As the political climate heats up surrounding gun control and legislation, more Americans are buying firearms today than six years ago. In the past twenty years, gun ownership has risen slightly among women and Hispanics while it has decreased among men.

Report Highlights :

• Gun ownership in America increased 28% from 1994 to 2023.
• Based on NICS background data and manufacturing records, it is estimated that there are 393 million civilian-owned firearms in the U.S.
• Only 6.06 million firearms are registered in America (NFA registrations and states with permits to purchase)
• Estimates show that 82,880,000 people own at least one firearm in 2023.
• 43% of households have at least one firearm in 2023.
• Women's firearm ownership has increased by 177.8% since 1993.
• Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic of gun owners, with a 33% increase in ownership between 2017 and 2023.
• Gun ownership declined by 22% in the 18-29 age group between 2017 and 2023.
• 1 out of 20 adults in the U.S. purchased a firearm for the first time during the pandemic.

You can see a comprehensive list of our sources here .

How Many Americans Own Guns?

In 2023, 32% of Americans own at least one firearm. There are approximately 259,000,000 adults, which equates to 82,880,000 people who own a firearm in the U.S.

Firearm ownership increased by 6.7% in the U.S. (all demographics) between 2017 and 2023. During that same time period, women increased ownership by 13.6%, and Hispanics increased ownership by 33.3%.



Not only is gun ownership on the rise, but some demographics are purchasing guns at higher rates today than ever before.

Furthermore, 7.5 million adults (2.9% of adults in the U.S.) became first-time gun owners between 2019 and 2021. Of those, 5.4 million did not have a firearm in the household before purchasing.

Gun Sale Trends in America 2010-2023

While firearm ownership historically remains between 40% and 47% of the adult population, purchase trends vary widely. More Americans bought firearms in 2020 than any year since 2010.



Continue reading How Many Gun Owners Are in America? (2024 Statistics) on Ammo.com

Thanks for posting this. Quite interesting. Based on the data provided, I wonder if there is a correlation between increasing minority and women gun ownership and a change of political party affiliation.

Silent

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Women's firearm ownership has increased by 177.8% since 1993.

That would include both of my daughters, although in 1993 only one of my daughters was born.
My wife first became a gun owner in 1990.

quote:

Originally posted by Silent:
Thanks for posting this. Quite interesting. Based on the data provided, I wonder if there is a correlation between increasing minority and women gun ownership and a change of political party affiliation.

Silent

Thanks for reading! It'd be hard to get unbiased data to find that correlation. The Dems would rather not let their voter base know that some women are *gasp* owning guns.

Some years ago Dillon Precision urged their customers to “Vote like a gun owner.”

I always think of that whenever I see something like these statistics. I can only wistfully imagine what our gun owning rights would be like if that had been heeded by everyone who owned a gun. After an election or two in which every gun owner voted like owning a gun was important to them, that would be the end of politicians’ efforts to eliminate our rights for at least a generation. Alas, however ….

How many of those gun owners have less than half a box of ammunition in their home?

Without ammo, firearms are just awkward clubs.

If I were to guess, I would think that a lot of gun owners have a whole box of ammo....minus 6 rounds, or minus 8 rounds or minus 16 rounds. The other rounds being in the gun they purchased. With the point that they probably never even fired the gun.

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Originally posted by parabellum:
How many of those gun owners have less than half a box of ammunition in their home?

Without ammo, firearms are just awkward clubs.

Here in UK, where things are 'different' - to say the least - I have managed, despite the shortages, to maintain a stock of all the ammunition that I'm permitted to have by law. Having gotten on the good side of my FEO [Firearms Enquiries Officer] from the county police force Firearms and Explosives Licensing Department], I can have 750 rounds of 7.5x55 Swiss, and continue to keep that number every time I have a reloading session. My other centrefire calibres are for 250 only, but as I don't have a semi-auto ammo-chewer, that's OK. I rarely shoot more than thirty .45-70 Govt, and certainly not .577 Snider at one time. Most popular calibre is still a .308Win - but with bullets alone costing $1.15 each, even that has had to have been cut down some.

That graph looked odd till I noted the asterisk that the last number was for less than half of 2023.

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• Gun ownership declined by 22% in the 18-29 age group between 2017 and 2023.

If true, that's a bit of a concern. Was there any discussion of what may lay behind that decline?

I just saw a stat that they exceeded 1 million in monthly fed background checks for something like the 52nd month in a row. How many were prior guns owners ? How many bought 2+ on 1 background ? That’s a lot of firearms leaving FFL’s. I would love to see even more. Doesn’t count face to face sales not involving a FFL.

I think the households owning at least 1 is low.
A LOT of people would lie/avoid that and say no to that question. How many people live where there is at least 1 gun in the house and they have no idea?

Some great questions are posed from the data. I suspect with the push to legalize drugs, disarm and remove police forces in major Blue states, people are figuring out they have to be able to defend themselves should the need arise.