Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms

This Research in Brief discusses the results of a nationally representative telephone survey (1994) on private ownership and use of firearms by American adults. The survey provides the most complete data available on the private stock of firearms in the United States. With nearly 200 million guns in private hands, firearms have an important impact on the quality of life in America. What is the size and composition of the Nation's private gun inventory? What are the methods of, and reasons for, acquiring firearms? How are firearms stored? How frequently are guns used against criminal attackers? The survey data and analysis found in 1994, 44 million Americans owned 192 million firearms, 65 million of which were handguns, and the proportion of American households that keep firearms appears to be declining.