How Many Guns Are There and Who Owns Them? - Reasons For Owning Or Not Owning A Gun

Participants in the 1997–98 National Gun Policy Survey (Chicago: National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, 1998) who did not personally own a gun were asked for reasons for why they did not own a firearm. The major reason, given by 35%, was a lack of interest in having a gun. Other reasons included opposition to guns on ethical grounds, having children in the house, and feeling that guns were more a threat than source of protection.

Table 2.9 shows how gun ownership makes the owner feel. For a significant majority of the people interviewed, carrying a gun resulted in feelings of safety and protection (59.4%). Yet in 9.8% of the respondents, carrying a gun made them feel less safe. For 26.5% of the respondents, they felt the same whether they carried a gun or not.

Table 2.9 illustrates the gun-carrying characteristics of gun owners based on data found in the 2001 NORC National Gun Policy Survey. This table shows that Americans carry guns for a number of reasons: target practice (70.1%); hunting (46.7%); protection (41.7%); and work purposes (10.7%). The survey also measured how often owners carried their guns, where they took their guns, how they carried their weapons, and whether they had a permit to carry a weapon (33.3% did, 62.3% did not).

Table 2.10 presents a further breakdown of gun ownership behavior by socio-demographics, based on data found in the 2001 NORC National Gun Policy Survey.

Carrying Handguns

Starting with Florida in 1987, about thirty states have passed "shall issue" laws that require local officials to issue concealed-carry gun permits to anyone who applies, unless the applicant is prohibited by law from carrying a weapon. In the 2001 NORC National Gun Policy Survey, participants were asked about carrying handguns away from home. Slightly more than 20% of respondents indicated that they had carried a handgun away from home during the last year.

In the 2001 survey, 33% of respondents said they had a permit to carry a handgun, and 38% said they usually carried their handgun loaded. The most common reason for carrying a handgun was for target practice; this was the reason given by 16% of the survey respondents. The other reasons were hunting (10%), personal protection (8.5%), and work (2%).