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In 2018, the Small Arms Survey reported that there are over one billion small arms distributed globally, of which 857 million (about 85 percent) are in civilian hands. The survey stated that USA civilians account for an estimated 393 million (about 46 percent) of the worldwide total of civilian held firearms, or about 120.5 firearms for every 100 American residents.

From 1994 to 2023, gun ownership increased 28% in America. In 2023, about 16.7 million firearms were sold in the U.S. In the first four months of 2024, nearly 5.5 million firearms were sold, averaging around 1.3 million per month. About 72% of gun owners say they own a gun primarily for protection.

The world's armed forces control about 133 million (approximately 13 percent) of the global total of small arms, of which over 43 percent belong to two countries: Russia (30.3 million) and China (27.5 million). Law enforcement agencies control about 23 million (about 2 percent) of the global total of small arms. Gun ownership is a protected right in countries such as the United States and Yemen.

Global distribution of civilian-held firearms

The following data comes from the Small Arms Survey. For more tables see: Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country and Percent of households with guns by country.

World wide civilian firearms holdings, 2017

Countries and territories	Estimate of firearms in civilian possession	Population 2017	Estimate of civilian firearms per 100 people
Afghanistan	4,270,000	34,169,000	12.5
Albania	350,000	2,911,000	12.0
Algeria	877,000	41,064,000	2.1
American Samoa (United States)	400	56,000	0.7
Andorra	10,000	69,000	14.1
Angola	2,982,000	26,656,000	11.2
Antigua and Barbuda	5,000	94,000	5.4
Argentina	3,256,000	44,272,000	7.4
Armenia	186,000	3,032,000	6.1
Aruba (Netherlands)	3,000	105,000	2.6
Australia	3,573,000	24,642,000	14.5
Austria	2,577,000	8,592,000	30.0
Azerbaijan	362,000	9,974,000	3.6
Bahamas	74,000	397,000	18.8
Bahrain	181,000	1,419,000	12.8
Bangladesh	659,000	164,828,000	0.4
Barbados	10,000	286,000	3.5
Belarus	581,000	9,459,000	6.1
Belgium	1,451,000	11,444,000	12.7
Belize	37,000	375,000	10.0
Benin	33,000	11,459,000	0.3
Bermuda (United Kingdom)	3,000	61,000	4.6
Bhutan	6,000	793,000	0.8
Bolivia	218,000	11,053,000	2.0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,185,000	3,793,000	31.2
Botswana	97,000	2,344,000	4.1
Brazil	17,510,000	211,243,000	8.3
Brunei	6,000	434,000	1.4
Bulgaria	590,000	7,045,000	8.4
Burkina Faso	175,000	19,173,000	0.9
Burundi	238,000	11,936,000	2.0
Cambodia	717,000	16,076,000	4.5
Cameroon	510,000	24,514,000	2.1
Canada	12,708,000	36,626,000	34.7
Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)	31,000	533,000	5.7
Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)	6,000	62,000	9.2
Central African Republic	94,000	5,099,000	1.8
Chad	151,000	14,965,000	1.0
Channel Islands	23,000	165,000	14.0
Chile	2,220,000	18,313,000	12.1
China	49,735,000	1,388,233,000	3.6
Christmas Island	0	2,000	0.0
Colombia	4,971,000	49,068,000	10.1
Comoros	12,000	826,000	1.5
