With nearly 400 million privately owned guns in the United States, the country has the highest rate of civilian firearm ownership in the world — more than double that of Yemen, which has the second-highest rate of gun ownership.
While U.S. citizens are permitted to own firearms under the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, only a fraction of U.S. gun owners must register their firearms because gun laws vary from state to state and the requirements for registration depend upon the firearms in question.
Anyone paying attention knows that firearms command a higher degree of cultural significance in the United States than any other country in the world. Despite many Americans being proud gun-owners, a large movement exists within the country in opposition to the freedom afforded to those in possession of these potentially deadly weapons.
According to a report from Statista, those “opposed to current gun regulation have sourced their anger from the large number of deaths due to firearms in the country, as well as the high frequency of gun violence apparent in comparison the other developed countries. Furthermore, the United States has fallen victim to a number of mass shootings in the last two decades most of which have raised questions over the ease at which a person can obtain a firearm. Although this movement holds a significant position in the public political discourse of the United States, meaningful change in regards to the legislation dictating the ownership of firearms has not occurred. Critics have pointed to the influence possessed by the National Rifle Association through their lobbying of public officials. The National Rifle Association also lobby for the interests of firearm manufacturing in the United States which has continued to rise since a fall in the early 2000s.”
With all of this in mind, we’ve used data compiled by Statista to put together a ranking of registered guns in America by state. Can you guess which state has the highest number of registered guns in the country?
