How Many Weapons within the U.S.: All About America’s Firearms in 2026

STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS

How Many Guns in the U.S.: All About America’s Firearms in 2026

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Report Highlights: The United States has more civilian-owned guns than any other nation. Estimates suggest the country has hundreds of millions of firearms.

• The United States has between 400 million and 500 million privately owned firearms.
• 46% of American households, approximately 65.19 million, contain at least one firearm.
• In 2026, there are 1.5 guns per U.S. resident, and 2 guns per U.S. adult (over 18).
• The majority of firearms in the U.S. are handguns (55-60%).

Methodology

Because the U.S. does not maintain a national firearm registry, and because factors such as privately manufactured firearms, theft, destruction, and long service life complicate tracking, modern estimates rely on manufacturing data, import records, FBI NICS trends, and national surveys, rather than exact inventories.

The following sections contain an exhaustive list of research, sourced from survey data over the past 20 years.. We compared the year-over-year self-reporting trends to NICS background checks and NSSF sales reports to analyze the number of guns in the U.S accurately.

Because FBI NICS data reflect background checks rather than individual firearms sold, totals are adjusted to remove denied transactions and account for permit-based background checks and multiple-firearm purchases. Estimates of permit-related checks in 2025 are based on observed national trends from 2023 to 2024, as the number of permit requests likely declined with Constitutional carry legislation in many states. As such, figures represent conservative estimates of retail firearm sales rather than exact transaction counts.

How Many Guns Are in America?

Based on available research, the United States is estimated to have 500 million civilian-owned firearms as of 2026.

Most notably, the 2017 Small Arms Survey estimated 393 million firearms in the U.S. (46% of the world’s civilian-owned guns at the time).

Sharp increases in purchasing and manufacturing since 2020 (during and after the COVID-19 pandemic) have since added tens of millions of firearms to the civilian market. Although the exact number is unknown, 500 million guns is a reasonable estimate.

How Many Guns per Person in America?

There are about one and a half guns for every person in the U.S. in 2026. Minors are largely prohibited from possessing firearms, meaning there are nearly two guns per U.S. adult.

Population estimates for 2024 show that the U.S. has approximately 334 million people, of which 258 million are adults. Compared to our estimate of 500 million civilian-owned firearms, there are more guns than there are people in the country.

How Many Registered Gun Owners in the U.S.?

Per the most recent surveys, 32% of people in the U.S. (111.4 million) are gun owners. Americans generally do not register their firearms. Therefore, the number of registered gun owners in the U.S. is largely irrelevant.

A more accurate baseline of “registered” gun owners would be those with concealed carry permits. As of 2024, 20.88 million Americans held a concealed carry permit. While permits are not required in every state, they do reflect the share of U.S. adults who have formally acquired approval for concealed carry.

How Many Illegal Guns in the U.S.?

There is no reliable estimate of how many illegal guns exist in the United States, but law enforcement data show that hundreds of thousands of stolen firearms and tens of thousands of unlawfully possessed guns are encountered each year.

Read the full breakdown here ➡ https://ammo.com/articles/how-many-guns-in-the-us