Surprising Gun Facts You Might Not Know

Firearms have always been ingrained in American society and culture since before the United States even became a nation. Many of its citizens believe one of the basic principles outlined in the constitution continues to remain an integral part of what the country was founded on – the right to bear arms, to carry weapons for self-defense, and to protect their rights and property.

The gun debate is a very contentious topic in the country and around the world. Guns by their very nature kill people and the U.S. has suffered more than its share of tragic mass shootings and continues to do so. The U.S. is unusual among highly developed nations in its attitude and laws on gun ownership. There are fairly limited federal gun laws but states have passed their own gun legislation.

To identify fascinating gun facts you probably didn't know, 24/7 Tempo sourced data from a range of surveys, public opinion polls, government databases, legal documents, and historical archives.(Check out these 15 guns that won the Old West.)

Here are fascinating gun facts you probably didn't know.

The FBI – the top investigatory and law enforcement agency in the country – offers precise definitions as to what constitutes "mass murder" and "active shooter incidents.' It does not, however, define the term "mass shooting." In the absence of a single, authoritative description, other groups have established their own guidelines.

The widely-cited non-profit organization Gun Violence Archive, for example, defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter. According to the GVA, there were 646 such incidents in the United States in 2022.

Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that gun violence in America is increasing. They have collected annual gun violence statistics and they show that 2021 was the worst year on record for gun homicide.

That includes total incidents and gun violence as a proportion of all homicides. In total, there were 26,031 murders in the U.S. in 2021 and 20,958 (81%) involved a firearm.

Concealed carry is legal to some degree in every state. But in the last decade, over a dozen states have previously passed laws allowing legal gun owners to carry a concealed firearm in public places without a special permit – not including three states enacting such laws in 2023.

In these and other states, concealed weapons, typically semi-automatic pistols or revolvers, can be carried under clothing, or in backpacks or purses.

Currently, 22 states require a permit to carry a concealed weapon – not counting Louisiana, a state where permitless concealed carry is allowed only for those who have served in the military.

Data collected in the Gun Violence Archive for 2020 showed that a total of 1,001 children aged 11 and younger were killed that year by firearms. This represents a 44% increase from 2019 when 696 children in that age group were killed by shooting.

Gun ownership is so widespread in America that it is the only country in the world where there are more civilian-owned guns than people. Yet surprisingly, there are many Americans who do not own a gun.

A 2021 Pew Research Center report showed that four-in-ten American adults have a gun in their household. Furthermore, only three in 10 report personally owning a firearm. Presumably, this means that some people own a lot of guns.

America has more civilian-owned firearms than any other country in the world — and by a wide margin. The United States accounts for just 5% of the global population, but is also home to 45% of the world's privately owned guns, according to 2018 data from the Swiss company Small Arms Survey.

Though several Latin American countries have higher gun death rates than the United States, the U.S. is an outlier among developed nations, with far more gun deaths per capita than countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and Spain.

Gun ownership is not even across the U.S. population. Rates of ownership are higher in rural areas (41%) compared to cities (20%). It is the suburban areas that have the highest rates of gun ownership at 29%.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and amid widespread unrest over police brutality, FBI background checks for firearm purchases spiked dramatically. There were 9.9 million total background checks in the first five months of 2020, up 69% from the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, background checks for handguns specifically spiked by 80%.

With a spike in background checks, 2020 was a record-breaking year for firearm sales in the United States. According to estimates from Small Arms Analytics, a consulting firm based in Greenville, South Carolina, Americans bought nearly 23 million guns in 2020 – considerably higher than the previous record of 15.7 million in 2016.

We know that many Americans own guns but why is that? A 2019 Gallop poll recorded that the most common reasons for gun ownership were personal safety and protection. This was the reason given by 63% of gun owners. Other reasons include hunting and collecting.

Along with Mexico and Guatemala, the United States is one of only three countries in the world where gun ownership is a constitutional right. And attitudes towards firearms among American gun owners reflect the importance of that right.

Nearly three-quarters of gun owners in the United States — 74% — say that the right to gun ownership is essential to their own sense of personal freedom, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center.

Gun homicides are 12 times more likely to impact Black Americans than white Americans. And attitudes towards gun violence in the United States along ethnic and racial lines reflect this disparity.

A 2021 poll from the Pew Research Center found that 82% of Black adults say gun violence is a very big problem, compared to 58% of Hispanic adults, and just 39% of white adults.

While incidents of gun violence are on the rise in the United States, Americans are losing interest in gun control reform. A recent Pew survey found that only 53% of Americans wanted stricter gun laws in 2021, down from 60% in 2019.

The issue of mass shootings and how to prevent them is a contentious topic in America. Opinion is divided on whether tighter gun laws would help or not.

A Pew poll in 2021 found that 49% of respondents thought that tighter restrictions on gun ownership would reduce mass shootings but 9% thought such restrictions would increase them. Interestingly, 42% thought that restrictions would make no difference.

Gun violence has personally impacted a considerable share of the U.S. population. While only about 3% of American adults have personally been shot – either accidentally or intentionally – a 2017 Pew poll found that 44% of Americans know someone who has.

