3% of Americans Own 133m Firearms
Kevin Felts 11.15.17
An article from The Guardian paints a sad picture of how many Americans own guns. Of the estimated 265 million guns in the United States, the vast majority are owned by just 3% of gun owners.
As this article is being written, the current population is 326 million, with a baby being born every eight seconds. There is a death every 11 seconds, so around every 15 seconds the population goes up by one person.
If all the guns were spread equally across the United States, 61 million people would not have a firearm, which is rather sad. What is even more sad, if someone owns more than eight firearms, they are considered a “super gun owner.”
From The Guardian: The gun numbers: just 3% of American adults own a collective 133m firearms.
But America’s gun super-owners, have amassed huge collections. Just 3% of American adults own a collective 133m firearms – half of America’s total gun stock. These owners have collections that range from eight to 140 guns, the 2015 study found. Their average collection: 17 guns each.
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Part of the answer is that owning more than 40 guns is actually fairly common in the United States: there are an estimated 7.7 million super-owners,
However, we must take those numbers with a grain of salt. The article goes on to claim that in 2015 there were “36,000 overall firearm deaths.” In reality, there were 15,883 murders. An article from the FBI says there were 15,696 murders.
The Guardian did not provide a link to their source, so there is no way to confirm the 36,000 firearm death number.
To be perfectly honest, I thought everyone owned 10 or more guns. The thought of being a super gun owner is both uplifting and sad at the same time.
Let’s just say the 265 million gun number is accurate. That means 61 million people need to buy guns!
