Guns in the USA

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Justin Worland, "Here’s Where You’re Most Likely to Own a Gun in the U.S.," time.com (June 15, 2015)

Americans love their guns. U.S. citizens own more than 270 million of them, nearly 9 for every 10 Americans. No other country even comes close to matching that rate.

Now, a new study in the journal Injury Prevention shows just how much gun culture varies within the U.S. In Alaska, the state with the highest rate of gun ownership, more than 60% of residents own a gun. In Delaware, the state with the lowest rate, 5% of residents own a gun. Overall, one-third of American adults own a gun. Public health researchers say this information could help inform how to reduce gun violence.

“When you look at different states, you see a wide variation in these rates, and it mirrors the gun death rate,” said Bindu Balesan, an assistant professor at Columbia University’s public health school.

Idaho, West Virginia, Wyoming and Montana round out the list of states with top gun ownership, following Alaska. Delaware, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire are the only states where fewer than 15% of residents own guns, according to the research.

Read More: Gun Fatality Rates Vary Wildly By State, Study Finds

The study also found a strong correlation between gun ownership and living in a so-called social gun culture. In such gun cultures, friends and family tend to own firearms and community members may attend gun-themed social events. Nearly 8% of respondents even said that their social life with family members involves guns. The correlation may suggest a way to reduce gun deaths and injuries outside of federal government lawmaking, which has proven ineffective, Balesan says. Instead of focusing on big policy changes, public health advocates may want to focus on changing gun culture.

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JB - But then look at this recent study, which does not draw the same conclusions, evidently because it uses different "variables" than the above:

1. Wyoming

Wyoming has the highest number of registered guns per capita of any state in America. For every 1,000 residents, there are 195.7 guns, about three times the rate of second-place D.C. That's 114,052 registered firearms in a state with a population of only 582,658 people.

2. District of Columbia

The District of Columbia comes in at number two in the nation, with 66.4 guns for every 1,000 residents. That's 42,897 registered firearms dispersed among only 646,449 people. ...