[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
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