---
title: "About four-in-ten Americans live in a household where there is a gun"
description: "About four-in-ten Americans report having a gun in their household, either their own or someone else’s."
date: "2013-07-26"
authors:
  - name: "Bruce Drake"
    job_title: "Former Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/bruce-drake/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/07/26/about-four-in-ten-americans-live-in-a-household-where-there-is-a-gun/"
categories:
  - "Gun Policy"
---

# About four-in-ten Americans live in a household where there is a gun

A [Pew Research Center survey in early May](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/07/FDK_Gun_Topline.png) found that 41% of adults reported having a gun in their household: 27% said they personally owned a gun, and 14% said the gun or guns in their home were owned by someone else.

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/07/DN_Gun_Demos.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/07/FDK_Gun_Topline.png)

There is a substantial gender gap when it comes to gun ownership: men are almost three times as likely as women (40% vs. 14%) to personally own a gun. However, women are more likely than men (by 22% to 6%) to live with someone else who owns a gun. Overall, 46% of men live in a gun-owning household compared with 36% of women.

There are also differences in personal gun ownership by age. The group least likely to personally own a gun are those ages 18-to-29 (21%) compared to 30% of those ages 50-to-64 and 31% for those over 65.

A third of whites own a gun, which is much greater than the rates of gun ownership among blacks (18%) and Hispanics (8%).

Gun ownership also differs substantially by region. Higher percentages in the Midwest (29%) and South (30%) say they own a gun. It’s less common in the Northeast (19%) and the West (25%).