Fewer Americans own guns these days, according to a new report that shows a three-decade decline in the percentage of personal and household ownership of pistols and rifles. Using data collected by the federal government, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, which has been tracking such figures since 1972, determined the percentage of American households that reported having any guns dropped more than 40% from 1977 to 2010. Also, the percentage of Americans who reported personally owning a gun dropped more than 32% from 1985 to 2010.

 

In 2010, only 32.3% of U.S. households owned guns and only 20.8% of individuals claimed personal gun ownership. The number for women was 9.9%.

 

Studying the statistics, the Violence Policy Center posited several reasons for the decline, including a lack of interest in guns by youth, the decreasing popularity of hunting and the aging of the current gun-owning population—primarily white males.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

A Shrinking Minority (Violence Policy Center) (pdf)