Study: 3% of America Owns 50% of the Country’s Guns

A new survey shows that a mere 3 percent of American adults own half of all the guns in the United States. The unpublished Harvard/Northeastern study was obtained by The Guardian and also shows that people within that small group of U.S. adults own at least 17 guns each. The study estimates the U.S. gun stock has increased by 70 million guns since 1994, all while the percentage of Americans who own guns decreased to 22 percent from 25 percent. Additionally, the proportion of female gun owners has increased due to a decline in men owning firearms—something that could be attributed to the fact that the women in the study were reported as being more likely to own a gun for self-defense purposes.