States with the most guns per person
Amongst the hottest debates taking place in the U.S. as of late is what to make of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, a document that guarantees citizens the right to “keep and bear Arms.” While an incredibly disturbing pattern of constant mass shootings has plagued the nation in recent years, what to do about the fact that approximately 4 in 10 Americans own a firearm remains a constant source of dispute. As is the case with most heavily polarizing political issues, there is a great deal of geographic influence over difference in opinion, and this is especially true of issues pertaining to gun laws. While gun ownership is somewhat consistent across most of the country, with ownership in 44% of homes in the Midwest, 45% in the South, and 46% in the West, only 27% of households in the Northeast have at least one firearm.
Interested to discover which states had the highest rates of gun ownership, Stacker referenced Statista data on state populations and state-by-state weapon registration statistics in order to list the states with the most guns per person. The states and the District of Columbia are ranked according to their respective per-capita gun ownerships—which were rounded to the second decimal place—yielding 0.00 for Rhode Island, Georgia, and New York because of their relatively insignificant gun totals.
Read on to see how your state’s gun ownership stacks up against the nation.
#51. Rhode Island
Guns per capita: 0.00
State population in millions: 1.06
Number of registered weapons: 4,223
#50. Georgia
Guns per capita: 0.00
State population in millions: 10.43
Number of registered weapons: 19,050
#49. New York
Guns per capita: 0.00
State population in millions: 19.85
Number of registered weapons: 76,207
#48. Delaware
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 0.96
Number of registered weapons: 4,852
#47. Vermont
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 0.62
Number of registered weapons: 5,872
#46. Hawaii
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 1.43
Number of registered weapons: 7,859
#45. Maine
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 1.34
Number of registered weapons: 15,371
#44. Nebraska
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 1.92
Number of registered weapons: 22,234
#43. Iowa
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 3.15
Number of registered weapons: 28,494
#42. Mississippi
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 2.98
Number of registered weapons: 35,494
#41. Massachusetts
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 6.86
Number of registered weapons: 37,152
#40. New Jersey
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 9.01
Number of registered weapons: 57,507
#39. Oregon
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 4.14
Number of registered weapons: 61,383
#38. Wisconsin
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 5.80
Number of registered weapons: 64,878
#37. Michigan
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 9.96
Number of registered weapons: 65,742
#36. Missouri
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 6.11
Number of registered weapons: 72,996
#35. Minnesota
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 5.58
Number of registered weapons: 79,307
#34. Washington
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 7.41
Number of registered weapons: 91,835
#33. Tennessee
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 6.72
Number of registered weapons: 99,159
#32. Illinois
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 12.80
Number of registered weapons: 146,487
#31. North Carolina
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 10.27
Number of registered weapons: 152,238
#30. Ohio
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 11.66
Number of registered weapons: 173,405
#29. California
Guns per capita: 0.01
State population in millions: 39.54
Number of registered weapons: 344,622
#28. North Dakota
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 0.76
Number of registered weapons: 13,272
#27. Alaska
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 0.74
Number of registered weapons: 15,824
#26. South Dakota
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 0.87
Number of registered weapons: 21,130
#25. Montana
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 1.05
Number of registered weapons: 22,133
#24. West Virginia
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 1.82
Number of registered weapons: 35,264
#23. Kansas
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 2.91
Number of registered weapons: 52,634
#22. Oklahoma
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 3.93
Number of registered weapons: 71,269
#21. Utah
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 3.10
Number of registered weapons: 72,856
#20. Kentucky
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 4.45
Number of registered weapons: 81,068
#19. Connecticut
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 3.59
Number of registered weapons: 82,400
#18. Colorado
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 5.61
Number of registered weapons: 92,435
#17. Maryland
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 6.05
Number of registered weapons: 103,109
#16. South Carolina
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 5.02
Number of registered weapons: 105,601
#15. Indiana
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 6.67
Number of registered weapons: 114,019
#14. Louisiana
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 4.68
Number of registered weapons: 116,831
#13. Pennsylvania
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 12.81
Number of registered weapons: 236,377
#12. Florida
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 20.98
Number of registered weapons: 343,288
#11. Texas
Guns per capita: 0.02
State population in millions: 28.30
Number of registered weapons: 588,696
#10. Idaho
Guns per capita: 0.03
State population in millions: 1.72
Number of registered weapons: 49,566
#9. Nevada
Guns per capita: 0.03
State population in millions: 3.00
Number of registered weapons: 76,888
#8. Arkansas
Guns per capita: 0.03
State population in millions: 3.00
Number of registered weapons: 79,841
#7. Alabama
Guns per capita: 0.03
State population in millions: 4.87
Number of registered weapons: 161,641
#6. Arizona
Guns per capita: 0.03
State population in millions: 7.02
Number of registered weapons: 179,738
#5. Virginia
Guns per capita: 0.04
State population in millions: 8.47
Number of registered weapons: 307,822
#4. New Hampshire
Guns per capita: 0.05
State population in millions: 1.34
Number of registered weapons: 64,135
#3. New Mexico
Guns per capita: 0.05
State population in millions: 2.09
Number of registered weapons: 97,580
#2. District of Columbia
Guns per capita: 0.07
State population in millions: 0.69
Number of registered weapons: 47,228
#1. Wyoming
Guns per capita: 0.23
State population in millions: 0.58
Number of registered weapons: 132,806
