Governor outlaws guns in public in Albuquerque
FILE – The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges but was compelled to act because of a rise in shootings in early 2024.
The number of people who own a gun in the U.S. has held steady, but gun ownership demographics show a notable change in who does – and doesn’t – keep a gun in their household, according to the latest Gallup poll.
About 31% of U.S. adults personally own a gun, while another 13% say they live in a home with a gun that belongs to someone else.
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According to Gallup’s annual gun ownership survey, Democratic and independent men are seeing declines in gun ownership, but the reduction has been offset by a rise in another demographic.
FILE – A man fires a handgun at a shooting range in Georgia (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Who owns guns in America?
According to Gallup, the percentage of Republican women who own a gun has increased from 19% in 2007-2012 to 33% in 2019-2024.
Gun ownership among Democratic men, meanwhile, has fallen seven percentage points to 29% and five points among independent men, to 39%.
Republican men are still the most likely to own a gun at 60%.
Gender is still the top predictor of gun ownership. Men (43%) are more than twice as likely as women (20%) to own a gun, but the gap has shrunk by 7 points in the past decade.
Gun ownership by political party
The gender gap is smaller, but the political party gap is bigger when it comes to gun ownership, Gallup says.
From 2007-2012, personal gun ownership rates differed by 16 points among Republicans (38%) and Democrats (22%). Now, that gap is 28 points (47% and 19%, respectively).
Republicans are currently 1.5 times more likely than non-Republicans to own a gun, and Democrats are 1.3 times less likely than non-Democrats to own a gun.
Previous Gallup analyses didn’t identify politics as a big indicator of gun ownership.
Gun ownership by location
The latest data show a wide gap in gun ownership rates between people who identify as rural (51%) and big city residents (20%).
The majority of rural residents say they own a gun, while Americans who live in cities, towns or suburbs generally have gun ownership rates closer to the national average.
Southern residents (40%) are twice as likely as Eastern residents (19%) to own a gun, while those in the Midwest and West have average levels of gun ownership.
Who owns the most guns?
The highest gun ownership rates were found among:
- men living in rural areas (67%)
- rural Republicans (62%)
- conservatives living in rural areas (62%)
- rural Southerners (59%)
Who owns the fewest guns?
According to Gallup, some of the lowest gun ownership rates can be found among:
- women aged 18 to 29 (9%)
- Democrats (9%) and liberals (10%) aged 18 to 29
- residents of big cities in the East (10%)
- women living in the East (10%)
- Eastern residents aged 18 to 29 (10%)