The relationship between firearms and crime is complicated politically, as the public is divided on the issue. A recent Pew survey found that 31% of Americans think crime rates would fall if more Americans were armed.

Meanwhile, 34% of the population think crime would rise with gun ownership, and another 34% think more guns on the street would not impact crime rates.

Opinions on gun ownership are divided on party political lines. Democrats are generally more in favor of tighter gun laws. When questioned in a Pew survey, 81% of Democrats and left-leaning independents said that stricter gun laws are needed in the U.S. In contrast, 20% of Republicans and right-leaning independents had this opinion.

Deaths resulting from firearm-related injuries hit an all-time high in 2021. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48,830 Americans were killed by guns that year – whether through homicide, suicide, or accidents. The record-breaking year for gun deaths came immediately after the year firearm sales hit their highest level in U.S. history.

A majority of states – 30 out of 50 – have so-called "stand your ground" laws on the books, meaning individuals are not required to attempt to de-escalate and remove themselves from a dangerous situation, even in public. In these states, residents carrying guns can use them as a first resort in virtually any circumstance in which they feel they or others are at risk of serious bodily harm.

According to the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention organization, as many as 50 people are killed every month in the United States because of these laws.

While Republicans generally favor expanding gun rights more than other Americans, there are divides within the party, and some of them appear to be influenced by their place of residence. For example, 71% of Republicans in rural areas support allowing teachers to carry guns in K-12 schools, compared to just 56% of Republicans in urban areas.

Gun violence in the Prohibition Era, often carried out by gangsters like Al Capone, prompted President Roosevelt to sign the National Firearms Act into law in 1934. The law, which remains in effect, and has been expanded over time, imposed a tax on fully-automatic weapons to discourage their sale. Today, civilian ownership of new fully automatic weapons is effectively banned in the United States.

Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between levels of gun ownership and rates of gun violence. They found that those states that had high levels of gun ownership also experienced higher levels of homicides and suicides. The findings were published in a 2016 study published by Mother Jones.

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions have a high concentration of states with strict gun restrictions. States like Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have some of the toughest gun laws in the country.

Among these states, the share of households that own a firearm ranges from 8% to 18% – some of the lowest for any state in the country, according to a 2020 RAND Corporation study.

Restrictive firearm laws are generally designed to keep gun violence and keep guns out of the wrong hands. And data shows that many of these laws appear to be effective.

According to a study conducted by the non-profit organization Everytown for Gun Safety, states with strong gun control laws tend to have lower firearm death rates, while death rates tend to be far higher in states that have adopted a hands-off approach to gun control.

Injuries resulting from gunshot wounds are the second leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the United States. According to a 2016 study from The New England Journal of Medicine, firearm deaths – including homicides, suicides, and accidents – accounted for 15% of deaths among American children and adolescents, trailing only motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for 20%.

American gun owners are at a higher risk of suicide than non-gun owners. A study published by the Harvard School of Public Health found that those who died by suicide were twice as likely to have a firearm in their home than those who attempted suicide and failed and those who never attempted suicide.

Some of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history have occurred on college campuses, including the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, and the 1966 shooting at the University of Texas.

As of 2020, only 16 states expressly prohibit the concealed carry of firearms on campus (with exceptions made for official security personnel), while 11 states expressly permit it. In the remaining 23 states, colleges are free to set their own policies around firearms.

Though not on pace to exceed totals from 2020, the worst year for gun violence in the U.S., firearm deaths remain near historic highs in 2023.

In 1976, a law effectively prohibited residents of Washington D.C. from owning a handgun. However, in a five to four decision in 2008, the Supreme Court ruled the law was an unconstitutional violation of residents' Second Amendment rights, and overturned the prohibition.

The decision also overturned a law requiring D.C. residents to store their rifles and shotguns unloaded, and either disassembled or under lock and key.

The vast majority of homicides in the United States – 85.7% in 2021 – are carried out with a gun. About 40% of all convicted murderers in the United States committed the crime while under the influence of alcohol.

Firearms are a defining feature of many social circles in the United States. A Pew study found that 49% of American gun owners say that all or most of their friends also own at least one firearm.

The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is the most powerful gun rights lobbying group in the United States. About one in every five gun owners in the U.S. reports being a member. The non-profit charges $45 for one year of membership and offers discounted rates for longer-term commitments.

Older gun owners are less likely to belong to a gun range or hunting club than their younger counterparts. According to a Pew study, 18% of gun owners ages 18 to 49 are members of a gun range, double the 9% share of gun owners 50 and older who are.

Similarly, 13% of gun owners between 18 and 29 belong to a hunting club, while only 3% of gun owners over age 30 do.

The majority of American gun owners have a demonstrated commitment to firearm safety. According to the Pew Research Center, about 70% of gun owners have taken a training course in hunting or firearm safety. It is important to note that in much of the country, safety classes are a prerequisite for legal ownership of certain firearms.

A study published by the American Journal of Public Health found that women who live with an abusive partner are five times more likely to be murdered if that partner has a firearm.

Handguns, such as revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, are more likely to be used in homicides than long guns, like rifles or shotguns. According to the FBI, of the 13,620 gun murders in the U.S. in 2020, 59% were committed with a handgun.