{"id":16044,"date":"2013-06-04T00:01:08","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T05:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:31:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:31:26","slug":"a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/06\/04\/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear\/","title":{"rendered":"A minority of Americans own guns, but just how many is unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: For newer findings on gun ownership, see the Center’s\u00a02017 survey<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

There are by various estimates anywhere from 270 million<\/a> to 310 million<\/a> guns in the United States — close to one firearm for every man, woman and child. But in point of fact, only a minority of Americans own guns.<\/p>\n\n

Gun ownership is one of the hardest things for researchers to pin down (as the Pew Research Center’s Michael Dimock, among others, discusses here<\/a>). A Pew Research Center survey<\/a> conducted in February found that 37% of households had an adult who owned a gun — 24% said they owned a gun, and 13% said someone else in their household did.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

The Pew Research Center’s results generally track with the General Social Survey: When the GSS asked last year if people had a gun in their home or garage, 34% said they did.<\/p>\n\n

Though other surveys (such as this one<\/a> from Gallup) have found somewhat higher self-reported ownership rates, by and large they indicate that less than half of Americans own a gun.<\/p>\n\n

The Pew Research and GSS surveys both\u00a0have found declining gun-ownership rates over time. In 1973, for example, when the GSS first\u00a0asked about gun ownership, 49% reported having a gun or revolver in their home or garage. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than a third of Americans say they or someone in their household owns a 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