More Americans Have Guns, Highest Since 1993 And Nears 50%

Almost 50 percent of Americans now say they have a gun, according to a new Gallup poll.

Forty-seven percent of American adults currently report that they have a gun in their home or elsewhere on their property, up from 41% a year ago and is the highest Gallup has recorded since 1993, albeit marginally above the 44% and 45% highs seen during that period.

The new result comes from Gallup’s Oct. 6-9 Crime poll, which also finds public support for personal gun rights at a high-water mark.

According to Gallup, the latest increase in self-reported gun ownership could reflect a change in Americans’ comfort with publicly stating that they have a gun as much as it reflects a real uptick in gun ownership.

Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) are more likely than Democrats (including Democratic leaners) to say they have a gun in their household: 55% to 40%.

That said, according to Gallup, this partisan gap is narrower than that seen in recent years, as Democrats’ self-reported gun ownership spiked to 40% this year.

Also rising was he percentage of women who report household gun ownership, which is also at a new high, now registering 43%.

Gun ownership is more common in the South (54%) and Midwest (51%) than in the East (36%) or West (43%) — a finding typical of Gallup’s trends in gun ownership by region.

One in Three Americans Personally Own a Gun

Since 2000, Gallup has asked respondents with guns in their households a follow-up question to determine if the gun belongs to the respondent or to someone else. On this basis, Gallup finds that 34% of all Americans personally own a gun.

The gender gap in personal gun ownership is wider than that seen for household ownership, as 46% of all adult men vs. 23% of all women say they personally own a gun.

Middle-aged adults — those 35 to 54 years of age — and adults with no college education are more likely than their counterparts to be gun owners.