Gun ownership is most common among men, whitesĪbout four-in-ten adults (42%) report that there is a gun in their household, with three-in-ten saying they personally own a gun and 11% saying they don’t own a gun but someone else in their household does. Both surveys are consistent with rates of gun ownership reported by the Gallup Organization, but somewhat higher than that reported by the General Social Survey (GSS), which is conducted face to face. adults in the new survey who report that they personally own a gun or who live with someone who does is similar to what the Center found in a survey conducted by telephone in August 2016. Finally, it asked about gun ownership using two separate questions to measure personal and household ownership instead of collecting this information with a single question, as has been the case with previous Pew Research Center reports.ĭespite these changes, the share of U.S. Furthermore, the survey was conducted among adults who have responded to Pew Research Center surveys in the past as part of the American Trends Panel and thus may be more comfortable answering the questions. It collected responses online, where people may be more willing to share sensitive information than they would be over the phone or in person.
The new survey asked about gun ownership differently than previous Pew Research Center reports. For example, unlike many demographic questions, there is not a definitive data source from the government or elsewhere on how many American adults own guns. Measuring gun ownership comes with its own set of challenges. Among those who own a single gun, most (62%) say that gun is a handgun or pistol, while far fewer say they own a rifle (22%) or a shotgun (16%). About seven-in-ten say they own a handgun or pistol (72%), while 62% own a rifle and 54% own a shotgun. Two-thirds of gun owners say they own more than one gun, including 29% who own five or more guns.
Fewer cite a gun collection (13%) or their job (8%) as major reasons for owning a gun. About four-in-ten say the same about hunting (38%), while three-in-ten say sport shooting, including target, trap and skeet shooting is a major reason they own a gun. Still, protection tops the list, with 67% of current gun owners saying this is a major reason they personally own a gun. In fact, eight-in-ten say they have more than one reason for owning, and 44% have more than one major reason. Most gun owners cite multiple reasons for owning a gun. While non-gun owners are less likely to have grown up in a gun-owning household, a substantial share (40%) say this is the case, and about six-in-ten (61%) say they have fired a gun. About two-thirds of current gun owners (67%) say there were guns in their household growing up, and 76% report that they first fired a gun before they were 18. 20%).įor many adults who own guns, exposure to guns happened at an early age. There are also significant differences across parties, with Republican and Republican-leaning independents more than twice as likely as Democrats and those who lean Democratic to say they own a gun (44% vs. Among those who live in rural areas, 46% say they are gun owners, compared with 28% of those who live in the suburbs and 19% in urban areas. Gun ownership is more common among men than women, and white men are particularly likely to be gun owners. Among those who don’t currently own a gun, about half say they could see themselves owning one in the future. Three-in-ten American adults say they currently own a gun, and another 11% say they don’t personally own a gun but live with someone who does. And many who don’t currently own a gun, including those who have never owned one, may be open to doing so in the future. Some Americans who don’t personally own guns live with someone who does or may have owned a gun in the past. Understanding gun ownership in America is not as simple as knowing who does and does not own a gun.