Costa Rica	493,000	4,906,000	10.0
Croatia	576,000	4,210,000	13.7
Cuba	234,000	11,390,000	2.1
Curaçao	4,000	160,000	2.6
Cyprus	285,000	839,000	34.0
Czech Republic	1,323,000	10,555,000	12.5
DR Congo	946,000	82,243,000	1.2
Denmark	567,000	5,712,000	9.9
Djibouti	28,000	911,000	3.1
Dominica	5,000	73,000	6.2
Dominican Republic	795,000	10,767,000	7.4
Ecuador	402,000	16,626,000	2.4
Egypt	3,931,000	95,215,000	4.1
El Salvador	737,000	6,167,000	12.0
England and Wales	2,731,000	58,877,000	4.6
Equatorial Guinea	112,000	894,000	12.5
Eritrea	23,000	5,482,000	0.4
Estonia	65,000	1,306,000	5.0
Ethiopia	377,000	104,345,000	0.4
Falkland Islands (United Kingdom)	2,000	3,000	66.7
Faroe Islands (Denmark)	5,000	49,000	9.9
Fiji	5,000	903,000	0.5
Finland	1,793,000	5,541,000	32.4
France	12,732,000	64,939,000	19.6
French Guiana (France)	55,000	283,000	19.6
French Polynesia (France)	7,000	289,000	2.5
Gabon	61,000	1,801,000	3.4
Gambia	137,000	2,120,000	6.5
Georgia	402,000	3,973,000	10.1
Germany	15,822,000	80,636,000	19.6
Ghana	2,280,000	28,657,000	8.0
Gibraltar (United Kingdom)	1,000	32,000	4.1
Greece	1,920,000	10,893,000	17.6
Greenland (Denmark)	13,000	56,000	22.3
Grenada	5,000	108,000	4.6
Guadeloupe (France)	40,000	472,000	8.5
Guam (United States)	20,000	174,000	11.5
Guatemala	2,062,000	17,005,000	12.1
Guinea	130,000	13,291,000	1.0
Guinea-Bissau	29,000	1,933,000	1.5
Guyana	122,000	774,000	15.8
Haiti	291,000	10,983,000	2.6
Holy See	0	1,000	0.0
Honduras	1,171,000	8,305,000	14.1
Hong Kong (China)	265,000	7,402,000	3.6
Hungary	1,023,000	9,788,000	10.5
Iceland	106,000	334,000	31.7
India	71,101,000	1,342,513,000	5.3
Indonesia	82,000	263,510,000	0.03
Iran	5,890,000	80,946,000	7.3
Iraq	7,588,000	38,654,000	19.6
Ireland	342,000	4,749,000	7.2
Israel	557,000	8,323,000	6.7
Italy	8,609,000	59,798,000	14.4
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)	1,049,000	23,816,000	4.4
Jamaica	246,000	2,813,000	8.8
Japan	377,000	126,045,000	0.3
Jordan	1,473,000	7,877,000	18.7
Kazakhstan	504,000	18,064,000	2.8
Kenya	750,000	48,467,000	1.5
Kiribati	900	116,000	0.8
Kosovo	436,000	1,831,000	23.8
Kuwait	685,000	4,100,000	16.7
Kyrgyzstan	171,000	6,125,000	2.8
Laos	215,000	7,038,000	3.0
Latvia	205,000	1,945,000	10.5
Lebanon	1,927,000	6,039,000	31.9
Lesotho	105,000	2,185,000	4.8
Liberia	97,000	4,730,000	2.1
Libya	851,000	6,409,000	13.3
Liechtenstein	11,000	38,000	28.8
Lithuania	385,000	2,831,000	13.6
Luxembourg	110,000	584,000	18.9
Macau (China)	22,000	606,000	3.6
Madagascar	168,000	25,613,000	0.7
Malawi	47,000	18,299,000	0.3
Malaysia	217,000	31,164,000	0.7
Maldives	23,000	376,000	6.2
Mali	206,000	18,690,000	1.1
Malta	119,000	421,000	28.3
Marshall Islands	300	53,000	0.5
Martinique (France)	34,000	396,000	8.5
Mauritania	120,000	4,266,000	2.8
Mauritius	106,000	1,281,000	8.3
Mexico	16,809,000	130,223,000	12.9
Micronesia	700	106,000	0.7
Moldova	121,000	4,055,000	3.0
Monaco	7,000	38,000	18.4
Mongolia	242,000	3,052,000	7.9
Montenegro	245,000	626,000	39.1
Montserrat (United Kingdom)	300	5,000	5.4
Morocco	1,690,000	35,241,000	4.8
Mozambique	1,337,000	29,538,000	4.5
Myanmar	877,000	54,836,000	1.6
Namibia	396,000	2,569,000	15.4
