The US gun stock: results from the 2004 national firearms survey
Source: Injury Prevention

In the US, about one in four adults owns at least one firearm. Although some other developed countries have similar rates of personal firearm ownership, what is unique in the US is the number of firearms privately owned. Researchers have estimated about 25 guns per 100 people in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France and Sweden. On the basis of current estimates from our survey, the US has 93 guns per 100 people.

The National Academy of Sciences recently issued a report on firearms and violence in which they called for improved data on firearm ownership and use to advance the empirical evaluations of programs and policies to reduce gun violence. Our findings describe the current motivations for firearm ownership and also provide information on the similarities and differences among owners of different types of guns. This information can assist in designing a more appropriate firearm injury policy as well as understanding the denominator of exposure when evaluating injury prevention interventions.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Safety, Social and cultural issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.