Who Owns Guns in America?
By Robert J. Spitzer This essay is excerpted from the Living Book You Asked. America has a tradition of national gun ownership and use dating to the nation’s origins. Yet the true nature of that tradition has been often romanticized, exaggerated, or distorted. Even though modern American culture includes groups that support gun traditions and use, only some Americans share these beliefs. Americans own about 270 million guns, nearly one for every person in the country; some Americans own more than one gun, and millions have no firearms at all. Gun owners are found throughout the country, but are concentrated in rural areas and in the South. Long guns (rifles and shotguns) outnumber handguns by a ratio of 2-to-1. Most Americans who own long guns use them for hunting and sporting; most handguns are obtained for personal self-protection. Nationwide, gun ownership has gradually declined: In the 1960s, about half of American homes had at least one gun; today, guns are found only in about one