Nauru	0	10,000	0.0
Nepal	444,000	29,187,000	1.5
Netherlands	442,000	17,033,000	2.6
New Caledonia (France)	115,000	270,000	42.5
New Zealand	1,212,000	4,605,000	26.3
Nicaragua	323,000	6,218,000	5.2
Niger	117,000	21,564,000	0.5
Nigeria	6,154,000	191,836,000	3.2
Northern Ireland	206,000	1,873,000	11.0
Northern Mariana Islands (United States)	1,000	56,000	2.6
North Korea	76,000	25,405,000	0.3
Norway	1,537,000	5,331,000	28.8
Oman	792,000	4,741,000	16.7
Pakistan	43,917,000	196,744,000	22.3
Palau	100	22,000	0.5
Palestine	56,000	4,952,000	1.1
Panama	436,000	4,051,000	10.8
Papua New Guinea	79,000	7,934,000	1.0
Paraguay	1,140,000	6,812,000	16.7
Peru	633,000	32,166,000	2.0
Philippines	3,776,000	103,797,000	3.6
Poland	968,000	38,564,000	2.5
Portugal	2,186,000	10,265,000	21.3
Puerto Rico (United States)	422,000	3,679,000	11.5
Puntland	246,000	1,995,000	12.3
Qatar	390,000	2,338,000	16.7
Congo	119,000	4,866,000	2.4
Réunion (France)	171,000	873,000	19.6
Romania	506,000	19,238,000	2.6
Russia	17,620,000	143,375,000	12.3
Rwanda	66,000	12,160,000	0.5
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2,000	57,000	3.4
Saint Lucia	6,000	188,000	3.4
Saint Martin (France)	3,000	32,000	8.5
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	4,000	110,000	3.4
Samoa	20,000	196,000	10.1
San Marino	5,000	32,000	15.6
São Tomé and Príncipe	7,000	198,000	3.4
Saudi Arabia	12,564,000	32,743,000	53.7
Scotland	305,000	5,436,000	5.6
Senegal	323,000	16,054,000	2.0
Serbia	2,719,000	6,946,000	39.1
Seychelles	4,000	98,000	4.1
Sierra Leone	35,000	6,733,000	0.5
Singapore	20,000	5,785,000	0.3
Sint Maarten (Netherlands)	2,000	40,000	4.2
Slovakia	355,000	5,432,000	6.5
Slovenia	324,000	2,071,000	15.6
Solomon Islands	1,000	606,000	0.2
Somalia	1,145,000	9,225,000	12.4
Somaliland	456,000	3,823,000	11.9
South Africa	5,351,000	55,436,000	9.7
South Korea	79,000	50,705,000	0.2
South Sudan	1,255,000	13,096,000	9.6
Spain	3,464,000	46,070,000	7.5
Sri Lanka	494,000	20,905,000	2.4
Sudan	2,768,000	42,166,000	6.6
Suriname	88,000	552,000	15.9
Swaziland	64,000	1,320,000	4.8
Sweden	2,296,000	9,921,000	23.1
Switzerland	2,332,000	8,454,000	27.6
Syria	1,547,000	18,907,000	8.2
Taiwan	10,000	23,405,000	0.04
Tajikistan	37,000	8,858,000	0.4
Tanzania	427,000	56,878,000	0.8
Thailand	10,342,000	68,298,000	15.1
East Timor	3,000	1,237,000	0.3
Togo	58,000	7,692,000	0.8
Tonga	9,000	108,000	8.0
Trinidad and Tobago	43,000	1,369,000	3.2
Tunisia	123,000	11,495,000	1.1
Turkey	13,249,000	80,418,000	16.5
Turkmenistan	23,000	5,503,000	0.4
Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)	1,000	35,000	3.3
Tuvalu	100	10,000	1.2
Uganda	331,000	41,653,000	0.8
Ukraine	4,396,000	44,405,000	9.9
United Arab Emirates	1,569,000	9,398,000	16.7
United States	393,347,000	326,474,000	120.5
Uruguay	1,198,000	3,457,000	34.7
Uzbekistan	127,000	30,691,000	0.4
Vanuatu	11,000	276,000	3.9
Venezuela	5,895,000	31,926,000	18.5
Vietnam	1,562,000	95,415,000	1.6
British Virgin Islands	300	31,000	0.8
U.S. Virgin Islands	18,000	107,000	16.6
Yemen	14,859,000	28,120,000	52.8
Zambia	158,000	17,238,000	0.9
Zimbabwe	455,000	16,338,000	2.8

