seen as informative, but not ironclad. To the extent there are errors with the data, they are errors that report lower numbers than actually exist.

Survey Results

There are many stereotypes about who owns guns in America. Some of those appear based on fact, such as most gun owners being male. However, the racial breakdown is more balanced than might be expected:

About a third of adults in the U.S. report owning a firearm, totaling about 81.4 million adult gun owners.
• 57.8% of gun owners are male, 42.2% are female.
• 25.4% of Blacks own firearms.
• 28.3% of Hispanics own firearms.
• 19.4% of Asians own firearms.
• 34.3% of Whites own firearms.

White people own guns at the highest rate, but Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians are not far behind. This mirrors my own anecdotal experience working at the gun counter. The range of customers more or less matches the demographic makeup of the area rather than being all one group.

Defensive Gun Usages

Just how often guns are used for self-defense is a hotly-debated issue. Part of that debate is what counts as a “use.” The National Firearm Survey looked at uses where the gun was fired as well as those where it was not. The survey found:

• 31.1% of gun owners, or approximately 25.3 million adult Americans, have used a gun in self-defense.
• In most cases (81.9%) the gun is not fired.
• There are approximately 1.67 million defensive uses of firearms per year.
• The majority of defensive gun uses take place outside of the home (74.8%), and many (51.2%) involve more than one assailant.
• Handguns are the firearm most commonly used in defensive incidents (65.9%), followed by shotguns (21.0%) and rifles (13.1%).

The fact that 81.9% of defensive gun uses do not involve firing the gun will be no surprise to many. Guns can escalate confrontations, but they also can end a confrontation without being fired. Those non-firing uses are further broken down into times when a gun was displayed or not.

Carrying Guns

Concealed carry was once a rare thing, but the National Firearm Survey illustrates its spread. Over 20 million Americans carry concealed, which is a little over a quarter of gun owners. Other statistics include:

• A majority of gun owners (56.2%) indicate that there are some circumstances for which they carry a handgun for self-defense.
• Approximately 26.3% of gun owners, or 20.7 million individuals, carry handguns for defensive purposes under a “concealed carry” regime.
• About a third of gun owners (34.9%) have wanted to carry a handgun for self-defense
in a particular situation but local rules prohibited them from doing so.

The survey does note that some portion of the concealed carriers could be current or retired law enforcement officers. However, as the National Firearm Survey notes, there are only about 700,000 officers in the country. So to the extent that law enforcement officers may be included in the total number, they are a small subset.

Types of guns owned

The percentage of gun owners who own magazines with over ten rounds or an AR-15 is probably lower than the actual percentage. California had the largest portion of respondents to the survey, and New York was in fourth place. Both states have strong restrictions on both of those items which may have impacted the response rate. My anecdotal experience working behind a gun counter suggests these numbers are low as well.

• 82.7% of gun owners report owning a handgun, 68.8% report owning a rifle, and 58.4% report owning a shotgun.
• 21.9% of gun owners own only one firearm.
• The average gun owner owns 5 firearms.
• 30.2% of gun owners, about 24.6 million people, have owned an AR-15 or similarly
styled rifle.
• 48.0% of gun owners have owned magazines that hold over 10 rounds.

Conclusion

This study is obviously not a complete picture of every gun owner, but it is interesting and based on responses from many thousands of gun owners. The author’s findings seem to align with my own personal observations with many customers in the gun store, as well as online interactions. The entire National Firearm Survey is worth a read if you found any of these anecdotes interesting.