One Nation, Up In Arms

[The following text appears within 2 charts. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual charts.]

There were 310 MILLION firearms in the U.S. as of 2009

114 million

Handguns

Firearms were responsible for 71% of all murders last year

86 million

Shotguns

110 million

Rifles

NOTE: THE BRADY CAMPAIGN’S STATE RANKING EVALUATES EACH STATE ON 33 GUN POLICIES, GUN DEATH RATE AND CRIME-GUN EXPORT RATE.

SOURCES: CRS; BRADY CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE; BMJ; CDC; DOJ; PEW RESEARCH CENTER; FBI; GALLUP; GUNVIOLENCEARCHIVE.ORG

[The following text appears within 3 maps. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual maps.]

GUN LAWS are most stringent in California and in the Northeast. States are ranked here on the restrictiveness of their gun laws.

CALIF

Most restrictive

ARIZ

Weakest

Guncontrol laws

LESS RESTRICTIVE

MORE RESTRICTIVE

GUN OWNERSHIP is higher where gun laws are looser. About half of owners say they own guns for protection, followed by hunting (32%).

ALASKA 62%

DEL. 5%

Households owning a firearm

FEWER

5%

62%

MORE

GUN-RELATED DEATHS are more prevalent in the Southern states. More than 60% are suicides, while about a third are homicides.

HAWAII 3%

LA. 19%

Gun death rate

PER 100,000 PEOPLE

LOWER

3%

19%

HIGHER

U.S. GUN OWNERS

Background checks, an indicator of sales, have been ticking up …

Background checks

9 MILLION

2000

23 MILLION

2015

much faster than gun-owning households, suggesting that owners are stocking up

Gun-owning households

39%

2000

41%

2015

GUN VIOLENCE

While gun sales are ticking up, the U.S. homicide rate is trending down

10

8

6

4

2

0

1990

2000

2015

4.9

HOMICIDES PER 100,000 PEOPLE

Still, more people die from guns than from car accidents. In 2016 there have been 1,622 accidental shootings, and 515 children have been shot

REFORM PROPOSALS

Donald Trump calls for concealed-carry permits in all 50 states; he supports stricter sentences for felons caught with firearms

Hillary Clinton supports a ban on assault weapons and the expansion of background checks to mental-health outpatients and domestic abusers