Guns in America: Results of a Comprehensive National Survey on Firearms Ownership and Use

• NCJ Number: 165448
• Author(s): P J Cook; J Ludwig
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 148 pages
• Grant Number(s): 93-IJ-CX-0017
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Police Foundation
• Sale Source: Police Foundation; NCJRS Photocopy Services; Sanford Institute of Public Policy
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents findings from the 1994 National Survey of Private Ownership of Firearms (NSPOF), which focuses on the size, composition, and ownership of America's gun stock; how and why firearms are acquired; gun storage and carrying; and the defensive use of firearms against criminal attackers; the reliability of the survey findings are discussed.

Abstract

The NSPOF used a list-assisted random-digit-dial sampling method in which each telephone household has essentially equal likelihood of being selected; a total of 2,568 adults were interviewed. Since those who refused to participate in the survey may be different from participants, the authors urge caution in the interpretation of results based on NSPOF data. Findings show that approximately 192 million working firearms are in private possession, about one-third of which are handguns. About one- quarter of American adults personally own a firearm (42 percent for men and 9 percent for women); gun ownership is most prevalent among middle-aged, middle-class whites from rural areas. Gun owners with four or more guns, approximately 10 percent of the Nation's adults, own about 77 percent of the total stock of firearms. Most handgun owners have a handgun primarily for self- defense; nevertheless, two-thirds of all handgun owners also own at least one rifle or shotgun, suggesting some experience and interest in the sporting uses of guns. Overall, 46 percent of gun owners own some kind of gun primarily for protection against crime. Most guns were acquired through cash purchases from a federally licensed firearms dealer. Survey findings suggest that 1.5 million gun owners use their guns defensively in 4.7 million defensive gun uses each year. The discussion of these survey findings on defensive uses of guns provides evidence that these estimates of the number of defensive gun uses, along with the number of firearms accidents, are too high by an order of magnitude or more. Extensive tables are provided. 75 references