Owning a Gun in the United States

 

In America, there are an estimated 270,000,000 privately owned firearms for a population of 311.6 million people resulting in a gun ownership rate of 88.2 firearms per 100 people.  The overall number of privately owned firearms puts the United States gun ownership at number 1 in the world as does the rate of private gun ownership.

 

Here is a graph comparing the overall number of guns owned privately for several nations around the world to the United States:

 

 

Here is a graph comparing the rate of civilian firearm possession per 100 people for the same nations in the previous graph to the United States:

 

 

The rate of gun ownership in the U.S. is nearly twice the rate of the second-place finisher, Switzerland and 3.5 times the rate of gun ownership in Canada.  In case you were wondering, the total estimated number of privately owned guns in Canada is 9,950,000 and Canada rates at number 12 in the world for overall number of privately owned guns and number 13 for the rate of gun ownership per 100 people.  Of these Canadian guns, 3,500,000 are rifles, 2,600,000 are shotguns and only 1,100,000 are handguns.  Looking at Switzerland in more detail, while the country has the second-highest private gun ownership rate, the annual rate of firearm homicide per 100,000 population is a tiny fraction of the rate in the United States as shown on this graph:

 

 

Switzerland's anomalous gun ownership rate is related to the military obligation of its residents; members of the Swiss militia store their weapons at home and since service is universal, every male over 20 has a pistol or rifle in his possession. 

 

In the United States, the number of gun homicides over the past 11 years is as follows:

 

2009: 9146

2008: 9484

2007: 10129

2006: 10225

2005: 10158

2004: 9385

2003: 9659

2002: 9369

2001: 8890

1999: 8259

1998: 9257

 

Here is a graph showing the rate of gun homicide per 100,000 people for the United States since 1993:

 

Here is a graph showing the rate of gun homicide per 100,000 people for Canada since 1992:

 

 

Here is a graph showing the rate of gun homicide per 100,000 people for the United Kingdom since 1998:

 

 

Not terribly surprising, in both Canada and the United Kingdom, the rate of gun homicide is a fraction of that experienced in the United States.

 

In closing, here are a few interesting facts and figures:

 

1.) The annual value of small arms and ammunition exports from the United States in 2009 was reported to be $689,170,603.

 

2.) The annual value of small arms and ammunition imports into the United States in 2009 was reported to be $1,585,242,738.

 

3.) The asking price for an AK-47 assault weapon in the United States is $500.  By way of comparison, the same weapon sells for only $320 in Yemen and $200 in Algeria. 

 

It is intriguing to look at some detailed statistics about gun ownership and use in the United States.  While gun ownership itself is not necessarily an evil thing, the violence associated with the illicit use of guns quite clearly is.  Nothing proves that more than the mass shootings of the past year.

 

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