Association with rates of violence in times of peace

Some studies suggest that higher rates of gun ownership are associated with higher homicide rates, although Gary Kleck argues that the highest-quality studies show that gun ownership does not increase homicide rates. Higher rates of gun ownership are also associated with higher suicide rates and higher accidental gun death rates. The availability of illegal guns, but not that of legal guns, is associated with higher rates of violent crime.

An international study by UNICRI researchers from 2001 examined the link between household gun ownership and overall homicide, overall suicide, as well as gun homicide and gun suicide rates amongst 21 countries. Significant correlations between household gun ownership and rates of gun suicides for both genders, and gun homicide rates involving female victims were found. There were no significant correlations detected for total homicide and suicide rates, as well as gun homicide rates involving male victims. This study has been criticized for combining high-income countries (like the United States) with middle-income countries (like Estonia); if middle-income countries are excluded from the analysis, a strong relationship emerges between gun ownership and homicide. However the Hemenway study has been criticized in response as well. When removing the United States as an outlier and using the superior proxy of gun ownership in the study (percentage of firearm suicides over all suicides), the relationship ceases to be significant. The association between gun ownership and homicide rates across nations is dependent on the inclusion of the U.S. Studies in Canada that examined the levels of gun ownership by province have found no correlations with provincial overall suicide rates. A 2011 study conducted looking at the effects of gun control legislation passed in Canada and the associated effects in homicide rates found no significant reductions in homicide rates as a result of legislation. A case-control study conducted in New Zealand looking at household gun ownership and the risk of suicides found no significant associations.

Maps

Gallery

See also

• Gun control
• Gun violence
• Gun culture in the United States
• Right to keep and bear arms in the United States
• Gun politics in the United States
• Index of gun politics articles
• Gun violence in the United States by state
• Percent of households with guns by country
• Number of guns per capita by country

