Gun Ownership

We analyzed a nationally representative household telephone survey of over 2,750 adults conducted in 2004.  We found that 38% of households (45% of men and 11% of women) reported owning at least one firearm.  Almost half (48%) of gun owners report owning four or more guns with a few possessing large numbers of guns; 64% of gun owners own at least one handgun.  Gun ownership remains widespread, but a smaller percentage of gun owners possess an increasing percentage of the gun stock.

Hepburn, Lisa; Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David.  The US gun stock: Results from the 2004 national firearms survey.  Injury Prevention.  2007; 13:15-19.

We analyzed data from a national random-digit-dial telephone survey.  Owners of semi-automatic weapons are more likely than other gun owners to be male, own a gun for protection, and report binge drinking.

Hemenway, David; Richardson, Elizabeth.  Characteristics of automatic or semi-automatic firearm ownership.  American Journal of Public Health.  1997; 87:286-88.

We analyzed whether perceptions of safety might be affected if more people in a community acquired firearms using data from a national random-digit-dial survey of adults conducted under the auspices of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.  By a margin of more than 3 to 1, Americans would feel less safe, not safer, as others in their community acquire guns.  Among women, but not among men, those who have been threatened with a gun are particularly likely to feel less safe.

Hemenway, David; Solnick, Sara J; Azrael, Deborah R.  Firearms and community feelings of safety.  Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.  1995; 86:121-132.

Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David.  Community firearms and community fear.  Epidemiology.  2000; 11:709-714.

Using data from a HICRC sponsored nationally representative survey of more than 1600 firearm owners, we estimate that 22% of gun owners who reported obtaining their most recent firearm in the previous two years reported doing so without a background check. For firearms purchased privately, 50% were obtained without a background check (with an even higher percentage for gun owners living in states that do not regulate private firearm sales). An accompanying editorial by Philip Cook of Duke University was entitled “At last, a good estimate of the magnitude of the private-sale loophole for firearms.”

Miller, Matthew; Hepburn, Lisa; Azrael, Deborah. Firearm acquisition without background checks: results for a national survey. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2017; 166(4): 232-39.

Using data from HICRC’s 2015 national survey, we estimate that 22% of US adults own guns. In other words, there are 3.5 times as many adults do not own guns as do own guns. We estimate there are approximately 265 million guns in the US, with the mean number of guns per owner of 4.8. One half of all guns in the US are owned by 3% of the US adult population. This article lays out a large number of facts about US gun ownership.

Azrael, Deborah; Hepburn, Lisa; Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew. The stock and flow of US firearms: results from the 2015 National Firearms Survey. The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. 2017; 3(5):38-57.

Using data from the HICRC sponsored National Firearms Survey, we examined differences between new and long-standing gun owners. New owners are younger, own fewer guns, are more likely to own guns solely for protection, but fortunately, are also more likely to store their guns safely.

Wertz J, Azrael D, Hemenway D, Sorenson S, Miller M. Differences between new and long-standing US gun owners: results from a national survey. American Journal of Public Health 2018; 108:871-877.

Using data from the HICRC sponsored National Firearms Survey, we questioned currently non-gun owning respondents who had owned a firearm in the preceding 5 years. These represented about 2% of US adults. Most were over age 65, and fewer than 10% had gotten rid of the gun for safety reasons.

Wertz J, Azrael D, Miller M. Americans who become a new versus a former gun owner: implications for youth suicide and unintentional firearm injury. American Journal of Public Health 2019; 109:212-214.

From a 2015 online survey of over 3900 adults, we find that 12% of women and 33% of men own a gun. Female owners own fewer guns (3.6 vs 5.6) and are more likely to own only handguns. Male and female reasons for owning guns, and their gun storage are similar.

Wolfson JA, Azrael D, Miller M. Gun ownership among US women. Injury Prevention. 2020; 26:49-54.

A 2018 survey of California adults found that about half the California gun stock is owned by 10% of the gun owners (or 2.5% of California adults).

Kravitz-Wirtz N, Pallin R, Miller M, Azrael D, Wintemute GJ. Firearm ownership and acquisition in California: findings from the 2018 California Safety and Well-being Survey. Injury Prevention. 2020; 26:516-523.

A longitudinal study of handgun owners in California found that 4.5% divested within 5 years of their first acquisition, with divestment more common among women and younger adults. Among those who divested, over 1/3 reacquired a handgun within 5 years.

Swanson SA, Miller M, Zhang Y, Prince L, Holsinger EE, Templeton Z, Studdert DM. Patterns of handgun divestment among handgun owners in California. Injury Epidemiology 2022; 9:2.

Our 2019 national firearm survey oversampled older adults. Of 1,000 adult firearm owners aged 65+, only 20% had a plan to transfer guns if they became unsafe to have them, and half had a plan of what to do with the guns if they died.

Betz M, Miller M, Matlock DD, Wintemute GJ, Johnson RL, Grogan C, Lum HD, Knoepke CE, Ranney ML, Suresh K, Azrael D. Older firearm owners and advance planning; results of a national survey. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2021; 174:279-282.