About seven-in-ten say they own a handgun or pistol (72%), while 62% own a rifle and 54% own a shotgun. Two-thirds of gun owners say they own more than one gun, including 29% who own five or more guns. Fewer cite a gun collection (13%) or their job (8%) as major reasons for owning a gun. About four-in-ten say the same about hunting (38%), while three-in-ten say sport shooting, including target, trap and skeet shooting is a major reason they own a gun. Still, protection tops the list, with 67% of current gun owners saying this is a major reason they personally own a gun. In fact, eight-in-ten say they have more than one reason for owning, and 44% have more than one major reason. Most gun owners cite multiple reasons for owning a gun. While non-gun owners are less likely to have grown up in a gun-owning household, a substantial share (40%) say this is the case, and about six-in-ten (61%) say they have fired a gun. About two-thirds of current gun owners (67%) say there were guns in their household growing up, and 76% report that they first fired a gun before they were 18. 20%).įor many adults who own guns, exposure to guns happened at an early age. There are also significant differences across parties, with Republican and Republican-leaning independents more than twice as likely as Democrats and those who lean Democratic to say they own a gun (44% vs. Among those who live in rural areas, 46% say they are gun owners, compared with 28% of those who live in the suburbs and 19% in urban areas. Gun ownership is more common among men than women, and white men are particularly likely to be gun owners.
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Among those who don’t currently own a gun, about half say they could see themselves owning one in the future. Three-in-ten American adults say they currently own a gun, and another 11% say they don’t personally own a gun but live with someone who does. And many who don’t currently own a gun, including those who have never owned one, may be open to doing so in the future. Some Americans who don’t personally own guns live with someone who does or may have owned a gun in the past.
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Understanding gun ownership in America is not as simple as knowing who does and does not own a gun.