References

1. ^ smallarmssurvey.org Small Arms Survey reveals: More than one billion firearms in the world
2. ^ smallarmssurvey.org Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018
3. "How Many Gun Owners Are In America? 2023 - 2024 Statistics".
4. Haroun, Brennan Weiss, James Pasley, Azmi. "Only 3 countries in the world protect the right to bear arms in their constitutions: the US, Mexico, and Guatemala". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
5. smallarmssurvey.org June 2018, Estimating Global Civilian Held Firearms Numbers by Aaron Karp
6. Civilian Firearms Holdings, 2017. smallarmssurvey.org. Archived on 29 June 2018.
7. Fox, Kara; Shveda, Krystina; Croker, Natalie; Chacon, Marco (November 26, 2021). "How US gun culture stacks up with the world". CNN. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. CNN's attribution: Developed countries are defined based on the UN classification, which includes 36 countries. Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (Global Burden of Disease 2019), Small Arms Survey (Civilian Firearm Holdings 2017)
8. Mortality data from "Firearm Mortality by State". cdc.gov. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. 2022. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. The number of deaths per 100,000 total population. Source: wonder.cdc.gov ● Household firearm ownership data from Schell, Terry L.; Peterson, Samuel; Vegetabile, Brian G.; Scherling, Adam; Smart, Rosanna; Morral, Andrew R. (April 22, 2020). "State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership". rand.org. RAND Corporation. p. 21. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Fig. 2. PDF file (download link)
9. ● Gun sale data from Brownlee, Chip (December 31, 2023). "Gun Violence by the Numbers in 2023". The Trace. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024.
   ● NICS firearm check data downloaded via link at "NICS Firearm Background Checks: Month/Year" (PDF). FBI.gov. Federal Bureau of Investigation. January 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 29, 2024.
10. ^ Mascia, Jennifer; Brownlee, Chip (April 9, 2024). "The Armed Era". The Trace. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024.
11. Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David (December 2002). "Rates of Household Firearm Ownership and Homicide Across US Regions and States, 1988–1997". American Journal of Public Health. 92 (12): 1988–1993. doi:10.2105/AJPH.92.12.1988. PMC 1447364. PMID 12453821.
12. Hoskin, Anthony W. (September 2001). "Armed Americans: The impact of firearm availability on national homicide rates". Justice Quarterly. 18 (3): 569–592. doi:10.1080/07418820100095021. S2CID 143203446.
13. Miller, Matthew; Hemenway, David; Azrael, Deborah (February 2007). "State-level homicide victimization rates in the US in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001–2003". Social Science & Medicine. 64 (3): 656–664. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.09.024. PMID 17070975.
14. Kleck, Gary (January 2015). "The Impact of Gun Ownership Rates on Crime Rates: A Methodological Review of the Evidence". Journal of Criminal Justice. 43 (1): 40–48. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2014.12.002.
15. Anestis, MD; Houtsma, C (13 March 2017). "The Association Between Gun Ownership and Statewide Overall Suicide Rates". Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 48 (2): 204–217. doi:10.1111/sltb.12346. PMID 28294383. S2CID 4756779.
16. Westefeld, John S.; Gann, Lianne C.; Lustgarten, Samuel D.; Yeates, Kevin J. (2016). "Relationships between firearm availability and suicide: The role of psychology". Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 47 (4): 271–277. doi:10.1037/pro0000089.
17. Miller, M; Azrael, D; Hemenway, D (February 2002). "Firearm availability and unintentional firearm deaths, suicide, and homicide among 5-14 year olds". The Journal of Trauma. 52 (2): 267–74, discussion 274–5. doi:10.1097/00005373-200202000-00011. PMID 11834986.
18. Miller, M. (1 March 2002). "Firearm Availability and Suicide, Homicide, and Unintentional Firearm Deaths Among Women". Journal of Urban Health. 79 (1): 26–38. doi:10.1093/jurban/79.1.26. PMC 3456383. PMID 11937613.
19. Miller, Mathew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David (July 2001). "Firearm availability and unintentional firearm deaths". Accident Analysis & Prevention. 33 (4): 477–484. doi:10.1016/S0001-4575(00)00061-0. PMID 11426678.
20. Stolzenberg, L.; D'Alessio, S. J. (1 June 2000). "Gun Availability and Violent Crime: New Evidence from the National Incident-Based Reporting System". Social Forces. 78 (4): 1461–1482. doi:10.1093/sf/78.4.1461.
21. https://pure.uvt.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/5263789/GunsKilliasvKesteren.pdf
22. Hemenway, David (June 2009). "Don B. Kates and Gary Mauser. "Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of International and Some Domestic Evidence" Harvard Journal of Law and Policy" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-10-11.
23. Kleck, Gary (2004). "Measures of Gun Ownership Levels for Macro-Level Crime and Violence Research". Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 41: 3–36. doi:10.1177/0022427803256229. S2CID 145245290.
24. "Firearms, Accidental Deaths, Suicides and Violent Crime: An Updated Review of the Literature with Special Reference to the Canadian Situation". 10 March 1999.
25. Langmann, Caillin (2012). "Canadian Firearms Legislation and Effects on Homicide 1974 to 2008". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 27 (12): 2303–2321. doi:10.1177/0886260511433515. PMID 22328660. S2CID 42273865.
26. Beautrais, Annette L.; Joyce, Peter R.; Mulder, Roger T. (1996). "Access to Firearms and the Risk of Suicide: A Case Control Study". Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 30 (6): 741–748. doi:10.3109/00048679609065040. PMID 9034462. S2CID 9805679.

Further reading

This article's use of external links may not follow Misplaced Pages's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Krouse, William J. (14 November 2012). Gun Control Legislation (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
• The Washington Post article (June 2018)
• Time article (June 2018)
• The New York Times (June 2018)
• The Guardian article (June 2018)
• Newsweek article (June 2018)
• The Star Tribune article (June 2018) Archived 2018-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
• The Associated Press article (June 2018)
• Reuters article (June 2018)
• New York Daily News article (June 2018)

• Firearms
• Gun politics
• Gun violence